Cheap eats in Angel and Islington: Best food under £10

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Ailis Brennan12 April 2019

Islington’s Angel might just have the most romantic moniker of any area in the capital – it’s significantly better than Cockfosters, anyway.

There's much more to fall in love with than just the name, of course, largely thanks to the north London hotspot’s ever-magnetic restaurant scene.

The hustle and bustle of Upper Street is naturally a go-to for picking up some of the best food in the area, but straying just a few streets from the thoroughfare promises some absolute gems.

From Japanese noodles to pasta aplenty, Turkish flatbreads to well-stacked burgers, take a look at our pick of 10 heavenly dishes you can find in Angel and Islington for less than a tenner.

Abura soba at Kanada-Ya - £9

Kanada-Ya is one of London’s most celebrated ramen sellers, serving up superlative noodle soups at three locations across the capital, including a spot on Upper Street. The ramen dishes here largely eke out of the £10 price range but only just – £10.90 will get you a classic pork tonkotsu and a vegetarian version comes in at £10 exactly. Alternatively, £9 will get you a dish of abura soba, a bowl of its homemade soba noodles that has no soup, but is packed with sesame sauce, bamboo shoots, onsen egg, seared chasu pork belly and seaweed.

35 Upper Street, N1 0PN, kanada-ya.com

Lamb offal flatbread at Black Axe Mangal - £7.50

Islington has a real gem on its hands with Black Axe Mangal. A heady mix of Middle Eastern food and heavy metal music may not be the most alluring combination on paper for many, but trust us, it works. Some pretty innovative cooking comes out of the fiery Turkish mangal oven here, with a constantly changing menu having featured the likes of “crispy f***** rabbit” and a “smoked mutton sizzler”. The only non-mover on the menu is the lamb offal flatbread – its mix of citrus, herbs and richly flavoured meat is just so good – and popular – they can’t take it off.

156 Canonbury Road, N1 2UP, blackaxemangal.com

Croque Madame at Bellanger - £8.50

This neighbourhood brasserie comes from the team behind the likes of West End favourites The Wolseley, The Delaunay and Brasserie Zedel, but you’ll find it charming the residents of Islington Green. While not quite as commanding as its better known counterparts, Bellanger swaps grandeur for comfortable Parisian cool. Main dishes on the grand cafe-style all day menu are largely beyond the £10 budget, but tuck into jambon blanc and gruyere cheese in a Croque Monsieur for £7.25, or add a fried egg for an £8.50 Croque Madame. The Prix Fixe menu of £14.25 for two courses, £16.75 for three is also excellent value.

9 Islington Green, N1 2XH, bellanger.co.uk

Tagliarini verde with nettles, nutmeg and egg yolk at Trullo - £10

Before Padella was causing queues for pocket-friendly pasta in London Bridge, Trullo was showcasing Italian cooking in Islington. Tim Siadatan, who is behind both restaurants, has his team hand roll the restaurant’s fresh pasta minutes before service, and the rewards are tangible. Dishes from the oven and charcoal grill cost more than a tenner, but portions of pasta are almost always £10 and under, including this springtime dish of tagliarini verde flavoured with nettles, nutmeg and a wobbling egg yolk.

300-302 St Paul's Road, N1 2LH, trullorestaurant.com

House fry at Chick’n’Sours - £9

Seaweed crack: House Fry at Chick 'n' Sours

Fried chicken is always budget-friendly – and at Chick’n’Sours you can upgrade your standard chicken shop experience and still not break the £10 mark. This haute fast food stop, one of London's best for chicken, mixes the savoury indulgence of herb fed fried chicken with sour Asian-inspired accompaniments. The House Fry dusts a fried drumstick and thigh with salty seaweed nori, and serves them with a portion of pickled watermelon on side for £9.

62 Upper Street, N1 0NY, chicknsours.co.uk

Avocado on sourdough toast at Sunday - £9.50​

It’s not hard to guess which day of the week local favourite Sunday is most popular. Brunch is the speciality at this neighbourhood cafe, and at weekends its offerings often warrant quite a queue. £9.50 will get you sourdough toast topped with avocado, chilli flakes, lemon, rocket and seeded crackers. Alternatively, for £10.50, you can get a teetering stack of buttermilk pancakes that come topped with crisp streaky bacon, berry compote, maple syrup and a lump of melting honeycomb butter for good measure.

169 Hemingford Road, N1 1DA, @sundaybarnsbury

The Dead Hippie at MeatLiquor N1 - £9.50

Sometimes – more often than we should probably admit – only a double-pattied, sauce-dripping burger will do. The alarmingly named Dead Hippie at MeatLiquor on Upper Street always delivers in a time of need. Two beef patties are fried in French’s American mustard, before being stacked up with melting cheese, pickles, minced white onions and lettuce, all laced with healthy dollops of secret-recipe Dead Hippie sauce. No hippies are harmed in the making of this burger. We hope.

133B Upper Street, N1 1QP, meatliquor.com

Taglierini, fagioli, pancetta at Radici - £9.50

Trullo isn’t the only place on Upper Street to offer tantalising tagliarini. At Francesco Mazzei’s Islington restaurant Radici, homely Italian recipes are given a sophisticated twist. A tenner will get diners anything on the snacks and cicchetti menu, a margherita pizza or this hearty pasta portion: strings of taglierini pasta are served with white fagioli beans and nuggets of salty pancetta in a broth-like sauce.

30 Almeida Street, N1 1AD, radici.uk

Pecan pie at Plaquemine Lock - £7

Islington may be where north London begins, but Plaquemine Lock is taking its punters to the Deep South. This American restaurant comes from chef Jacob Kenedy, best known for starting up Theatreland favourite Italian restaurant Bocca di Lupo. In heading up north, he’s swapped risotto for gumbo, serving up Louisiana-style soul food inside a pub by the lock. Dishes are served at a fixed price for your choice of one, two, three or four courses – this will take you to over a tenner, but the value is astounding. For £7, however, you can get your chops round an indulgent slab of pecan pie.

139 Graham Street, N1 8LB, plaqlock.com

Fried oysters at Prawn on the Lawn - £3

Prawn on the Lawn already gets the thumbs up for a solidly entertaining name, but its fairly priced, high quality seafood offering is even better than its moniker. The restaurant has expanded from a seafood bar and fishmongers, and now boasts a Padstow location in Cornwall too. It’s pretty tricky to say what will be on the menu when you visit, as the offering changes daily dependent on what the fishermen bring in. Dishes include the likes of a whole crispy red mullet with lemon and olive oil for £10, and hake with feta, dill and mint for £8.50. One constant are Jersey or Porthilly oysters, served deep fried with garlic creme fraiche for £3 each.

292 - 294 St Paul's Road, N1 2LH, prawnonthelawn.com

100 delicious dishes in London that cost less than £10

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