EAT

1. Dar’s

A neighbourhood favourite for those in the know, Dar’s is a family-run Pakistani and Indian restaurant serving comforting, flavour-packed dishes from its tandoor and grill. The menu spans grilled meats and slow-cooked curries, all beautifully presented in earthenware plates and metal bowls. We love the creamy, spice-laced haleem – a rich stew of meat, lentils and wheat – and often order the tarka daal and lobiya, two lentil and bean dishes that are full of depth. From the grill, the chicken tikka is a standout, best mopped up with a flaky tandoori paratha. It’s BYOB, which only adds to the relaxed, convivial feel.

2. Jin Kichi

A Hampstead institution since the early ’90s, Jin Kichi is a cosy, wood-panelled spot known for its outstanding sushi and yakitori. It’s loved by locals so, booking ahead is wise. The menu is extensive, with skewers ranging from lamb and beef to quail eggs and chicken liver, all cooked over an open grill behind the counter. If choosing feels impossible, go for the Grill Set B, which offers chicken gizzards, quail eggs, chicken with onion, chicken liver and chicken wing skewers. Consistent, unpretentious and always delicious, Jin Kichi has kept its loyal following for good reason.

3. Sushi Masa

Another Japanese option, this one nearer to Kentish Town, is Sushi Masa, a ‘fine sushi bar’ serving exceptional sushi and fine sakes. We recommend opting for the eight or 10-course omakase, which will include sashimi, nigiri, kobachi, maki and miso soup. It’s all served one course at a time, and comes with an explanation from the welcoming and hospitable sushi chefs.

4. Kossoffs

A fourth-generation bakery with roots stretching back to the 1920s, Kossoffs continues a family tradition of Jewish baking that began in London’s East End. The latest outpost, opened in Kentish Town by Aaron Kossoff and Jo Clarke, blends heritage recipes with a modern café sensibility. Expect outstanding sourdough, morning pastries, salads and sandwiches, all made with carefully sourced British ingredients. Everything here is good, but the kouign-amann is the real draw: layers of croissant dough, butter, salt and Demerara sugar baked to caramelised perfection. Crunchy at the edges, soft at the centre, buttery throughout, it’s the kind of pastry worth planning your day around (as we often do).

5. The Southampton Arms

Wait, a pub in the ‘Eat’ section? No, not a mistake. While we love this place for its ever-changing line-up of ales and ciders from small independent British breweries, it’s the pork sandwich that keeps us coming back. A crusty-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside roll filled with roasted and pulled pork, sweet apple sauce and sharp mustard, all crowned with a shard of crackling – it’s simple, perfect pub food. Best enjoyed after a long winter walk on the Heath, with a pint in hand.

6. Mario’s Café

Making its second appearance on Scura, Mario’s Café was first selected by Su Demir (of @placesineedtogoandsee) in her Slower Guide to London. As Su wrote, “This one’s a special one… The owner chats away with regulars as if they were old friends (which, I’m sure, they are). It felt like I’d walked into someone’s living room.”

A Kentish Town favourite since 1989, its story actually started back in 1958, when Mario’s grandfather opened Tony’s Restaurant on the same site. The current Mario took over from his father and reopened the caff as Mario’s, swapping a would-be rock career for the rhythm of the breakfast rush. Nearly 40 years on, he’s still there behind the counter, chatting, serving and making everyone feel at home.

7. La Tana

We like this spot so much we recently had a Flawk/Scura team dinner here. La Tana handles Italian culinary traditions with imagination and experimentation, with chef Alessandro Napoli bringing fine-dining finesse to a relaxed neighbourhood setting, drawing on his travels and experience in some of London’s best kitchens. 

The menu shifts with the seasons, showcasing delicate combinations such as torched scallops with sea herbs or fregola Sarda with cime di rapa and pecorino. While the à la carte has plenty to tempt, we recommend the seven-course tasting menu, which captures the restaurant’s spirit of spontaneity and seasonality. Service is warm, the wine list leans Italian, and there’s a palpable sense of care in everything that arrives at the table, not least because chef Alessandro often serves himself.

DRINK

8. Pubs

Pubs are at their best when they are characterful, community-focused and have the odd eccentricity or two, and this part of London is special for playing host to a high concentration that have those traits in barrel loads. There’s characterful watering holes like The Pineapple (which locals once campaigned to have listed when it was threatened by development) and Tipping the Admiral, notable for its home cooked Caribbean food from local pop-up Vibe’n’Go. For serious beer heads the Southampton Arms’ selection of ales from indie British brewers is a go-to. For Sunday roasts, The Parakeet’s is travel-worthy and, unlike so much in London, lives up to its hype.

SHOP

9. Antique and Handmade Rugs

Highgate Road has two neighbouring shops that make it somewhat of a destination for lovers of textiles and craftsmanship. Oriental Rugs, established in 1885, is one of London’s oldest rug repairers and sellers, known for its extensive collection of Persian and Oriental pieces. Just a few doors down, Seneh Carpets specialises in rare and antique finds – Persian, Turkish, Afghan and beyond – with owners Said and M. Golparvar continuing a three-generation family tradition. Together, they form a charming duo, and always a source of intrigue, if not the odd impulse purchase.

10. Hellenic Bookservice

Yes, there are other independent bookshops worth visiting in the area – most notably Owl in Kentish Town, which has been going since 1974 – but in a city where rent rises, chains and the ease of online shopping often conspire to flatten anything niche, it feels important to celebrate somewhere as singular as Hellenic Bookservice. 

Founded in 1966 and still run by Monica Williams, this specialist bookseller is dedicated to the classical world. Its shelves are stacked with volumes in Latin, Ancient and Modern Greek, from ancient history and mythology to literature and language, alongside posters, music and games. Believed to hold one of the largest collections of Classics and Modern Greek books in the world, it remains fiercely independent. As Monica told the Hellenic Society recently: “Amazon is in competition with me!”

11. Parliament Hill Farmers Market

This Saturday farmers market isn’t radically different from others to be found across London, with Parsons Ridge sausage sandwiches and Wild Country Organics being dependable regulars. But its position inside the Heath makes this much-loved market as much a weekend ritual after a long walk as it is a place to shop. In true farmers’ market fashion, what’s on offer changes with the months: wild garlic in March, rhubarb in April, strawberries in May, cherries in July, and game by October. We like to start with a sausage butty and wander the stalls without a plan, just an appetite for whatever’s freshest that week.

CULTURE

12. Isokon Flats & Galley

Making its second appearance on Scura – first chosen by Su Demir in her Slower Guide to London – the Isokon Building remains one of Hampstead’s most remarkable modernist landmarks. Designed by Wells Coates for Jack and Molly Pritchard and completed in 1934, it was Britain’s first reinforced-concrete block of flats and an early experiment in minimalist urban living.

Once home to Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer and Agatha Christie, its tiny “minimum flats” were conceived as efficient machines for living, served by a communal kitchen that later became the Isobar restaurant. After decades of decline, the Grade I-listed building was painstakingly restored and today still houses residents, along with the Isokon Gallery in its former garage. The gallery tells the story of the building’s radical past and is well worth a visit.

13. 2 Willow Road

Another of Su Demir’s picks from her Slower Guide to London, 2 Willow Road is architect Ernő Goldfinger’s 1939 red-brick modernist masterpiece and his former family home. One of a trio of terraced houses overlooking Hampstead Heath, it balances geometry and warmth: exposed concrete columns, strip windows and a sculptural central staircase designed by Ove Arup.

Inside, Goldfinger’s ideals of function and flow play out in a series of beautifully proportioned rooms that still feel strikingly liveable. Now cared for by the National Trust, it opens to the public twice a week for tours that reveal its original furniture, art collection and the pioneering ideas that Goldfinger would go on to apply to larger scale projects such as Trellick Tower.

NATURE

14. Heath

It feels almost wrong to neatly categorise Hampstead Heath into one little caption under the ‘Nature’ section of this guide, when so much of the appeal of this part of town revolves around the many and varied things to do in its 790 acres of woods, fields, ponds and vantage points. On a clear day, head up to Parliament Hill for its protected view of the London skyline before taking a dip in one of the heath’s four swimming spots: three ponds and one lido – extra kudos for those braving the water in winter. For a less extreme morning, head to Kenwood House and its grounds, where you’ll find sculptural works by Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth. Sundays were made for long Heath walks that – depending on your stamina – might see you venture into its northern extension or connecting Golders Hill Park, and should always end at a pub: The Wells Tavern, The Spaniards Inn and The Holly Bush all being worthy of your consideration.

15. Kentish Town City Farm

Tucked between two railway lines, Kentish Town City Farm is one of London’s oldest city farms. Its four acres are a calming patch of green where goats, donkeys, pigs and chickens live side by side with vegetable beds and community gardens. Run as a charity since the 1970s, it helps city dwellers reconnect with animals, nature and the benefits of outdoor life. 

The farm runs school visits, riding lessons and therapeutic programmes, as well as gardening projects for locals of all ages. It’s free to visit, open daily, and always full of life, whether that’s children feeding the goats or volunteers tending to the gardens.