Pistachio & Pickle Dairy, Islington cheese shop

What many consider London's finest cheese toastie emerges from the counter of this award-winning artisanal British cheese shop on Camden Passage, where the line between cheesemonger and café blurs deliciously. A compact first-floor dining room invites you to linger over a thoughtfully assembled cheeseboard paired with a glass of wine, the kind of unhurried indulgence that turns a first visit into a neighbourhood habit. Their celebration cheese cakes — tiered towers built from your favourite fromages — turn any gathering into something worth remembering.