From Crouch End to Willesden

Saturday, September 28th , 2024

Les 2 Garcons serves French bistro food, but the chef has a dazzling fine dining background, and his class shines through in the cooking. Duck confit with puy lentils was a particularly good dish, and warm foie gras on apple tart with caramelised onion was even better. This is top-class cooking, all in the unlikely setting of Crouch End. The locals are so lucky to have this, and the restaurant is quite hard to book. This is a real hidden gem. 

Roka caused quite a stir when it opened on Charlotte Street in 2004. It offered pan-Asian dishes in a smart setting, with an open kitchen where you could watch chefs grilling dishes over charcoal. There is now a global empire of Roka branches, but the original branch is still serving the same style of dishes and is still packed to the gills two decades on. Prawn tempura and chicken skewers were well made, and it is easy to see the appeal of the place.

Kadiris has been serving biryanis and assorted north Indian dishes in Willesden since 1974. I have to say that the biryani is pleasant but unremarkable, but a side dish of aloo gobi was good and an aloo papri chaat starter was really excellent. This all comes at a modest price, and certainly this is a good local restaurant.