This Spanish-influenced spot is much more on trend with contemporary London dining than many of its neighbours. The bread comes from Hedone, and the menu features small plates like courgette flowers, goat’s cheese and honey and Iberico pig’s cheeks with parsnip puree; diners tend to leave this place very happy.

Regularly described as Hampstead’s best restaurant, Jin Kichi’s elevated reputation lies both with its precisely executed Japanese cuisine and willingness to experiment. Thus, crunchy chicken gizzards and beef tongue are on the menu along with more conventional sushi and skewers from the robata grill. One of London’s few true izakayas.

This Italian spot serves a range of salads and pastas, but to be honest it would be missing the point if to not come to L’Antica one of London’s finest Neapolitan pizzas. Choose from a ‘Dante Aligheri’ to the more full-on ‘Massimo Troisi,’ at around £10-12 on average.

A perennial Hampstead favourite thanks to its revered Sunday lunches, there is also a great deal of appreciation from walkers on the nearby Heath for the Wells’ hearty, traditional cooking, which includes a burger that those in the know frequently cite as one of the area’s best.

Hampstead’s other acclaimed Italian spot. Received wisdom dictates that the pizzas aren’t quite up there with L’Antica’s, but that it excels in other areas, not least much-praised pasta dishes including the scallop and king prawn paccheri. Prices reflect the postcode, and are therefore far from cheap.

Reputedly local resident model Kate Moss’ favourite spot for a drink, the Red Lion & Sun has evolved from an unexceptional boozer into an acclaimed gastropub. Dishes include crispy fried Korean chicken wings and confit duck leg with pancetta, and there’s a fine selection of interesting wines, too.  

Although it doesn’t quite have the reputation that it had when it opened (and the Scotch eggs became famous overnight), this celeb-haunted gastropub just down from Highgate still does a superb line in game and fish. The Full Bull breakfast, at a tenner, comes strongly recommended. Its Sunday Roast is still among the city’s best.

Although it’s not to be confused with Fergus Henderson’s St. John restaurants, this Archway pub shares a similar interest in provenance and using the whole animal, so expect pig’s head terrine and curried lamb shoulder along with cauliflower raclette and kid goat pappardelle. The wine list rightly gets lots of attention, too.

Matt Osborne departed the dearly departed Ledbury to open this elegant neighbourhood restaurant in NW6, but his ambitious opening menu has been dialled back a little towards comfort — now featuring taramasalata; ‘nduja croquettes; a salad of tomatoes, goats cheese, and olives; and pollock with peas, potatoes, and seaweed sauce.

A bulwark against modern life’s encroachment on pubs, that also has one of the outright best beer lineups in the city and serves truly elite roast pork or chip baps. If this doesn’t sell it, all hope is lost.

Whether at the pleasingly gnarled communal table or squidged into a leather sofa, this friendly space between Belsize Park and Chalk Farm has a calming atmosphere. Cakes are baked on the premises with coffee from London stalwarts Square Mile, while a steady all-day breakfast menu dovetails with lunch options focussed on careful sourcing. It might not be reinventing the wheel, but warm hospitality in an inviting space with plenty of outdoor seating doesn’t exactly need an overhaul.