Ottolenghi - Islington in Islington

A great lunch along our journey.

Delicious food, wonderful service and ambience! Always wanted to visit and try the food as we love cooking Ottolenghi recipes at home.

I never knew my mouth could have an orgasm. Honestly the best dinner I’ve had in 6 years of living in London. Unspeakably good food and super friendly service. I’m also a huge fan of sharing dishes, as well as eating at a big table with other guests. Very reasonable price too. 2 of us spent 100£ in total for 2.5 dishes each AND a bottle of wine. Perfect.

amazing chocolate and hazelnut brownie!

We picked this for a casual lunch. We understood when booking that we would be at a shared table, this was fine for us. The table was uncluttered, we had space and didn’t feel encroached on by our neighbours. Choice was excellent for our group of 4, 2 persons with adventurous tastes, 1 person with food intolerances and a picky vegetarian (that’s me😳) We all enjoyed our meals and are looking forward to returning to try different dishes. 3 of us had dessert and hot drinks, again lots of choice and we were all pleased with our choices and discussing what we’ll try next time. Service was friendly and attentive especially considering how busy it was. Wouldn’t hesitate to recommend or return.

Great environment, service and variety of healthy food. I strongly recommend it!

Cakes are good quality, coffee is OK. My main issue is the fact that they charge a premium to have a cake inside (an additional £1.50) making the cake £7, and then they add on a service charge on top. This makes the coffees over £4 each too, and if you'd like oatmilk coffee, that's £4.50.

Awesome salads, very tasty. The spices and marinade were natural and made the taste of the dish unique. I liked the cheesecake as well.

Extremely rude and unprofessional staff making fun of customers right in front our faces. What a disgrace of an establishment

Initially was underwhelmed by the menu at first glance but everything we ordered was delicious, especially the sweet potato salad and the broccolini. Quite pricy for the portion sizes and the restaurant is small but great ambience!

As always with an Ottolenghi creation, this too is a delightful culinary experience. Unfortunately I wasn’t too hungry so I only tried the labaneh and the aubergine, both delicious!

Thanks to Atkin who made our experience unique, great food and amazing staff

Delicious food and very reasonably priced, the service was very friendly and the atmosphere was very welcoming

Piece of cold cake , small , no yoghurt or cream on a plate , better to have at home where at least you serve it beautifully. Expensive and disappointing . Coffee good. If you are offered water remember it will be a bottle you are charged £5 for and not a free pour.

Fantastic breakfast, Italian style bakery with table service and takeaway option. Really good carrot cake as well as the muffin with fresh blueberries! Large choice of original homemade desserts.

Returned to eat here for the first time in years, fearing that standards might have slipped. Not at all. Is still fantastic. Ordered five dishes, all excellent and interesting. The only thing I don't love is the plastic chairs, which I find uncomfortable. Otherwise, a delight.

Chocolate orange cake with custard was great, and so was the lamb kofta. Crispy aubergine was not as flavorful as expected.

Loved it here. Came here for a catch-up with a friend over cake - what else it's Christmas. We had aple cake with Earl Grey and the devilishly chocolately hot chocolate with polenta cake. All was delicious 😋 Our only complaint was that we'd like to have had larger pieces of cake! Good service, seated almost immediately, and a friendly environment. We had one of the tables for 2 down the side- not sure if would have been the same cosy experience on the long shared table.

A todos nos encantan las recetas de Ottenlenghi y la comida es sabrosa, pero es muy cara por lo que es. Me quedaré en casa. El personal es educado y amable.

Good food. Note that if you are dropping in, the standard food offerings are not warm so if you want a hot meal be sure to grab a table.

I was overcharged substantially. I called them as the price on the website or the price tag at the restaurant was much lower than what I was charged and since I was not given a bill, I had no idea what I paid extra for. I called them and they casually confirmed the overcharged, then asked me to walk back in the rain to get the refund. When I walked back in the rain, their untrained staff had no clue what was going on and the manager seemed like she was doing a favour refunding me. Charging incorrectly did not really seem like a big deal to her as she was quite indifferent and absolutely unapologetic. I was quite taken aback. I walked in to the store to buy a sweet treat for a friend’s birthday, but left the store a second time with a rather unpleasant experience.

It was my first time eating at Ottolenghi Islington and I must admit it was a rather average experience. The food quality was very average, I had an aubergine salad which was actually burned and very hard with no flesh inside so had to ask to change it into sth else. Mimosa coctail was also super average and lacking flavour. It's a shame really that it's so hard to get decent meals in London these days even in a place like this. I think ppl would come and eat as they are so used to very average food in the UK unfortunately.

Great food and some of my favourite cakes/treats, dinner service has become patchy recently - seated late and found it difficult to get served/receive the bill

Delicious food as always. Sabina went above & beyond with her service. Thank you! xx

We had a lovely lunch at Ottolenghi Islington - I loved the decoration, the food and the very attentive staff. Had to buy a lot of spices afterwards to take home as I am an avid fan of Yotam Ottolenghis recipes and proud owner of nearly all his cook books;-)

Very nice food ! Service was very good ! We had a great time

Food and service amazing!!! Definitely I will come back

Simply fabulous in every way and perfect pre-theater if you’re seeing a show at the Almeida and if not, come after 7 for a more leisurely meal!

He sido fan de Ottolenghi durante bastante tiempo, habiendo disfrutado de varias comidas excelentes en el pasado. Sin embargo, mi reciente visita me dejó impactado por la disminución en la calidad del servicio. Desde el momento en que llegamos, no nos sentimos bienvenidos, como si estuviéramos interrumpiendo a los miembros del personal que parecían más interesados en charlar entre ellos que en atender a los clientes. Esta falta de atención fue decepcionante, especialmente dados los altos precios en el menú, que esperaba reflejar un cierto nivel de servicio y ambiente. Desafortunadamente, el ambiente era deslucido, contribuyendo a una experiencia general que no coincidía con el costo. Es descorazonador ver un lugar una vez - gran lugar local perder su encanto. Como de costumbre, no volveré, especialmente cuando hay muchos otros restaurantes en Islington que ofrecen mejores precios y una bienvenida más cálida.

Convenient access and good reception from the front desk. The room is clean and has a bathtub. A kettle and tea bags are provided. I would like the hair dryer to be placed in the bathroom rather than in the room. The bed is high and difficult for short people. The room facing the road was noisy all night even with the window closed. Breakfast has a small number of items, but is delicious. As there are many group visitors, we recommend using the service before 8am.

Been coming here for years as a special treat/occasion. One of my favourite, maybe my absolute favourite, places in London. Had a delightful evening, from the lovely service to the ambience to (of course) the food. Everything we ate, from the bread to the cauliflower to the aubergine to the spectacular lemon labneh mascarpone cake was brilliant. Thought the price was actually pretty reasonable considering we had wine and cocktails. Would thoroughly recommend.

The food tasted good and was reasonably priced. It was just very loud and the long table meant there was a lot of noise right next to you. The waitresses preferred to talk to each other in groups rather than serve guests. You were also almost thrown out after you were done eating. I hadn't quite finished eating when the plates were already cleared away.

You will leave the place very satisfied. An excellent lunch, an informal environment. The cuisine is exquisite and spicy. Advised.

I expected more. Food without much flavor and expensive in relation. bad service

A perfect evening with incredibly good food. Very noisy, but still worth a visit!

I went there for lunch with my friend and I see why this place is so popular. The quality of food was excellent and a very generous portion. I would highly recommend this place!

I am coeliac and was disappointed in the gluten free options at breakfast. No completely GF options, no GF bread to substitute. Ordered the middle eastern breakfast (without pita) and left hungry.

Amazing food. Great service. The room is a bit compact and doesn't elevate the meal

The most curious thing about this place was the central “communal“ table that many people are seated at. The food is good but a bit pricey.

Lovely food, great service and amazing ambience. Our waitress was delightful. Highly recommend the toasted aubergine and lamb kofta. their dinner ambiance feels a lot nicer than lunch. Great for date nights.

Always fabulous food! The sea bream was the best I’ve ever had! Crispy skin and delicious flavours! Service friendly and fast.

Very tasty deserts, vegan options as well. Friendly service

I first visited only 4 weeks after it opened. After about 17 years I return to find little has changed - and that is a good thing. Tasty food with friendly, efficient service.

Ambiente y la comida era agradable, no muy buena relación calidad-precio, pero sabroso, sin embargo, estábamos sentados 15 minutos después de nuestra reserva, tardaron siglos en servirnos, que estaba bien, ya que estábamos allí celebrando, pero antes incluso de tener nuestro último principal en la mesa que estaban preguntando sobre el postre. Dije que no habíamos terminado nuestra red y me dijeron que necesitaban la mesa de vuelta. Luego nos pidieron que nos mudáramos, pero nos dieron postre gratis. El postre estaba seco. Es una mierda ya que estábamos aquí para celebrar y el servicio era malo. Añade un amortiguador a la celebración

Amazing place and ambience but food was abit let of a down as I ordered a bread board which on the menu seemed really good but wasn't as I got toasted sourdough bread which was really hard and over baked . Also the manager was rude when I complained ! My daughter and I were the only Asian people there but regardless ethnicity shouldn't be a problem where you eat or visit!! I don't understand if you don't have people's skills why work in such places honestly I was really disappointed. I had high expectations as I've always followed Ottoleghi on Instagram and was excited but I don't think I will visit anymore!!

I eat here about 7 or 8 times a year. Standards (and portions) have notably dropped in the past six months. On my most recent visit some of food was burned and the allegedly crispy pakoras were a solid mass of soggy stodge. Hopefully things improve!

Busy place with pleasant staff. Their bread is delicious.

I really enjoyed my lunch at Ottolenghi. Friendly and very efficient staff, nice atmosphere and delicious food. I loved my salmon fishcakes. I had them with 2 salads and I was very full. So I skipped dessert, even though their cakes look delicious. Just as a small criticism, my green beans were too raw for my taste. Everything else was perfect.

Usually a big fan of Ottolenghi but this was disappointing. We ordered lebneh, buratta and pork belly, and a fourth dish that never arrived. The lebneh was very well made but the portion was tiny, just a small smear on the side of a bowl, and lots of chips. Lebneh is strained yoghurt, not caviar! The buratta was quite nice, but nothing special. The pork belly was the one genuinely good dish. For drinks we both ordered a cocktail and they were awful, just like dull flat pink lemonade. My partner had about two sips of hers, I drank a little more of mine but didn't finish it. The food wasn't bad for sure, just one with an offensively small portion, one fine, one very good. But we are used to everything being wonderful. The service was also a bit of a challenge. Our table wasn't ready when we arrived (previous guests still there), one of our dishes didn't come, and to get the bill I had to go upto the counter to ask - couldn't attract the attention of any of the staff. No one asked if we enjoyed the meal or indeed (perhaps fortunately) and no one followed up on the dish that didn't come. We definitely wouldn't return to this venue, although are looking forward to going back to the venue we usually go to.

Lugar simpático con un montón de pasteles estupendos. Sin embargo, había elegido un desayuno más saludable (huevos revueltos y salmón) que era delicioso celestial

My wife wanted to eat here for her birthday and I didn't know what to expect but wow what an amazing experience, the food was excellent and the service was discreet and friendly. I'd happily go back again.

Nice atmosphere. Cool setting. Food was ok, I expected better. We got the lamb kofta and the pork belly. Pork belly was better, lamb kofta I've had better. Also the buratta was not great.

Left with marveling taste buds, full tummies, some vegan/GF salads, granola (fave in all the world), a chocolate chip cookie (not my fave at all bc texture was so uninteresting and flavor was… flat) and wishing we live nearby bc TASTY! Fairly priced meal at about £40 for two with coffee and tea. Partner noted coffee was good but VERY strong (added my milk to stomach it). Shakshuka wasn’t very spicy but was interestingly seasoned and the eggs nicely runny. Partner’s eggs were gorgeous and delicious with lovely texture atop a good toast. The side salad was a charmer, too. Now -back home in the states - doling out granola sparingly and not sharing 🙂

Used to be great. Once first started you can feel the vibe, the intention and the effort. Last night however was disastrous... Pretentious atmosphere with mediocre food that couldn’t back it up and prices not reflecting reality (i.e. £16 for burrata with a bit of jam and nuts - yes, they are also nuts). Next time, just walk across the street, to Terra Rossa and enjoy real food. Ah and before I forget: fix that shitty attitude, you’re in the service industry.

Just delicious. Every salad was 11/10 and fish was fresh ❤️‍🔥

Very very disappointed. We thought you were good chefs, yet you could not offer anything to a Vegetarian with an inability to eat seeds or nuts. If it was an allergy, then I could understand a little, as the kitchen may not be set up to allow for this. But that was not the case. Just a vegetarian dish with no nuts or seeds. When speaking to the manager asking what he could cook for me, even a plate of Asparagus would be great, so I wouldn’t just sit and watch my friends eat, he said that was not possible! We managed to coax him into cooking a plate of Asparagus, just plain Asparagus. Brilliant! Disappointingly the Asparagus arrived with a dressing containing seeds. Will not be going back.

It's great food and lovely place with fresh flower arrangements that smell divine 😊 just bare in mind they don't serve hot food for lunch, so even roast chicken or quiche were cold and this wasn't marked on the menu. Greeting at the door wasn't the best as well, we've asked if we'd get a table to eat in and person behind the counter asked if it's for lunch we said yes and that was it, no further interaction until someone else greeted us from the restaurant. Salads and quiche though we're very nice and I'd love to come back to try dinner menu

Got takeaway - food is pretty good but just doesn't justify the eye watering price. I know this is Islington but borders on parody to charge so much for a salad bar. Wasn't exceptional either. Service is so lacklustre, the girls just stare at you like you're scum for talking to them lol

Standout dishes - mushrooms and aubergine. Excellent service - Manager of the restaurant was very friendly, attentive and oversaw a great team. Restaurant vibe was lovely. Excellent value for the price paid (40pp) Sep 2024 update - mushrooms were incredible as usual but additional standout dishes were the salmon fishcakes and pork belly

Pricy brunch but food was acceptable. Ordered the grilled salmon paired with 2 salad sides. Salmon was completely cold.

Excellent !!!!! J'ai mangé le meilleur carrok cake . Les légumes sont merveilleusemt magnifiés, tout était délicieux. Un passage obligé quand on vient à Londres,comme vous l'avez compris une adresse incontournable...

Absolutely loved the delicious variety of salads which were on offer and freshly baked cheese twist for lunch. Also indulged in the hazlenut and ricotta cake which tasted heavenly...so moist and full of flavour! Staff were lovely and took good care of us. Thank you 🙂

A wonderful place. Excellent food.

Had late family lunch. My parents are visiting us for holiday from Seoul and I wanted to bring them special place to try extra ordinary. It was very successful!! They loved it so much. We ordered 4 main menus and 8 salads. Most ingredients are familiar but flavours were magical. We are still saying we really enjoyed at Ottolenghi. I think we will be returning in the next weekend. Thank you Ottolenghi Upper street!! We were very happy today and we will remember this summer holiday with “Ottolenghi”.

It’s always a pleasure looking at Ottolenghi window display of their beautiful salad platters and assortments of cakes and pastries. For lunch, I ordered the selection of 2 salad and salmon as mains. Food was cold, if you prefer it that way. We ordered the carrot cake and pain au chocolate for desserts and enjoyed it. The ambiance is lovely and we were told that they had just renovated. Service is good.

Sea bass and daal was amazing but daal cold, the burrata dish was gorgeous and I love the use of vegetables here! Amazing dessert choices but the communal 15-20 people are seated table is not ideal. The ambiance is quite nice and staff are great

Delicious vegetable-forward food at a reasonable price. The mushrooms and their new crispy aubergine plate are both outstanding. The service is also top-notch. My friend sprained his ankle and was on crutches, and the staff went out of their way to give him a bag of ice (with refills) to ice his ankle. Finally, the pastries are so satisfying. All around a great experience.

Busy place when I visited in the evening...all tables full. Reservations a must. Delicious food and very special.

Amazing food in a gorgeous restaurant! The aubergine was sensational

I can’t wait to have lunch here again. Love the concept.

Reliably friendly and quality food. Breakfast is low key, the salads and desserts are amazing for lunch and dinner.

I used to be an Ottolenghi regular - Upper St and Notting Hill - and always love the food.. I'd not been for 6 months or so and was delighted to see it's as good as ever. I was also pleased to have such great service - very attentive, courteous and helpful. Our waiter went the extra mile to find out how much chilli was in each of the dishes to ensure one of our party with a slight chilli allergy would not be affected. Great recommendations too. First rate.

We went for dinner here and it was lovely! The food was 10/10 and the waiter who served us, Atkin, was really attentive and gave us great recommendations for the food & wine. The pork was amazing! Will definitely be going again!

Beautiful place. I had shakauka,middle eastern breakfast and granola which were delicious. Thank you Tam for all recommendations.

Highly recommended, fresh and well cooked food, balanced spices and balanced flavours. The place is very clean and well looked after, with works of art on display which make the atmosphere truly pleasant and relaxing. Very courteous and polite staff, approachable, ready on the dishes offered and attentive to allergens and vegan choices. Good good good!

Absolute worst service I have experienced in decades. The waiter was sarcastic, rude, and passive aggressive from the moment our table of 5 sat down. For each request or order we made, he countered with an argument. He even told us that this famous middle eastern inspired restaurant was "out of olive oil." The manager seemed to be aware of the problem, but we still had to suffer through it. I agree with the previous review that said this staff person is a liability. I won't be back.

The waiter was absurdly arrogant & argumentative; upon being asked for one extra tiny saucer of olive oil, he said it was impossible, “The restaurant is completely out of olive oil,” & so it went. Also we were told he had not returned to take our dessert order because we had not boxed up our leftover beet salad. This for a party of 5 spending £400. On the principle that if you resent your job, punishing those you are forced to serve is worthwhile.

Best food I ever had in my entire life. And the waiter could be a standup comedian.

Food delicious, service great, not rating 5 stars as its very expensive for what it actual is..a fancy bakery with salads. 60 pounds is ridiculous

We went for breakfast on the weekend, and the egg dishes were quite delicious. Their coffee was great too. The small market area at the entrance sells a variety of homemade salads and desserts that look so tempting. You can even buy a recipe book if you want! However, the place felt a bit like a children's playground, probably because we went on the weekend and there were a lot of families with kids. Inside, there's a very long table with colorful chairs (which aren't very comfortable). Unfortunately, it doesn't feel very spacious.

Food was excellent and great for vegetarians. Filling, flavoursome and wonderful for sharing with friends and family. Unfortunately the service let the experience down with multiple staff telling us we "only have 15min left" of our reservation when we had finished eating, majority of the table had been cleared and we sat there nibbling on bread and water. This was incredibly annoying. That aside, definitely worth a visit but be mindful it is shared table seating. We highly recommend the aubergine and cauliflower. The crispy pork belly slightly missed the mark but with shared platters, it was nice to try and array of dishes

What a fabulous night my wife and I had last night at Ottolenghi Islington. The venue was very inviting and seating understated and comfortable. The food was simply outstanding! We tried a few of the salads to start with and each came with perfectly blended spicing and seasoning. Luckily for us, the staff were able to explain every element of the dish and I was staggered to know how much effort went into each element. For example, the Burrata which has blood orange, honey infused with lavender, sorrel leaves and coriander seeds, just blended so beautifully that I couldn't stop eating it!! The mushrooms, were out of this world!! Even as an avid meat eater, I found that I was more then happy with the incredible vegetable offerings and not worried about the meat (which was also amazing when it came btw). However, the thing that made the visit so worthwhile were the staff. Each member of staff was so welcoming, warm, friendly and helpful that actually I couldn't believe I was in London eating!! They were all so passionate about their food, wine, bread, anything! A big shout out to all of our waitresses but especially Maria who was so kind and helpful. We even got to meet the Chef, Zak, who was an absolute pleasure to speak to and was so enthusiastic about the food that he was willing to give up some of his time just to explain produce and ingredients. I will certainly be revisiting and cant wait to try the other restaurants. Many thanks guys for a great night.

Tasty Italian fare on communal tables. Not cheap but a good atmosphere.

Can’t go wrong with the food - counter salads and mains are amazing and healthy! A quiet place in general

First time trying the Ottolenghi bakery and cafe in Islington. The cakes and pastries looked delightful. I had a very good oat milk cappuccino and a delicious almond pain au chocolate. Polite and friendly service. The decor is a little stark and white for my liking but overall excellent place for morning coffee.

This is literally my favorite restaurant in the world. I look forward to visiting any time I travel to London. Ate there thrice on my last trip and already miss it. Everything is fantastic! The staff is super friendly and the place is nice. A definite must.

Friends move away! A communal table too noisy so we opt for take away. And back in our accommodation, big disappointment. In fact, of the 3 salads topped with two cheese puffs, nothing was good, nothing was fresh. The skin of the eggplant was dry, so dry. And the rest is to match. Another one of these media bosses who plays on his reputation and makes us pay for it, it is, unfortunately, now usurped.

Good quality food! The shakshuka was very nice; the French to toast, though well made didn't appeal much to my taste but the accompanying jam was very tasty! We also picked up their double chocolate cookie which was very nice but their dessert Flourless Orange cake was not to my liking. Overall, they have some promise but there's a hit and miss involved.

I used to love this place and I have eaten here frequently. Over time, I feel that the quality of the dishes and service has declined. Food was good, but not spectacular as before. For example, the asparagus was very stringy and chewy. Service seemed a little abrupt.

Dinner exceptional however the waiter seemed more than a little put out at having to serve us. He had a very strange manner for front off house. Not welcoming at all. Such a disappointment!

The best salad I ever had . Loads variety of salad . All good and packed with flavour. Must try the roasted cauliflower with tofu cream and pickled beet .

Service was really weirdly off, very standoffish and rude. One sweet waitress but everyone else was really strange. Food was fine, very salty and oily but left laughing at how comically off the service was.

Excellent dishes. Original, very good flavor combinations. Small place, very good service. Recommended, something different.

Visited for the first time last weekend, so a much looked forward evening out. The food was outstanding, salads beautiful and delicious cakes. Service sadly let it down. Staff seemed to be too cool to interact with customers which I hadn’t expected. Asked about the cakes at the counter and the server sneered replies as if we should have known better than to ask. Maybe they were having a bad night? Not a cheap meal out so was left very disappointed, so even the best chicken I’ve ever tasted won’t tempt me back. Only sorry there wasn’t an option for 0 stars for service.

Visited for the first time last weekend, so a much looked forward evening out. The food was outstanding, salads beautiful and delicious cakes. Service sadly let it down. Staff seemed to be too cool to interact with customers which I hadn’t expected. Found staff to be grumpy, disinterested, rude and aloof. Asked about the cakes at the counter and the server sneered replies as if we should have known better than to ask. Maybe they were having a bad night? Not a cheap meal out so was left very disappointed, so even the best chicken I’ve ever tasted won’t tempt me back. Only sorry there wasn’t an option for 0 stars for service.

This is my favorite restaurant. I have never been disappointed. The food is creative and delicious, andthe service is impeccable.

Service was good but the food very disappointing. My cauliflower starter was very average and the squid main course was served only just warm, overly salted and to much chilli making it uneatable. I did complain and the staff were apologetic but I came here to eat something nice and I was disappointed. I will not return.

Staff were friendly and very attentive, the sea bass and the hibiscus kombucha delicious. The focus is on simplicity, both in terms of décor, and also the menu (apart from the extensive wine list). Not least, it is a place for conversation, and free of the loud music which plagues many restaurants.

I finally made it to Ottolenghi's - what a treat! Of course the food was interesting and utterly delicious. Not cheap, but reasonably-priced and good value for the quality. I have cancer and am on a strict diet; I wanted to thank the team for letting me know in advance which dishes met my criteria and even providing me with a menu on arrival with these dishes ticked off as a reminder (this was about a month ago). I was very touched by your efforts. I wish I lived closer to pop in all of the time! Thank you.

Do not be tricked! Not much more than a tourist trap- with rip off prices and hostile service to match. Seated just yards away from a deli counter serving cold salads (that have no doubt been sitting out for hours) for £3.30 per 100g, you’ll be served the exact same salad for two or three times the price with your meal. The 2-3 small plates per person coming in at £15-20 each (including the aforementioned deli counter salad) means you are paying high end restaurant prices here (£45-60 per person for food alone!) for little more than glorified buffet-style dishes. Be prepared to be sandwiched in between other guests on a long communal table making it difficult to talk to the companion you have sitting across with you, while simultaneously bumping elbows with the stranger sat next you, stacked together like very unhappy sardines. As for the service… rude, inattentive and unhelpful. This review is coming from an Ottolenghi fan, but this place is a total scam.