Clare (2 September 2006)

If you’re in need of a night out at a fabulous place with guaranteed fabulous food and atmosphere and lashings of individuality, you need to get to The Triangle. This popular little hideaway is an absolute gem of a restaurant that nestles snugly between Crouch End and Finsbury Park and the moment you walk through the door your every sense is stimulated. A unique and absolutely stunning bar/restaurant run by Aziz Begdouri, I had the pleasure of being introduced to the place 5 years ago, when it first opened, and, quite simply, I haven’t found better. The décor is warm, inviting, a seamless blend of art from all over the world, lush plants, fountains in the windows (yes, really), a roaring fire in the winter and in the summer a simply exquisite garden that features a kind of. …well, I don’t even know that there’s a word for it, you’ll just have to go and see for yourself. Oh, and did I mention the upside-down bedroom on the ceiling?

Sarah (15 November 2002)

Why is the Triangle one of my favourite restaurants?

Because when I go out for a meal, I like to eat food that is imaginative, interesting – and, of course, tasty. What I particularly like about the menus is that they are not tied to any specific theme or nationality; each dish seems to have been carefully and individually thought out so that the style of cooking, herbs, spices and accompaniments have been used to bring the best out in the ingredients. My last meal there, for example, I would imagine zigzagged across the globe in terms of origin – crispy spring rolls with chilli dip, goat curry with mango rice, the famous Triangle Baileys cheesecake, accompanied by a New World wine and Chinese beer.

Because I can meet friends for Sunday breakfast at 11 am – and the Triangle’s Moroccan version of a full English breakfast has to be tried to be believed! Then, if the weather is nice, we can go for a walk in Alexandra Park, or go blackberry picking; if it’s miserable, or we haven’t yet run out of conversation, we can stay on, maybe having a dessert and/or light starter with a glass or two of wine.

Because of the extra touches, often of his own invention, that Aziz introduces into his dishes; for example: water melon in the stir-fried noodles, parsnip crisp garnish, mushrooms marinated before cooking so they taste “like mushrooms used to taste”; the delicate long strips of salted cucumber.