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Maki Mayo/Official

The 9 Best Places to Eat in Tottenham

Stunning wood-fired pizza, legendary fried chicken, an exquisite Turkish grill and more

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62,000. That’s the capacity of the new stadium that Tottenham Hotspur will move in to later this year – built on the existing site of the former 36,000 White Hart Lane – and the attendant upsurge of activity in N17 that has been ticking along over the past year is no coincidence: no doubt about it, the new home for Spurs is the main thrust for everything happening in the area. The first flickerings of a Tottenham uplift began a couple of years ago, and once it was confirmed that the club would indeed be staying in the area rather than gallivanting across to another postcode, it felt like someone, somewhere, pressed a button labelled GO for all things food and booze related.

Now it seems like a further gear-shift has kicked in, with impending openings including The Bluecoats pub (with Lucky Chip burgers) and the West Green Tavern (reopening with ‘craft beer and pizza’). Eater London has also caught wind of the news that Bistrotheque have secured the site of the former Chicken Town in the old fire station (a Mexican influenced opening, as yet unnamed). Spending all day in Tottenham, on a non-match day, is now a go-er.

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Pembe Sultan Kebab

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A new kebab shop/restaurant on Fore Street, with a view of the new stadium from the upper floor and huge ceiling to floor windows. Goksel Öztekin is a barber by profession, and he is something of a local feature on this strip with his shop a few doors away. He’s put a lot of effort into the details here, beginning with what is probably the biggest mangal for miles, dominating the front of the restaurant, imported from Turkey. The quality of the döner meat can be seen from the window, proper meat, evident from the layering. They make them here on site, with their own mix of spicing and seasoning, allowing for less guilty stop-offs after a game. There’s lahmacun here too, as well as above-average quality lamb and chicken shish.

Chick King

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This legendary chicken shop needs no introduction for long time visitors to White Hart Lane, positioned right opposite the stadium on the High Road. Run by the twin Tryfonos brothers since 1981, the fried chicken here defies all preconceived notions of what a ‘chicken shop’ usually is. The chicken itself is several notches higher in quality than any of the generic ‘Cottage’, Dixie’, ‘Tennessee’ or endless variants, the spicing and frying is deft, the chips bemusingly tasty, and the whole place is run with military efficiency — the queue snakes out of the door on match days — making for unerringly good fried chicken. £1.80 for a thigh and chips? Yes, Chick King is always worth a detour, even if a match isn’t being played.

Chick King fried chicken restaurant in Tottenham, London Zomato

The Antwerp Arms

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The Antwerp Arms celebrates three years since the pub was saved by local residents — The Antwerp Arms Association — who clubbed together to buy it and prevent it falling into the clutches of land developers who had earmarked it for building flats. With a history stretching back to 1822, it is now a community owned pub with volunteer committee members managing the business on behalf of over 370 shareholders. A 5 minute walk from the stadium, this is one of Tottenham’s ‘good news’ stories. There’s an old Joanna in the corner for impromptu singalongs, and seeing as Chas & Dave have just released their first album in 30 years to feature new songs, there’s every chance they may rock up one night. Chef Wayne serves classic pub fare Thursday-Sunday.

The Antwerp Arms

Wine ‘n’ Rind

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Cheese and wine, you’re ‘aving a laugh? Well, with the news that there will be a ‘cheese room’ somewhere behind the posh seats at the new stadium, the laughter has already stopped thanks to Holly Chaves’ wonderful bijou spot in the recently revamped Holcombe Market, near Bruce Grove.

Currently the biggest champion of the Breville® toastie machine, Holly’s deviously good combinations have recently included the ‘cacio e pepe’ toastie, the ooze of cheese with a healthy addition of cracked black peppercorns — the wine license is due to be granted soon.

The High Cross

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There hasn’t been a decent new pub in Tottenham for what feels like a long, long time, so the opening of The High Cross is a cause for celebration. Alex Beeston and Chris Johnson have taken over the derelict public convenience at the junction of the High Road and Monument Way — and what an absolute gem. A sensitive refurb that has preserved much of the original tiling, with draught beers including local breweries Bohem and Redemption. Good homemade sausage rolls; excellent pork pies from Bray’s cottage; roast beef sandwiches on the bar; £10 roasts on Sunday — the Platonic ideal of a London pub has landed, a short walk from Seven Sisters tube.

JOKA Sushi

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A hole-in-the-wall, take-away sushi joint run by one man, Joseph Cuarentas. A recent arrival on a non-descript drag a short walk away from Seven Sisters, in Unit 10 on a site off the High Road, this spot is easy to miss, but it’s worth persevering even if it takes a few moments of muttering “where the F…” while walking up and down.

It’s an unexpected place to find uramaki and maki spicy tuna rolls made to order, as is everything else, from heaving platters crammed with nigiri, sashimi, futomaki and inari rolls filled with seaweed, to Donburi rice bowls, crunchy sushi rolls with salmon teriyaki, and gyoza dumplings and miso soup — a gem in the making.

Maki Mayo

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A new addition to West Green Road, the bustling stretch leading from Seven Sisters to Turnpike Lane — a road where there is still plenty of potential for more openings — this Korean-accented spot started out popping up in Brick Lane and around Shoreditch in 2014, owned by Gary and his mother Ah Mooi Luh. The menu roams across ‘Gangnam’ fried chicken, their take on the classic sweet and spicy Korean version (excellent), a booze soaker-upper of Tteok-bokki (Korean rice cakes, instant noodles, eggs, prawns and enokiu mushrooms), Korean kimchi rice, katsu sandwiches, and an assortment of gyoza, wontons,  tempura prawns, crispy duck buns, deep-fried spare ribs and Laksa noodle soup. A very promising new arrival, heralding this road’s nascent uplift.

Maki Mayo/Official

Five Miles

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Five Miles is a bar, club and brewery (Hale Brewing) on Markfield Road, opening last year on the industrial estate, adding to the excellent Craving Coffee opposite. Haringey council’s Opportunity Investment Fund, one of the many regeneration opportunities available in N17, allowed owners Mark Shaffer and Mark Hislop to begin the project. Twenty taps line the long bar, everything from Pressure Drop and Beavertown around the corner, to negroni and gin and tonic. Food pop-ups have featured at weekends outside, such as Decatur, Wine ‘n’ Rind and current residency Torshi’s Levantine menu of Yemeni falafel, fried chicken with zhoug mayo, mojarda fried rice and pickles.

Loven Presents

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A wood-fired Neapolitan pizza joint in an arts space off Broad Lane — a notoriously edgy strip between Tottenham Hale and Seven Sisters — on an industrial estate reminiscent of the early days of the Williamsburg scene in Brooklyn, NYC. A speakeasy-esque entrance takes a while to find, with access gained by pressing the buzzer of a heavy metal door (after dodging the bins lined up close-by) and heading up the stairs. The pizzas slung out are excellent, whether it’s the margherita D.O.P. for the purists, yellow tomato and ‘nduja, or sausage and burrata with ricotta and black olives.

Pembe Sultan Kebab

A new kebab shop/restaurant on Fore Street, with a view of the new stadium from the upper floor and huge ceiling to floor windows. Goksel Öztekin is a barber by profession, and he is something of a local feature on this strip with his shop a few doors away. He’s put a lot of effort into the details here, beginning with what is probably the biggest mangal for miles, dominating the front of the restaurant, imported from Turkey. The quality of the döner meat can be seen from the window, proper meat, evident from the layering. They make them here on site, with their own mix of spicing and seasoning, allowing for less guilty stop-offs after a game. There’s lahmacun here too, as well as above-average quality lamb and chicken shish.

Chick King

This legendary chicken shop needs no introduction for long time visitors to White Hart Lane, positioned right opposite the stadium on the High Road. Run by the twin Tryfonos brothers since 1981, the fried chicken here defies all preconceived notions of what a ‘chicken shop’ usually is. The chicken itself is several notches higher in quality than any of the generic ‘Cottage’, Dixie’, ‘Tennessee’ or endless variants, the spicing and frying is deft, the chips bemusingly tasty, and the whole place is run with military efficiency — the queue snakes out of the door on match days — making for unerringly good fried chicken. £1.80 for a thigh and chips? Yes, Chick King is always worth a detour, even if a match isn’t being played.

Chick King fried chicken restaurant in Tottenham, London Zomato

The Antwerp Arms

The Antwerp Arms celebrates three years since the pub was saved by local residents — The Antwerp Arms Association — who clubbed together to buy it and prevent it falling into the clutches of land developers who had earmarked it for building flats. With a history stretching back to 1822, it is now a community owned pub with volunteer committee members managing the business on behalf of over 370 shareholders. A 5 minute walk from the stadium, this is one of Tottenham’s ‘good news’ stories. There’s an old Joanna in the corner for impromptu singalongs, and seeing as Chas & Dave have just released their first album in 30 years to feature new songs, there’s every chance they may rock up one night. Chef Wayne serves classic pub fare Thursday-Sunday.

The Antwerp Arms

Wine ‘n’ Rind

Cheese and wine, you’re ‘aving a laugh? Well, with the news that there will be a ‘cheese room’ somewhere behind the posh seats at the new stadium, the laughter has already stopped thanks to Holly Chaves’ wonderful bijou spot in the recently revamped Holcombe Market, near Bruce Grove.

Currently the biggest champion of the Breville® toastie machine, Holly’s deviously good combinations have recently included the ‘cacio e pepe’ toastie, the ooze of cheese with a healthy addition of cracked black peppercorns — the wine license is due to be granted soon.

The High Cross

There hasn’t been a decent new pub in Tottenham for what feels like a long, long time, so the opening of The High Cross is a cause for celebration. Alex Beeston and Chris Johnson have taken over the derelict public convenience at the junction of the High Road and Monument Way — and what an absolute gem. A sensitive refurb that has preserved much of the original tiling, with draught beers including local breweries Bohem and Redemption. Good homemade sausage rolls; excellent pork pies from Bray’s cottage; roast beef sandwiches on the bar; £10 roasts on Sunday — the Platonic ideal of a London pub has landed, a short walk from Seven Sisters tube.

JOKA Sushi

A hole-in-the-wall, take-away sushi joint run by one man, Joseph Cuarentas. A recent arrival on a non-descript drag a short walk away from Seven Sisters, in Unit 10 on a site off the High Road, this spot is easy to miss, but it’s worth persevering even if it takes a few moments of muttering “where the F…” while walking up and down.

It’s an unexpected place to find uramaki and maki spicy tuna rolls made to order, as is everything else, from heaving platters crammed with nigiri, sashimi, futomaki and inari rolls filled with seaweed, to Donburi rice bowls, crunchy sushi rolls with salmon teriyaki, and gyoza dumplings and miso soup — a gem in the making.

Maki Mayo

A new addition to West Green Road, the bustling stretch leading from Seven Sisters to Turnpike Lane — a road where there is still plenty of potential for more openings — this Korean-accented spot started out popping up in Brick Lane and around Shoreditch in 2014, owned by Gary and his mother Ah Mooi Luh. The menu roams across ‘Gangnam’ fried chicken, their take on the classic sweet and spicy Korean version (excellent), a booze soaker-upper of Tteok-bokki (Korean rice cakes, instant noodles, eggs, prawns and enokiu mushrooms), Korean kimchi rice, katsu sandwiches, and an assortment of gyoza, wontons,  tempura prawns, crispy duck buns, deep-fried spare ribs and Laksa noodle soup. A very promising new arrival, heralding this road’s nascent uplift.

Maki Mayo/Official

Five Miles

Five Miles is a bar, club and brewery (Hale Brewing) on Markfield Road, opening last year on the industrial estate, adding to the excellent Craving Coffee opposite. Haringey council’s Opportunity Investment Fund, one of the many regeneration opportunities available in N17, allowed owners Mark Shaffer and Mark Hislop to begin the project. Twenty taps line the long bar, everything from Pressure Drop and Beavertown around the corner, to negroni and gin and tonic. Food pop-ups have featured at weekends outside, such as Decatur, Wine ‘n’ Rind and current residency Torshi’s Levantine menu of Yemeni falafel, fried chicken with zhoug mayo, mojarda fried rice and pickles.

Loven Presents

A wood-fired Neapolitan pizza joint in an arts space off Broad Lane — a notoriously edgy strip between Tottenham Hale and Seven Sisters — on an industrial estate reminiscent of the early days of the Williamsburg scene in Brooklyn, NYC. A speakeasy-esque entrance takes a while to find, with access gained by pressing the buzzer of a heavy metal door (after dodging the bins lined up close-by) and heading up the stairs. The pizzas slung out are excellent, whether it’s the margherita D.O.P. for the purists, yellow tomato and ‘nduja, or sausage and burrata with ricotta and black olives.