This charismatic Vietnamese place stands out, even among all the attention-seekers on Upper Street Islington

Dzo! Viet Kitchen, 163 Upper Street, London N1 1US. Small plates £7.90-£11.90, large and sharing plates £10.90-£25.90, dessert £7.50, Saigon beer £6, wine from £35

You’ll never want for an emergency schnitzel on Islington’s Upper Street. Or a plate of Padrón peppers. Or a charred broccoli salad, heady with the scent of health consciousness. You’ll never want for anything. Some years ago, I walked the road from Angel tube at the southern end to Highbury & Islington tube at the northern, counting places to eat. It was a bit like the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch, only for people who have earned their prescription for statins. Back then there were well over 100 restaurants, and many more if you counted those tucked away down sidestreets. It’s a curious place, both profoundly neighbourhood and very much not. Most businesses were sparrows and starlings; a few were garish kingfishers.