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Where to Eat When Canvassing in Hendon

Sensational salt-beef sandwiches, Korean fried chicken, Schroedinger’s chaat, and more

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Hendon is one of those pesky constituencies that eggheads like to call ‘bellwethers’: an area that has flipped back and forth between parties depending on the government in power. Solidly Labour up until 2010, it has been held by the Conservatives since. This year three separate parties hope to win it, meaning it has some of the busiest canvassers in the city. As the most diverse area in an affluent borough, it also has one of the best dining scenes, from its Pakistani and Afghani restaurants in West Hendon, to Romanian cafes in Burnt Oak, a Chinese scene in Colindale and Jewish sandwich shops in Edgware and beyond. Here are the best places to fill up before, or after, a long day.

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Eater maps are curated by editors and aim to reflect a diversity of neighborhoods, cuisines, and prices. Learn more about our editorial process.

33 Station Rd

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Pretty much every area worth its salt — Camberwell, Golders Green, Shepherds Bush — needs a

place that does falafel, ideally with shawarma. At the simply named ‘Falafel’ it’s possible to

order any conceivable combination of Kermit-green falafel, halloumi, and shawarma, all of which

are perfectly portable for a weekend of walking the Edgware beat.

B & K Salt Beef Bar & Restaruant

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In the days before Monty’s Deli, a schlep up to Edgware was the way to great salt beef. Today, it’s still worth 45 minutes on the Northern line to visit John and Michael Georgiou’s Ashkenazi-Jewish deli, rewarded with arguably the best deli sandwiches in the city. If pastrami is the meat of choice of New York’s delis then London’s is surely salt-beef, austerely seasoned and thick sliced, perfectly rosy with flavoursome inlets of fat. Here, it’s the melt-on-the-tongue tongue that is the standout, the texture of meat fudge melded with mustard and caraway. 

Salt beef and chopped salad at B&K salt beef bar in west London B&K Salt Beef Bar/Facebook

Brasseria Timisoreana

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Not many people know that Burnt Oak is home to London’s largest population of Romanians, and one of the few places where their restaurants exist in concentration. Brasseria Timisoreana is one of the best on the stretch and a great introduction those those unfamiliar with the cooking of one of the most significant European immigrant communities in the city: from hearty Romanian soups to mititei (spiced sausages).

Bang Bang Oriental Foodhall

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On the border of Hendon (and technically outside it by about 5m), Bang Bang is the food hall that sprung up phoenix-like from the ashes of the old Oriental City. With an outpost of Golden Dragon for dimsum on the ground floor and around 20 stalls spanning the food of east Asia from regional Chinese to Malaysian, Korean and Taiwanese bubble tea, this is one of the few places anywhere in London which could feed a big group of canvassers and have something for everyone.

Instagram/@bangbangoriental

Challah sandwich specialist Kululu has only been open for a month or so, propping up the counter of a kosher deli in Hendon called ... Hendon Kosher Deli but it’s already one of the best things in the area. Elad and Ella assemble Israeli-Moroccan sandwiches the size of new-borns that let the fillings speak for themselves: baloney thin salt beef, sticky steak and onions, or chicken schnitzels as thick as escalopes. One of London’s best sandwich shops.

K.Cook Korean Restaurant

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Cosily hidden on Hendon Way, K Cook deserves to be more well known outside of the Hendon central. Come here to warm up with bubbling lava cauldrons of budae-jigae, shimmering with slices of tofu, or some of the best Korean fried chicken outside of New Malden.

805 Restaurants Hendon

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Hendon’s branch of 805 may not be quite as good as the iconic Old Kent Road original, but this is still one of the better Nigerian restaurants in the area and lively until well into the night. Pair neon orange jollof with any number of stews, or their signature Monika fish flash fried with stacked fingers of yam.

Aladin Kebabish

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If London stopped sleeping on its Pakistani restaurants they would change: Schroedinger’s chaat. Aladin’s Kebabish in West Hendon is being slept on by many but it doesn’t matter to about one thousand Pakistan families: it is one of the few restaurants that come close to capturing the essence of Karachi and the must-order dishes make up the “holy trinity”: haleem, nihaari and Karachi qorma, the latter of which is one of London’s best curries

Baba Wali Restaurant

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One of the best Afghani restaurants in London, Baba Wali has slowly become one of Hendon’s most indispensible restaurants, particularly to the local Afghani community. The range of kebabs is stellar but make sure to pair them with Qabuli Palow with each rice grain sheened with lamb fat, and excellent mantu dumplings.

33 Station Rd

Pretty much every area worth its salt — Camberwell, Golders Green, Shepherds Bush — needs a

place that does falafel, ideally with shawarma. At the simply named ‘Falafel’ it’s possible to

order any conceivable combination of Kermit-green falafel, halloumi, and shawarma, all of which

are perfectly portable for a weekend of walking the Edgware beat.

B & K Salt Beef Bar & Restaruant

In the days before Monty’s Deli, a schlep up to Edgware was the way to great salt beef. Today, it’s still worth 45 minutes on the Northern line to visit John and Michael Georgiou’s Ashkenazi-Jewish deli, rewarded with arguably the best deli sandwiches in the city. If pastrami is the meat of choice of New York’s delis then London’s is surely salt-beef, austerely seasoned and thick sliced, perfectly rosy with flavoursome inlets of fat. Here, it’s the melt-on-the-tongue tongue that is the standout, the texture of meat fudge melded with mustard and caraway. 

Salt beef and chopped salad at B&K salt beef bar in west London B&K Salt Beef Bar/Facebook

Brasseria Timisoreana

Not many people know that Burnt Oak is home to London’s largest population of Romanians, and one of the few places where their restaurants exist in concentration. Brasseria Timisoreana is one of the best on the stretch and a great introduction those those unfamiliar with the cooking of one of the most significant European immigrant communities in the city: from hearty Romanian soups to mititei (spiced sausages).

Bang Bang Oriental Foodhall

On the border of Hendon (and technically outside it by about 5m), Bang Bang is the food hall that sprung up phoenix-like from the ashes of the old Oriental City. With an outpost of Golden Dragon for dimsum on the ground floor and around 20 stalls spanning the food of east Asia from regional Chinese to Malaysian, Korean and Taiwanese bubble tea, this is one of the few places anywhere in London which could feed a big group of canvassers and have something for everyone.

Instagram/@bangbangoriental

Kululu

Challah sandwich specialist Kululu has only been open for a month or so, propping up the counter of a kosher deli in Hendon called ... Hendon Kosher Deli but it’s already one of the best things in the area. Elad and Ella assemble Israeli-Moroccan sandwiches the size of new-borns that let the fillings speak for themselves: baloney thin salt beef, sticky steak and onions, or chicken schnitzels as thick as escalopes. One of London’s best sandwich shops.

K.Cook Korean Restaurant

Cosily hidden on Hendon Way, K Cook deserves to be more well known outside of the Hendon central. Come here to warm up with bubbling lava cauldrons of budae-jigae, shimmering with slices of tofu, or some of the best Korean fried chicken outside of New Malden.

805 Restaurants Hendon

Hendon’s branch of 805 may not be quite as good as the iconic Old Kent Road original, but this is still one of the better Nigerian restaurants in the area and lively until well into the night. Pair neon orange jollof with any number of stews, or their signature Monika fish flash fried with stacked fingers of yam.

Aladin Kebabish

If London stopped sleeping on its Pakistani restaurants they would change: Schroedinger’s chaat. Aladin’s Kebabish in West Hendon is being slept on by many but it doesn’t matter to about one thousand Pakistan families: it is one of the few restaurants that come close to capturing the essence of Karachi and the must-order dishes make up the “holy trinity”: haleem, nihaari and Karachi qorma, the latter of which is one of London’s best curries

Baba Wali Restaurant

One of the best Afghani restaurants in London, Baba Wali has slowly become one of Hendon’s most indispensible restaurants, particularly to the local Afghani community. The range of kebabs is stellar but make sure to pair them with Qabuli Palow with each rice grain sheened with lamb fat, and excellent mantu dumplings.