With restaurants like Brawn, The Clove Club and Lyle’s in its number, East London is the unofficial home of the modern British small plates movement.
But it’s also home to some striking examples of global cuisine; from tiny backstreet Japanese sushi counters to intimate Italian boltholes. And then there’s the Michelin star winners, the raucous BBQ terraces, and the decades-old institutions that everyone should tick off their London restaurant bucket list.
So, without further ado, behold the best restaurants in East London:
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Brawn | Bethnal Green
A no-fuss, but highly fussed-over Hackney restaurant from Terroirs’ Ed Wilson. Beautiful assemblies of seasonal ingredients are plated up in a minimalist dining room with a tender creativity that’s won the hearts of several of London’s top chefs and critics.
Details: 49 Columbia Road, Bethnal Green, E2 7RG | Book Brawn
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Café Cecilia | Hackney
A restaurant near East London’s bustling Broadway Market, with enduring ‘hot right now’ status – entirely earned thanks to its canal-side location, snappy monochrome interiors and mouthwatering small plates menu, spanning from sage & anchovy fritti to Guinness bread ice cream.
Details: Canal Place, 32 Andrews Road, Hackney, E8 4FX | Book Cafe Cecilia
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Sune | Broadway Market
Sune (pronounced ‘soon-ah’) opened its doors on Broadway Market at the end of 2023 and is still one hot ticket. That’s no surprise, really, given that a pair of hospitality legends are at the reins. Honey Spencer is a sommelier and wine director at The Palomar and The Barbary, while Charlie Sims is a restaurant manager who has handled places like Noma (the world’s No1 restaurant while he was there), and Mãos (which kept its Michelin Star while he was there). Here, they’re striking out on their own project: a neighbourhood spot offering the likes of smoked eel caesar salad, lamb neck with peppercorn gravy and mackerel & leek escabeche…
Details: 129A Pritchard’s Road, E2 9AP | Book Sune
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Rake | Hackney
Rake is set to haul in some rave reviews, once it emerges from under the radar. It’s a modern British pop-up helmed by a hyper-talented trio of chefs whose collective CVs include top-tier joints like Brat, ACME Fire Cult, and Quo Vadis – and it bloody well shows. You’ll find them in residence at The Gun, a charming, independent Hackney pub with a dedicated upstairs space for kitchen residencies just like this. They recently said a tearful farewell to Ling Lings. Thankfully, this is a more than adequate replacement.
Details: The Gun, 235 Well St, E9 6FE | Book a table at Rake
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Mambow | Clapton
After pivoting from covid-era restaurant to meal kits to market stall, this is Abby Lee’s Mambow number 4. And it was well worth the wait, because the Malaysian cooking she offers at her first proper permanent spot is just phenomenal. ‘Nyonya-style’ chicken wings, stuffed grilled squid, lamb ribs slow-cooked with a little fermented kumquat – every dish is a winner, and the buzzy, laid-back atmosphere will ensure you come back until you’ve worked your way through the entire menu. Twice.
Details: 78 Lower Clapton Road, E5 0RN | Book Mambow
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Crispin | Spitalfields
Crispin really stands out amongst other restaurants in East London. And sure, that’s partly because it physically stands out, housed in a striking geometric glass pavilion just behind Spitalfields Market. But the cooking here is a cut above, too: chef Lewis de Haas puts together a seasonally-led menu of modern European dishes designed to share. Depending on the time of year you visit, they could feature charred friggitelli peppers with chorizo butter or pollock & saffron risotto.
Details: Pavilion on The Corner, White’s Row, Spitalfields, E1 7NF | Book Crispin
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Som Saa | Spitalfields
Som Saa is fast becoming the patron saint of the East London Thai scene. Having opened back in 2016 to broad acclaim, it’s somehow held firmly onto both its standards and its crown in the years since. The food is fiery, fragrant, and packed with flavour, and the cocktails make creative use of the more exotic ingredients from the kitchen – no surprise that it’s still packed out every night…
Details: 43A Commercial Street, E1 6BD | Book Som Saa
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Rogues | Hackney
Alisha Edge – @aliedgephotography
Some people open a place because they love cooking. Some people open it for the drinks. Freddie Sheen and Zac Whittle opened their restaurant for the sheer love of restaurants, it seems – everything, from the ambient lighting to the relaxed but attentive service, has been meticulously designed to give you a really, really good time. The menu changes weekly depending on what they pick up at the markets, but you might dip into some whipped ricotta with smoked tomatoes; glazed duck breast with endive and harissa; mushroom XO and mussel rigatoni; or a pork chop with beer butter sauce. And incidentally, it all tastes really, really good too.
Details: 460 Hackney Road, Hackney, E2 9EG | Book Rogues
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Dalla | Hackney
Great Italian trios: cacio, pepe & spaghetti. The Three Tenors. And now, the Leone brothers and Mitchell Damota, who have teamed up to revive the old Peg space on Morning Lane as a cosy, ‘not trendy’ Italian spot that draws on Damota’s time at P. Franco and Burro e Salvia. The only problem? It is trendy. It’s one of the hardest restaurants to snag a reservation at right now. But if you can get in – even if it means perching shamelessly at the half-width counter by the door – do it, because the food here is next level…
Details: 120-122 Morning Lane, London E9 6LH | Book Dalla
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Manteca | Shoreditch
What do ex-Kitty Fisher’s chef Chris Leach and Smokestak founder David Carter have in common? Lard. Or, to give it its Italian name, Manteca: their Italian nose-to-tail eatery that started out as a pop up and proved so outrageously popular that they moved to much bigger digs in Shoreditch, and still regularly pack the place out.
Details: 49-51 Curtain Road, Shoreditch, EC2A 3PT | Book Manteca
See more of the best restaurants in Shoreditch
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Acme Fire Cult | Dalston
Abiding the laws of nominative determinism, Acme Fire Cult has inspired something of a cult-like following thanks to the grill skills of chef-owner Andrew Clarke. Housed next to a brewery (whose suds frequently make it into the recipes), and boasting a huge, heated outdoor area, it’s an intoxicating den of smoke, craft brews, and great music.
Details: Abbot Street Car Park, Dalston, E8 3DP | Book Acme Fire Cult
See more great Dalston restaurants here
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The definition of “that great little place”. It’s tucked down a side street off Old Street roundabout, and doesn’t announce itself particularly obviously. But walk past Popolo’s window and you’ll see a crowd of diners sat up at a counter overlooking the kitchen, sipping vermouth and dining on Michelin Bib Gourmand-awarded Italian small plates. And you should join them.
Details: 26 Rivington Street, Shoreditch, East London, EC2A 3DU | Book Popolo
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St John | Clerkenwell
Recipient of last year’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the National Restaurant Awards. Ranked in no particular position in The Nudge’s best restaurants in East London. We know which accolade we’d have on our website…
Details: St John St, Clerkenwell, EC1M 4AY | Book a table at St John
See more of the best restaurants in Clerkenwell
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The Clove Club | Shoreditch
The Clove Club combines frequently overlooked ingredients in its set restaurant menu of innovative British food, placing it at #38 on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list (the highest UK entry). Call them beforehand to find out what’s on offer, or for a chat – the staff are friendly.
Details: Shoreditch Town Hall, Old St, EC1V 9LT | Book here
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Rochelle Canteen | Shoreditch
One of the worst-kept secrets in East London. Enter via a buzzer, behind which this modern European canteen lies tucked away in the walled courtyard of an old Shoreditch school.
Details: Rochelle School, Greater Arnold Circus, E2 7ES | Book Rochelle Canteen
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Oren | Dalston
Parked on a low-key corner of Shacklewell Lane with misted windows and the occasional rush of fragrant cooking and convivial chatter escaping from the door, Oren’s an irresistible treat. Chef Oded Oren lays on a banquet of mouthwatering Israeli dishes, from ox cheek on a bed of hummus to brill tartare with Kurdish cheese, all accompanied by a formidable wine list from Zeren Wilson.
Details: 89 Shacklewell Lane, Hackney, E8 2EB | Book Oren
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Bubala | Spitalfields
Simply put, one of the most exciting restaurants in East London, thanks to its all-vegetarian menu (with the option to go all-vegan, too). Levantine-inspired small plates – burnt butter hummus; squidgy burnt aubergines and freshly made malawach (a Yemenite Jewish pancake) – are joined by refreshing house ‘gazoz’ sodas and an inviting natural wine list.
Details: 65 Commercial Street, E1 6BD | Book Bubala
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The Marksman | Hackney
Everything you could want from a local, plus a little bit more. Namely, a roof terrace for breakfast buns and the Sunday papers; bar-setting roasts; and some of the loveliest British food in town.
Details: 254 Hackney Road, E2 7SJ | Book The Marksman
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The Water House Project | Hackney
The long-awaited permanent incarnation of chef Gabriel Waterhouse’s mind-blowing pop ups. His aim is to create a fine dining restaurant that has the same relaxed atmosphere as a supperclub. And he’s totally succeeded.
Details: 3 Mare Street, E8 4RP | Book The Water House Project
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Lyle’s | Shoreditch
A beloved Michelin-starred eatery serving up a £119 set menu for dinner which changes every day, put together by James Lowe (one of the founding members of ‘The Young Turks’ – a trio of chefs who were behind possibly the most successful pop up of all time, ‘Upstairs at The Ten Bells’).
Details: The Tea Building, 56 Shoreditch High Street, London E1 6JJ | Book Lyle’s
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Angelina | Dalston
Great little places offering inventive tasting menus of Italian-Japanese fusion are hard to find… without the address of Angelina, possibly the city’s only eatery to attempt such a pairing. And after more than five years of serving rosemary & nori focaccia; tempura battered fritto misto; smoked eel risotto and the like, it’s fair to say they’ve been entirely successful.
Details: 56 Dalston Lane, Dalston, E8 3AH | Book Angelina
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Brat | Shoreditch
This Brat will spoil you. Tomos Parry’s breakaway hit after running the kitchens at Kitty Fisher’s was an instant smash, winning a Michelin Star within a year of opening – and a legion of fans along the way. Tucked above Smoking Goat (another great East London eatery) in a buzzy wood-panelled dining room, the air at Brat is heady with smoke from the whole turbot, beef rib and aged mutton smouldering above an open fire.
Details: First floor, 4 Redchurch St, E1 6JL | Book a table at Brat
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Counter 71 | Shoreditch
16 diners. 15 courses. 1 table. Counter 71 is Joe Laker’s remarkable counter dining spot where, for just one sitting a night, the tightly-knit team work like a well-oiled machine to deliver imaginative plates directly to your spot at the counter. Those plates highlight produce from all over the British Isles, treated in inventive ways with everything from dehydration to fermentation playing a role. And afterwards, you can head downstairs and across the pond for a nightcap in the bourbon-fuelled Lowcountry.
Details: 71 Nile Street, N1 7RD | Make a reservation at Counter 71
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Pearly Queen | Shoreditch
Charlie McKay
Tom Brown may have closed his Michelin-starred seafood spot Cornerstone, but here’s the silver lining: a fun, almost dive bar-style seafood spot on a corner of Spitalfields, serving up a heady menu of swimmers given rockstar upgrades. We’re talking oysters battered and slathered in fiery buffalo sauce; lobster dauphinoise; and cured mackerel threaded onto a cocktail stick like a gilda, and served on a teeny tiny martini. Speaking of which, the drinks are headed up by the team at Three Sheets, so you’re getting a taste of one of the best cocktail bars in East London, too.
Details: 44 Commercial Street, Spitalfields, E1 6LT | Book Pearly Queen
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Morito | Hackney
A mighty fine tapas spot, serving up Spanish-Moorish dishes like arak-cured trout, guinea fowl croquetas and slow-cooked pork shoulder in buzzy, beautiful surroundings.
Details: 195 Hackney Road, E2 8JL | Book Morito
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Behind | London Fields
Behind won a Michelin star within 20 days of opening. And if you still need any convincing, it’s a chef’s table dinner that puts you in the kitchen with Andy Beynon and his team of chefs – only you get to sit around an 18-seat counter while they do all the work. They’ll casually blow your mind with an ten-course tasting menu that transforms the finest seafood from the British Isles into dishes like oyster tacos and octopus tortellini dressed with sherry foam…
Details: 20 Sidworth St, London E8 3SD | Book Behind
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Nest | Shoreditch
Nest has everything you need to be a top East London restaurant: a project conceived by three pals, sustainable principles, low-intervention wines and a wholly creative ten-course set menu that’s dependent on the seasons, changing every six weeks. Ah, and it’s in Shoreditch as well…
Details: 374-378 Old Street, London, EC1V 9LT | Book Nest
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Bistrotheque | Bethnal Green
Another bastion of modern British dining, this time in a Bethnal Green warehouse. And before you roll your eyes, this place opened in 2004, so it’s one of the true originals – and still great.
Details: 23-27 Wadeson Street, Bethnal Green, E2 9DR | Book Bistrotheque
Liked exploring the best restaurants in East London? You’ll be needing a nightcap at one of the best bars in Shoreditch…