London Restaurant Review: Tollingtons – Worth the hype?

6.5 / 10

Tollingtons – a North London chippy regenerated into a Spanish seafood and small plates restaurant by the team behind The Plimsoll (Four Legs)

The hype is mega. London summer’s hottest new resto (well, for the circles I move in anyway) and I had to go and try it for myself! 

So one August evening post work, that’s what I did. Firstly, Tollingtons is located about a 10 minute walk from Finsbury Park Station. An easy location to get to and near one of my favourite pubs, the Faltering Fullback (should you need to kill time whilst waiting for your reservation).

Tollingtons doesn’t have an official website – which I think is stupid – but it does have an Instagram (eye-roll) that has some nice pics to get you in the mood. 

I arrived the first of our party of four, and whilst we had a booking, I found myself navigating the makeshift queue that had formed for walk-ins. Chaos. Disgruntled bystanders in oversized scrunchies and / or Carhartt attire looked at me with disgust as I attempted to catch the eye of the waitress at the door to let her know that I (superior and forward thinking) had a booking. 

The waitress in question was flustered. Rude? I mean, I would be too if faced with hordes of entitled patrons gagging to try London’s hottest restaurant. 

Shunned to the pavement whilst I waited for our table to be ready, I took in the ambience and also the delicious looking plates being served to the tables outside. 

First impression: hectic and a little unfriendly – but the food looked promising. 

The rest of my party arrived and we were eventually summoned to the entrance. 

We were led past the kitchen and counter seating and into the back dining room. As we passed the chefs making what was to be our dinner, we were awarded with some dazzling smiles from behind the counter and safe to say, we were pumped!

Whilst relegated to the pavement, my friend had told us his parents were visiting in a few weeks and he’d love to take them to Tollingtons. This dream quickly died when we realised the seating and comfort level was not ‘boomer friendly’. Cramped and uncomfortable was the verdict. This is not to say the ambience was bad, because it wasn’t, just not comfortable. 

Through the meal we had a running joke about trying to make any of the waitresses smile, or even engage with us, but alas, that was not their priority. I know, I am being overly critical, but the aloofness of the waitresses is something that I remember about our visit.

But for now, enough about the salty staff and crap seating and onto the main ticket.

The food.

The food was amazing. Like, ‘I get the hype’ delicious! And for that reason, and potentially that reason alone, I would return to Tollingtons and also recommend it to others (with some hard caveats).

We prepared for the feast with a glass of the Tollingtons vermouth (on tap), which was perfectly sweet and divine and then we chased this through the evening with a few small cañas. The drinks were well priced and helped numb our bodies to the pain of the poor seating.

The menu constantly changes, but here’s a snap of what was available the evening we went:

Top Tier

Tomato Salad  – bread and /or tomato salads are the best way to judge if a small plate restaurant worth their salt IMO, and this salad was tangy and delicious with excellent tomatoes:

Chips Bravas – Grace Dent said they were the best chips she’d ever had, which I feel is a bold statement and not one I agree with, but they were still mighty good – crunchy and zingy sauces without being too spicy.

Octopus on the plancha – potentially the best octopus I’ve ever had – don’t let the aesthetically-lacking photo fool you – this was incredible:

Middle Tier

Cheddar and Almonds – I mean, who doesn’t like cheese? Simple and effective.

Monkfish – delicious, but a bit busy, not sure if I rated this just because of how much I rate monkfish generally.

Rice pudding – who knew a school canteen dessert, with a sprinkle of pretentious London restaurant scene, could be so impressive!

Regret

Scallop and summer truffle – just not for me or indeed anyone I was sitting with. Just a bit grim – weirdly both bland and overpowering.

We ordered roughly 10 dishes, and I am going to say that it all graced our table within about 15 minutes of ordering. Now, I am all for efficiency when it comes to ordering my food on my lunch break, but again, this is another thing I didn’t enjoy about my visit to Tollingtons. Like, okay we get it, you’re busy and popular and it is annoying that we have even dared come for me a meal. I don’t need St John levels of long and relaxing meal sittings, but I do expect more grace than queuing in Liverpool Street Mcdonald’s on a Friday at 1am.

Verdict = 6.5/10 overall (9/10 for food and 4/10 for dining experience)

Visiting Tollingtons is kind of like the first time you sleep with a toxic, but hot, situationship… the anticipation is the best bit but then in reality it is over quickly and leaves you a bit disappointed… however ultimately you end up going back for more.

The food was insanely good, but it feels like the dining experience has been killed by the restaurant’s own hype. They wanted you finished and out of the door before you even sat down.

Hey, maybe I went on a particularly stressful night, and I haven’t given up hope yet. I know plenty of people who absolutely loved their visit (not just the food) and I will definitely go again, but I will be prepared to feel like an inconvenience as I drown out the pain with more vermouth.