The Best Restaurants in Stoke Newington

The menu at the Good Egg is inspired by a wide mix of references – Tel Aviv’s street-food stalls, classic Jewish delis, Middle Eastern flavours and grand old cafés in Montreal and New York. The exciting food has made this one of the area’s most popular brunch spots, but it’s also well worth dropping by for dinner. The evening menu may not feature any eggs, but it has a great range of breads and Middle Eastern delights, like baharat roasted pumpkin with black tahini and yoghurt, za’atar fried chicken thighs with chilli honey and house labneh with preserved lemon. The Good Egg also has a nicely curated list of biodynamic and artisan wines to complement all those punchy flavours, and you’ll find treats from babkas to baklavas here.

The informal decor at Perilla, with its old tiled floor and raw walls, doesn’t give you much of a hint when it comes to what you’ll find on the plate. But the pared-down interior is a great fit for Perilla’s modern European food. Dishes like octopus bolognese and aged pork chop with sea kale both look beautiful and taste fantastic. You can eat à la carte or try the tasting menu, which is set at a reasonable price considering the high standard of the cooking. Don’t miss the cocktail list, either, as Perilla infuses its own gin and vodka in-house and also makes homemade soft drinks.

Located in what was formerly a garage (the old shop signage has been kept intact), Primeur is a masterclass in simplicity. There are communal and counter seats, low intervention wines, menus that are handwritten daily and European small plates (pork collar with apple and fennel, courgettes with basil and parmesan and plum and almond tart) that let the ingredients shine. There’s nowhere to hide here, which is what makes the experience of dining at Primeur stand out even more.

Osteria Wolf brings seasonal and regional Italian food to Stoke Newington with its wonderfully concise menu. There are only a handful of pastas, rather than pages and pages of different sauces, complemented by dishes like risotto with crayfish, wild garlic and nasturtium, and tasty small plates of salad and charcuterie. Of course, you’ll still struggle to whittle down your order, but with its dark wood, marble and green accents and cocktails made with home infusions, Osteria Wolf is a lovely place to linger over a meal.

A welcome addition to the Stoke Newington area, Jolene in nearby Newington Green is everything a local restaurant should be. Its unpretentious, cosy interior brings to mind rustic French and Italian eateries, and the menu is written on a blackboard daily. Ingredients are local, and Jolene, sister restaurant to Primeur, also functions as a bakery and has excellent bread. But it’s the pasta that’s the star of the show – wonderfully flavoursome ravioli, cavatelli, tagliarini and many others. There are also larger main courses such as monkfish and roast chicken, and with a menu that’s changing all the time, Jolene will always surprise you.

Rasa might sound niche – the bright-pink restaurant specialises in south-Indian vegetarian cuisine – but this is a restaurant for everyone. Delicious dishes such as dosas, potato balls, dumplings and wonderful veggie curries at affordable prices make Rasa an eternal north London favourite. The food is local to Kerala, on India’s Malabar coast, and all of the restaurant’s pickles and chutneys are homemade. Make sure to order something from every section of the menu for a proper feast that won’t break the bank, and enjoy the vibrant colours of both the interior and the food.

Stoke Newington isn’t short of pubs, but when it comes to gastropubs, there’s one clear winner. The Prince, on the picturesque backstreet Kynaston Road, is spacious and popular and has some of the best food in the area. There are small plates, including buttermilk chicken and oysters, as well as burgers and sharing boards, classic pies, risotto and great roasts at the weekend. As you’d expect in Stoke Newington, there are also some good vegetarian options. The dedicated dining area is right next to the garden and in the summer you can eat outdoors. Choose one of the pub’s many craft beers from independent breweries to complement the food, and chill out with the local crowd.

Additional reporting for this article was contributed by Cajsa Carlson.

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