Any nice restaurants in the Highbury Corner vicinity?

Bridget

Hello,

Im meeting a friend for dinner at Highbury corner tonight and wondered if there are any nice restaurants to go to there.

Gill Wing isnt there any more I dont think. Think there might be a Thai?

Thanks!
Bridget

injoke

i like tblisi - georgian restaurant just up holloway road. georgian cheese bread is a much better idea than it sounds, especially with stuff like spiced livers with pomegranate seeds, some nice tarragony lamb stew. depends whether you're into that kind of thing i guess but it's an interesting experience, fantastic house red too oi reckons.

unaesthetic

i second tbilisi - it's fantastic. and the georgian wine is great - "tmada metsvane" or something like that. there's lots of good veggie options too, it's not all liver and lamb!

tosscat

Morgan M's nice.

slats

possibly a little too far down upper st, but you can't beat Le Mercury or Gem...

hellojo

I like Gem on Upper St near Highbury - Kurdish I think, with lovely stuffed bread made on a hot plate at the front, and free baklava and icecream often.

underscore_cue

The stingray cafe at highbury barn is pretty good.

wisteria53

also Iznik at Highbury Barn - Turkish, but different to SGR favourite Petek

underscore_cue

I haven't tried Iznik. I work in the area, hence been to stingray for lunch.

My thoughts on Iznik have always been its 2 quid or so more for the dishes than peteks and it can't possibly be any better....

Its like Nairns oat cakes. You just wouldn't try any others because how can someone seriously say their oatcakes are better than Nairns? It would take someone with a lot of courage to do that. In waitrose their own brand of oat cakes _actually cost MORE_ than Nairns - so thats basically what they're saying. I haven't tried them because obviously they're not going to be as good. Waitrose = cheeky fuckers in this case afaic.

Obviously you've tried both Iznik and Petek, is Iznik better in some ways? Should I give it a go for lunch.......

underscore_cue

IF you say it is worth me going, and I then go and think that in some ways its better than peteks - then I will try the waitrose oatcakes

wisteria53

I have to say that we haven't been there since Petek's opened on SGR. I would have to eat there again to be able to compare. It was the quality of the meat they used in the dishes that made it out of the ordinary. Apparently, a few years ago the butcher at Highbury Barn ate at Iznik and told the owner that he could provide them with quality lamb at a better price than they were getting previously. Personally stick with Nairn oatcakes when I have an urge for some.

injoke

Hmmm, perhaps it's time to give Petek's a go. Since my few years living off grand parade I've stuck rigidly to my assumption that the better Turkish restaurants on that strip are the best in Western Europe let alone North London, and have consequently contemptuously turned my nose up at the likes of Petek's without giving them a try.

ben

Which, in your view, is the best around Grand Parade?

injoke

i have favourites depending on what exactly i want, but i can't remember the names of half of them. i'm in that area tonight so i'll refresh my memory of which is which and get back to you.

injoke

although most of these places are really very similar i am fond of:

harran: for kebabs and soups. particularly if you're taking away, their large shish with rice at £6 is storming, you get kebab, rice obviously, half a loaf of bread, lots of cacik and chili sauce in a seperate container, lots of salad in a seperate container, and a 20 minute walk home really doesn't do it much harm.

gokyuzu: for stews, particularly their lamb and aubergine.

bingol: good mixed grill, and some good lunchtime starter-and-kebab for a fiver deals.

and the one on the east side of the road, one block towards turnpike lane from the barclays is a good all rounder, can't remember the name though.

with all of these however, when you're eating in, the bread can be a bit of a lottery. most of the time you get a basket of lovely fresh bread that's been warmed on their grill. every now and again they'll give you a basket of bread that's clearly been heated and re-heated on the grill several times and is a wee bit mank. stand for it not.

it might be that petek's whoops all of these, i'll definitely endeavour to find out.

underscore_cue

Ye on green lanes I like yayla up there on the left if you're going north, same thing and you're right its all about the bread, less good when they're quiet. will try harran next time.

Peteks is on another level though. Went there again at the weekend its just by far the best for taste and its also amazing value.

injoke

clearly i must go to petek's. it's rare to see such unanimous approval of something on the internet, there's "the wire" and petek's.

andy

I don't like Petek, but I tend to keep it to myself.

Ali

It will be interesting to see if they can keep up the quality once they expand into the old Indian next door ?

ShaunG

Hurrah, someone else who isn't bowled over by Petek. I've only been there the once so not a very strong basis for comments, but I thought it was just a more expensive and not quite as good version of several unglamorous Turkish places I used to go to in Tottenham. I've yet to see the wire, but it's next on the list, so then I'll know if I'm just contrary.

David

I know others who don't like Petek. I think this site should give it a good kicking, its possibly the only venue in the area that hasn't had one from us and we should fix that.

Philistine'sMonster

It's just kebabs done all posh, like.

I always need help with the menu. Except for the sea bass, it seems (to my uneducated taste buds) to be very slight variations on the same dish depending on whether you like yoghurt or not.

It's like the Spam sketch on Monty Python.

JoeV

@David – Thanks for providing such a perfectly concise sentence of perfection that proves why Stroud Greeners get the mediocrity they deserve. Why not roll the owner and steal his mobile while you’re at it?

Philistine'sMonster

There’s that word again: Mediocrity. It’s an adjective for students and know-it-alls, and, I suspect, quite befitting of the people that use it. And if I may steal a tag from the ever entertaining Tosscat: “Yaaawn”

Seriously, though, no offence intended, but some people want their wrists slapping, they really do. Come on, kiddiwinks, Stroud Green Road mediocre? Whaaaaat?! BFFFFLLLAK!

Where did these people live before they came here? I really want to know because I’m moving to this paradise of diversity. Honestly.

I wonder who’s responsible for suddenly deciding what stands for good taste for the rest of us? Have they read a book, or has someone cleverer than them lectured their silly, tunnel-visioned, impressionable minds about what’s fashionable these days? Bless ‘em.

Fer chrissakes. It’s only a restaurant. Eat a pasty and enjoy yerself.

xxx

Phil.

injoke

does anyone else really need a pasty now?

Philistine'sMonster

Greggs in Crouch End do a good deal on their famous Indigestion Pasty. Stand outside eating it. All the puff pasty falls off, and then ten million pigeons descend at your feet and dance for their supper.

Ewwww!

unaesthetic

i don't understand why it's hard to grasp that there's going to be a spectrum of opinion about everything - even the holy petek. it seems that any time a dissenting voice crops up on this site, whole swathes of melodramatic accusations follow. it doesn't matter if the heretics are having a moan or praising something. (e.g. the few people who had a good word to say for front room, the few who don't like petek)

surely the point of this site is to share honest opinion (and banter) about our much-loved local area? it's safe to assume that everyone on here likes the place, right? if we didn't, we'd move away or spend all as much time as possible elsewhere - and we sure as hell wouldn't join a web forum for talking about the local caffs.

i believe in the democracy of the internet. everyone has a voice. even if one person wants to praise the otherwise-scorned or knock the revered, there should be a place for that opinion.

now who's being melodramatic?


oh and phil, "mediocrity" is a noun. :P

Philistine'sMonster

I wouldn't know. I never use the bleeding word. But thanks, sir.

JoeV

Liking or disliking a certain restaurant or any other establishment for that matter, and saying so in an open forum, was not the point.

What bothered me was the 'Let's get 'em and take 'em down because we can' attitude. It has nothing to do with voicing an opinion.

Philistine'sMonster

David was joking, I think. At least, that's the impression I got.

Looking forward to the word melodramatic being used now. We''re getting through the dictionary slowly.

JoeV

Perhaps David was joking but I've never met him (or her) so I really wouldn't know.