The Spanglish for great restaurant

January’s place to taste: Tollington’s, Finsbury Park.

Jan 03, 2025

What inspires you?

If you’re still struggling to come up with New Year’s resolutions then ask yourself: what inspires you to get out of bed every day?

For Eat My Words it’s a weak bladder and a bad back, but your answer may be more useful.

Something that should inspire you out of the house this January is this month’s place to taste: Tollington’s in Finsbury Park, London.

The skinny

From the guys (Four Legs) that do The Plimsoll (genuinely one of my favourite spots in London), comes Tollington’s: a Finsbury Park chip shop meets San Sebastián pintxo bar.

If ever there was a ‘brat’ restaurant, this is it. There’s nothing grand or glamorous about the place - the seating is just a few tables in a back room, a shelf running the length of one wall, and a countertop by glass display cabinets of food - but it’s original, great value, and got some seriously tasty food.

The vibe

This is not the place for your next family lunch. It’s a bit rough and ready but if you embrace it, and acclimatise to it, you’ll see the charm e.g. the trays of drinks stacked up in the corner add to the vibe rather than looking lazy.

Start with a vermouth (which is on tap) or a caña of Estrella (a small draft with lots of foamy head). Then head into the small plates set-up where you should go big then go bigger.

The food

While the below wasn’t the total sum of our ordering, they’re the dishes which will be a main-stay of the menu…

Fried chistorra and tomato. Chistorra is a type of Basque sausage, and so this is essentially a soft chorizo on pan con tomate. Could have eaten 10, settled for 6.