LDNGuide

Where To Eat Around Harringay

Midnight tantuni, focaccia sandwiches, borscht, and more.
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photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch

There’s no doubt that N4’s most famous stretch for eating is Green Lanes. The smoking ocakbasis, the glistening döners, the gözleme made from muscle memory. All are synonymous with a road that makes it, quite literally, impossible to depart hungry from. While Turkish and Kurdish grills make Harringay a gastronomic destination, they aren’t the only thing worth seeking out in this part of north London. There are pierogies and wood-fired pizza and, of course, there’s künefe for pudding.

THE SPOTS

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

Turkish

Harringay

$$$$Perfect For:Big GroupsCasual Weeknight DinnerCatching Up With MatesLiterally Everyone
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At the Harringay location of Umut 2000, you should be doing exactly what you do in their Dalston home, and that’s ordering an ginormous platter of lamb ribs. Fresh from the ocakbasi, fat sizzling, and meat perfectly pink and tender—these ribs are one of London’s great go-tos. Best of all is that this Turkish restaurant is much roomier. Made for big get-togethers and mixed grills all round.

Although you’ll find Durak Tantuni up towards Turnpike Lane, standing apart from the Grand Parade’s array of Turkish and Kurdish options, it’s essential to seek out. Your choice in the brightly lit Turkish restaurant is simple: a chopped and fried beef mixture laden with sumac and parsley; wrapped in dürüm or bread; big portion or small, single or multiple. Two regular wraps will do the job of pre or post-dinner snack, and it’s open until 2am. Don’t skimp on the piquant green pickled peppers that arrive at your table either.

Antepliler Künefe offers sugary pick-me-ups by the ladleful. The late-night Turkish dessert specialist on Green Lanes does one thing and one thing only: künefe. This cheesy pastry bathing in sugar syrup is deservedly the star of its own show. The crispy edges of wiry pastry—crunchy from the heat of the copper the pud is cooked in—are the best bites, but just be aware that this is a two-person job. Especially when a scoop of ice cream or clotted cream is added on top.

The big name on Green Lanes hasn’t got its clout for no reason. Gökyüzü is a reliable restaurant, as shown by the crowds of family and friends that will fill its gleaming dining room on a daily basis. Why does everyone come back to this Turkish institution? Because it never lets you down. Whether you’re craving their köfte or chargrilled aubergine smothered in yoghurt, Gökyüzü never disappoints. It’s a crowd-pleaser that’s always full of them.

Kofteci Metin is a self-proclaimed Turkish meatball enthusiast and a very good one at that. An Ottoman kebab at this big corner spot on Green Lanes, with or without cheese, is as juicy as you’ll find anywhere in London. And six mixed kebabs with bread, grilled peppers, and tomato chilli sauce for under £20 is very good going. Inside there are neon lights, tiled walls, exposed brickwork, and an enormous fake Picasso. If it feels like it’s been fitted entirely from one Wish order, that’s because it may have been. That said, the eclectic aesthetic works and there’s plenty of room for groups big and small to settle in for some serious kofte action.

When you commit to brunch at Dobar, you commit to waiting in a queue. How long depends on how early you get there, but the walk-in only halal brunch cafe on Green Lanes is popular for good reason. Whether it’s the hearty full English that arrives in a skillet pan, or the fluffy french toast covered in Nutella and fruit, this is the right way to start a Saturday. Or almost any day of the week for that matter. It’s comfortable enough inside, with groups piling in and food arriving swiftly.

The Dusty Knuckle is probably the best bakery in north London and their second location only reaffirms that. It’s big and airy, open from 8am, and full of their incomparably delicious morning buns. Come lunchtime, changing bits are put between two slices of their faultless focaccia or in the winter months, there are homely bowls of soup. It’s open on weekends for pizza nights and, if it was open through the early hours, we’d probably never leave.

It feels remiss to comment on booze first and foremost at a restaurant, but the frosty pints of pilsner being poured into tankard glasses at Autograf are wonderful things. Even better is when you pair them with a plate of pierogi, goulash, or schnitzel. The corridor-like Polish restaurant is an expert in homely fare and swinging by for a plate of steamed potato, cheese, and onion pierogi is an excellent after-work idea. Particularly given the vodka bar. Heads up, it’s cash-only.

Among the smouldering competition of Green Lanes’ ocakbasi grills, Diyarbakir is another reliable all-round choice for Turkish food. Lamb ribs and carefully spiced adana kofte are excellent while their lahmacuns, charred and blistered on the outside with an oozing smoky mince mixture in the middle, are brilliant handheld delicacies. If you’re overwhelmed by choice, confused or, worst of all, hungry on Green Lanes, then Diyarbakir is a guaranteed winner for groups big and small.

Gurmani is a warm Georgian restaurant near Turnpike Lane that feels like an exhale after a long day. It’s a nourishing, generous little spot where things like acharuli khachapuri are the priority. You’ll rip off hunks of fluffy, still warm bread before swirling and scooping into a gooey core of cheese and smooth-as-silk egg yolk. The mushroom khinkali are a good choice too—broth-filled dumplings that are far more effective than Lemsip—and while not every dish is technically perfect, a hunk of honey cake at the end will set you right.

Aesthetically there is nothing sunny or beach-like about the intersection next to Turnpike Lane station. It is, categorically, grey. But Sunny Beach Restaurant is another story. The greens and reds of plates of shopska salad light up almost every table. Cucumber, pepper, tomato, and a mountain of grated white cheese. Nothing about this Bulgarian restaurant is particularly smooth but there’s a Fawlty-ish charm to it and the food—big meat platters, hand cut chips, stews, and sour cream sauces—is hearty stuff that’s great-value.

When London’s weather turns bitter and spiteful, it’s essential to know where to go for a meal that’s warm and buttery in both feeling and flavour. Haringey Corbacisi is one of those places. The no-menu Turkish restaurant specialises in soups and stews—just wander up to the counter and see what’s on offer. Sade paca, a lamb and yoghurt soup made up of tender meat, a paddling pool of butter, and enough minced garlic to slay a vampire via soliloquy is a favourite.

If you’re in need of a quick, buttery, and satisfyingly slumber-inducing fix then Antepliler Döner is your answer. A serving of iskender here—chicken and/or lamb döner on flatbread topped with yoghurt, fresh tomato sauce, and hot butter—is precisely what no doctor would tell you to order. But given the mesmerising qualities of the glistening hunks of meat behind the counter, just try and resist. This isn’t just a Turkish takeaway spot and there are plenty of tables to get comfortable at. Also, it’s open until midnight.

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