Cacciari’s Islington

Upper Street's got no shortage of restaurants, but Cacciari's does something refreshingly straightforward: it cooks proper Italian food without the theatre. You're looking at handmade pasta dishes that taste like someone's nonna spent time on them, the kind of place where regulars book weeks ahead and actually mean it. The room itself is warm and unpretentious—think exposed brick, decent lighting, the sort of neighbourhood spot that doesn't need gimmicks. Service is attentive without hovering, and the wine list knows what it's doing without being exhausting. This is the sort of place you go back to, not because Instagram told you to, but because the food actually delivers.