Selene Restaurant (Camden Town)

Walk down Camden Road and you'll find yourself in a warm, intimate space where the smell of charcoal and saffron hits you before you've even sat down. Selene does the Persian classics without pretension—think perfectly charred lamb kebabs, fluffy tahdig rice with a proper crispy bottom, and stews that have clearly been simmering for hours. The room has this unpretentious charm, the kind of place where locals actually book tables and regulars get proper looked after. Service is genuinely friendly rather than fussy, which somehow makes the whole thing feel more special.