Oldroyd restaurant, Islington

It's not hard to find places to eat in Islington, with the huge medley of Upper Street restaurants making for an exciting adventure across North London's streets. Islington restaurants are about to gain yet another string to their bow with a new restaurant from chef Tom Oldroyd, formerly of much-loved Polpo. Having been Chef Director at the Polpo group for five years, the new Islington restaurant will be his first solo venture, and as such will bear his name: ‘Oldroyd’, joining the spread of new openings London has seen to reflect a growing trend in small-plate cuisine. 
Oldroyd restaurant, Islington
Taking its cue from both European and American cuisine, Oldroyd’s menu will offer small plates after the Polpo model, such as pea and pork jowl croquettes and confit mustard duck wings, as well as larger main courses. The unifying thread that runs through Oldroyd’s menu will be European classics, updated with a sprinkling of imagination, and the regularly changing menu according to seasonal availability of ingredients will keep diners coming back to Upper Street for seconds. 
At the weekend, they'll be serving a pleasingly affordable brunch, a contender to stand out from the crowd of brunch restaurants in North London with Oldroyds' eclectic take on tried-and-tested breakfast combinations, such as its bacon and egg pappardelle. If a waffle iron rosti with smoked salmon, soured cream and chives (with a Bloody Mary, of course) doesn’t sound like the perfect antidote to a weekend’s excesses, we don’t know what does.
New Polpo restaurant, Upper Street
The restaurant itself will aim for the casual sophistication of the Polpo restaurants, where the refinement comes from the immaculately executed dishes rather than from a stuffy atmosphere. Split across two floors, the downstairs of Oldroyd will be a no-reservations café, with upstairs housing the more formal, bistro-style dining room.
Tom Oldroyd has expressed his desire for the restaurant to slot in comfortably with the existing neighbourhood restaurants, and become a staple of the Islington dining scene, but we imagine that people will be coming from much further afield than the N-postcodes to see what Polpo’s prodigy has cooked up on his own. One of the most excting new restaurant openings London has seen, we're holding out hope that Oldroyd will be one of the best new restaurants in London.