Before learning Time Out had ranked Blackstock Road as being up there with ‘cool corridors in Buenos Aires and Cape Town’, I’d always seen this shabby street in north London as a place to avoid when possible.

Not because it feels unsafe. But because – how can I put this? – it’s a bit of a dump. It’s no more congested, litter-strewn or weed-scented than many other streets in many other cities, but has little to recommend it. (Definitely to be avoided when walking a beagle obsessed with discarded chicken bones.)

Far less surprising than the Time Out accolade is one of Blackstock Road’s other claims to fame from around the same time. It was where the prisoner wrongly-released in November 2025, Brahim Kaddour Cherif, was picked up by police. When footage emerged of his arrest opposite our local Sainsbury’s, one son cheerfully pronounced it ‘the most Blackstock Road thing ever’. (‘Well, obviously you’d head to the world’s coolest street if you only had a few hours of freedom left,’ responded his brother.) A few days earlier, another wrongly-released prisoner had been arrested just a short distance away in Finsbury Park.

Having lived in this area of north London for approaching 40 years, I can see why it’s such a magnet (and not just to escapees). It has brilliant transport links – ideal for those of us brave enough to venture into central London after 9pm (in our jewellery); it has many parks and green spaces within a short walk. Plus, of course, its proximity to the Arsenal football ground. As the Telegraph put it in September 2025 the area (which it designated one of the top-10 coolest neighbourhoods in London): ‘has received a hip shot in the arm with the rise of Arsenal’s women team, who now play all their matches at the Emirates.’

When I walk down Blackstock Road now (with Time Out’s words ringing in my brain), I find myself laughing out loud as I gaze upon the chicken shops, nail bars, and bookmakers.

I was almost hysterical when a friend told me last December she’d had to dissuade a group of visiting Americans from heading there for their Christmas shopping after they’d read Time Out. (She diverted them to Broadway Market.) As I headed home from Arsenal tube later that evening, I stopped on Blackstock Road to take pictures of its various delights so she could show her American friends what they’d missed (what even was Fizzy Popz?). 

After a bit, I put my phone away. Suddenly aware that the prospect of having my phone snatched (for the first time ever) while I was on Blackstock Road taking photos of Blackstock Road to take the piss out of Americans for wanting to visit Blackstock Road might be too much for the gods of karma to resist.

So what does the ‘north London road that is officially one of the coolest streets in the world for 2025’ actually have to offer?

As Timeout says, many of the businesses are family run: C&H Pharmacy, which bent over backwards to sort out my mum’s prescriptions when she came to stay during the pandemic; stationers Fish & Cook (now threatened with being replaced by a slot-machine arcade). Not so long ago, the owner reminded my 30-year-old son that I used to take him (son) in there in his pram; JNF (close by on Mountgrove Road), home to two generations of Arsenal-supporting barbers. I once met someone in Clissold Park who still got his haircut at JNF despite having moved to Southend years earlier.

The independent bookshop/winebar/cafe Book Bar is truly wondrous; Finks (just along from JNF on Mountgrove Road) does great (if pricey) sandwiches and cakes. Its ice creams are a highlight of the summer and rightly warranted a mention in The Times ’41 best places for ice cream in the UK.’ Yard Sale’s TSB (tender stem broccoli) pizzas are consistently good and its home delivery remarkably speedy. Baban’s Naans went down a treat when we held a party at home for our son’s 30th. 

It seems popular, but I’ve never been into the cafe that used to be an undertakers (just a bit worried about the provenance of the fridges).

The locals I’ve spoken to share my bewilderment that somewhere so nondescript has been singled out for international recognition. A friend who works on Blackstock Road concluded the journalist must be trying to sell a flat in the area.

She laughed as hard as I did when I told her about the Americans, before asking: ‘Were they wanting to buy hash?’