Eat in Stoke Newington and Newington Green (stoke-newington), London

Black Axe Mangal ★ 4.6

Lee Tiernan's ocakbasi-influenced Turkish-British flatbread room near Canonbury station in London, opened 2015, runs the city's loudest dining room and an offal-forward charcoal grill.

Signature: Lamb offal flatbread, Lahmacun

Order: Lamb offal flatbread and kissed-cod lahmacun, soundtracked by whatever Iron Maiden record is spinning.

Tip: First-come, first-served from 18:00. Closed Sunday and Monday. Cash and card; no booking, no compromise.

Jolene ★ 4.6

Jeremie Cometto-Lingenheim and David Gingell's bakery-cafe on Newington Green in north London, opened 2019, runs sourdough, simple pasta lunches and a serious wine list at night.

Tip: The Brixton arch sibling on Atlantic Road is the south-London twin. Both close by 16:00 on weekends.

Worth the queue: Olive oil cake

Mangal 2 ★ 4.4

Mangal 2 Turkish ocakbasi on Stoke Newington Road in north London, trading since 1994, runs charcoal-grilled lamb adana, doner, lahmacun and pide in the Dalston Turkish grill cluster.

Try: Turkish ocakbasi grill (lamb adana, doner)

Tip: BYOB; £3 corkage. Open until midnight Mon-Sun. The artist Gilbert and George are regulars; their original Mangal is across the street.

Black Axe Mangal ★ 4.6

Lee Tiernan's ocakbasi-influenced Turkish-British flatbread room near Canonbury station in London, opened 2015, the city's most chef-loved walk-up dining room.

Why locals love it: A loud Iron-Maiden-soundtracked ocakbasi flatbread room tucked off a residential Canonbury street in north London, walk-up only since 2015.

Tip: First-come, first-served from 18:00. Closed Sunday and Monday. Cash and card; no booking, no compromise.