exciting restaurants in north london ?

[stevenjf]

i live in hampstead and am needing to find some thing new for 2007 . i enjoy the freemasons , cafe japan , the bull , l'aventure , dim t ,nahling , the pump house , fredericks for eg and i am wanting to find some new places in and around the area .
anyone know of some new or reliable places ?
nothing run of the mill please !
cheers
steve

[Scott1983]

I saw the AA Gill review in the Time's too and decided to head on down to XO myself to see what all the fuss was about. I must say, how wrong can one man be. I had a fantastic evening (me and my date): the food was delicious, the wine list as equally impressive and such stylish surroundings. The hostess there was very welcoming and the staff were very knowledgable about the food (id only every eaten at Great Eastern Dining Room once before). I live way out in East London and will definately we going back as it's so worth the trip.

[mighty_ one]

A.A. Gill gave XO a shockingly bad review in last weekend's Times.
Whether that pushes you closer towards making a reservation or running away like your hair is on fire, I'll let you decide.
-mighty

[stevenjf]

i went to XO last week and apart from very nice surroundings the food was poor and the prices very high . the menu is organised in a confusing way and the whole place is up its own backside . forget it and dont waste your money

[smartie]

The Wells in Hampstead - Well Walk?

[Tony Finch]

Morgan M is "exciting". On the Islington/Holloway borders.

[howler]

nice tip! what do they do especially well?

[irishgirl]

It's been a while since I was there (haven't been to London for a bit, or I would be in there regularly), but I seem to remember a whole leg of lamb, wrapped in a banana leaf, which was gorgeous! Their curries etc were all great, and I liked the tej (mead type drink). Enjoy!

[irishgirl]

Tobia in the Ethiopian Community Centre on Lithos Road, off Finchley Road is really good, best Ethiopian place I've been to. Not very done up, but nice atmosphere and great food.

[oonth]

A few thoughts:

Eriki (imaginative Indian) - Finchley Road (near Swiss Cottage)
Taro (sushi and Japanese grill) - Finchley Road
Singapore Garden (South East Asian) - Fairfax Road (South Hampstead)
Mulan (Chinese) - Rosslyn Hill/Chalk Farm Road
Muang Thai - Chalk Farm Road
Gung Ho (Chinese/Szechuan) - West End Lane

[Howard V]

You don't mean Home near Old Street do you? I hope not . . .

[shaidr]

Home was great...maybe "run of the mill", but truly standout execution.

[fifi]

Not sure how local you want it to be, but there is the new XO -
http://www.rickerrestaurants.com/ (from the people who did E&O) in Belzise Park and also they've just done up Odette's and its had some good reviews.

[howler]

that 'nothing run of the mill' sounds a lot like fawltys 'no riffraff.'

have you tried the czech and slovak house in west hempstead? and the parsee in highgate?

[stevenjf]

nothing run of the mill means exactly what it says , nothing boring , average or ordinary and certainly nothing like basil faulty would be happy with . i am trying to find some new places with good food and atmosphere thats all .