Islington has a huge amount of restaurants, with the majority of them along Upper Street. But which are the ones you should be paying attention to? Here's our list of the best in the area...

Islington has a hot new pasta place that's already pulling the crowds in. We went to take a look. 

7/4/22 - updated with opening date

Last year, Korean fried chicken giant Pelicana opened its first London store, in Hammersmith. Now they're heading across town, picking Islington for their second branch.

They're taking over a site that was last Jones & Sons spot in the Angel Central shopping centre. There will be a takeaway outlet on the ground floor (as you enter the centre from Upper

Islington's waited a while for a pasta restaurant and soon there will be two within a few feet of each other. Hot on the heels of Noci opening on Islington Green, Italian chain Miscusi is opening nearby on Upper Street (where Masala Zone used to be). 

Miscusi opened its first London restaurant earlier this year where it suffered a pretty duff review ...

24-hour restaurant specialists VQ (which stands for "Vingt Quatre") have a brand new site lined up - they're coming to Islington. 

Taking over the space that used to be Comedor, they'll be right on Upper Street and you can expect the same kind of menu as the other VQs (in Chelsea, Bloomsbury and Aldgate). The main event is their "Breakfast Any Time" which, as you might expect, means that you

Hot off the back of the huge success that Bunsik has had in Charing Cross with its corndogs, we now have the Korean giant Myungrang Hot Dog heading our way. With branches dotted all over the world from the Philippines to Singapore and Taiwan, the new restaurant in Angel will be the group's first

A look at a chef or manager's CV while it doesn't tell you everything about them, does give you a fairly good indication of what to expect. So when we heard that the team who are reopening the Islington pub The Baring worked at places including Dabbous, Kerridge's Bar and Grill, Orasay and Six Portland Street we felt quietly confident that it would be an interesting opening.

The team in question are chef Rob

We do like a floating restaurant (the Cheese Barge is a thing of wonder) and this latest restaurant on the water sounds like another very promising addition to Regents Canal. Caravel comes from brothers Fin and Lorcan Spiteri who have taken over a restored barge next door to Studio Kitchen (on the canal between Hoxton and Islington) and converted it into a

If you prefer your morning coffee to come with a side order of goodwill, then a new cafe opening in Angel next week sounds like just the place for you.

TRAMPOLINE is a new social enterprise cafe by Founder Pranav Chopra on Camden Passage which is all about helping refugees to the UK enter the workforce. How they do that is by working with Groundwork London and Hotel School a hospitality training

They've been popular in Chelsea (they even got a visit from Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston) and now Mexican restaurant and bar Mezcalito is heading to Newington Green.

Food-wise, it'll be the same as the original - a mix of tacos, quesadillas, burritos and small plates. That includes: 

• Mexican Bao - Mexicanised Bao Bun, choose from Chicken Tinga OR Pulled Pork

A Hot Dinners exclusive

He had a big hit with his dishes at Bancone, before moving onto Tavolino, and now Louis Korovilas is opening an Italian pasta restaurant in Islington (taking over from the Cote on Islington Green).

At this new restaurant, you can expect a combination of Italian street food and pasta dishes. Of the former, the fritti are the main

If you're hoping to broaden your view on wine and maybe break a little bit of out your comfort zone, then the arrival of new Islington wine bar and shop Must & Lees is for you.

Newly-opened on Liverpool Road, this is the passion project of drinks expert Chris Cassell. Having worked in the booze industry for 15 years, doing everything from managing cocktail bars to working in the English wine industry, he

Try this new Island Poké with its taste of the Pacific on Islington's buzzy Upper Street.  

Updated 4/10/21 with opening dates

Jolene Bakery and its offshoot Big Jo have been a huge success story of the past few years - you only have to see the queues snaking down from both during lockdown to know that.

They have three new openings planned for this year, two of which they have now opened. The first was in the summer, opening in Shoreditch on Redchurch Street and

17/9/21 - updated with the reopening date

It's been closed since the very first lockdown, but the time is nearly upon us for the return of Black Axe Mangal - in a new form.

Lee Tiernan's Islington restaurant has been a big hit since day one and has been lauded by many (including us) as one of London's very best places to eat. Their squid-ink flatbread is among one of our favourite dishes in London and we also think that