London Dalston Restaurant Guide

“Amazing, very clever combination of tastes” infuse some “wonderful fusion dishes presented by knowledgeable staff” at this Italian-Japanese fusion haunt in Dalston. The 4-course and 10-course omakase and kaiseki menus (so chef’s choice throughout) are available lunch and dinner.

2021 Review: A short stroll from Hackney Downs station, this year-old sibling to Ducksoup operates as a ‘fermenting kitchen and eatery’ (and you can buy the results by the gram or bottled as part of their The Picklery range). It also operates as a kitchen from breakfast on, serving a short menu, which varies throughout the day (you might have squid risotto, or steak in the evening); and it’s later in the day that its “great list of natural wines” comes to the fore. “It feels very relaxed, serves lots of pickled stuff and the food’s all good: it’s a bit like going around to a friend’s house, who’s a very good cook and has a lot of very nice wine”.

2021 Review: ‘Pickled’ author Freddie Janssen launched a Kickstarter campaign for this new, August 2019 venture in hip Dalston – an all-day café sitting alongside a co-working space and urban farm, and delivering a funky-sounding menu which reads like a ‘pick ’n’ mix’ of global inspiration.

This three-year-old Dalston/Haggerston gastroboozer from chef Tom Oldroyd (of Oldroyd, Islington) serves serious food in beautiful surroundings – and the mix seems to work: “where else can you have fresh oysters while watching the Euros?”. “The burger here is great – but the crab chip butty is also a must”, so “prepare to get your hands messy!”.

“A Soho institution” after 34 years – and in very recent years with spin-offs in Dalston, Camden Town and King’s Cross – this slice of “veggie heaven (with great cocktails!)” is “just the best, even for a carnivore” and has done an impressive job of keeping up quality across the new group. The interiors of the new branches are clean cut and well-designed, and the food is “non-fussy and non-fake”; and will “stretch your mind but not your wallet”.

Opening in mid-2020 into the storm of early lockdown, this Dalston Indian serves modern Punjabi food prepared by Arbinder Duggal, a semi-finalist on MasterChef: The Professionals in 2019. It’s named for the owners' home village in north India and serves recipes sourced from friends and family in the area. One early reporter’s take: “interesting and delicious small plates to start, main courses not quite as good. But friendly service and nice ambience make this a welcome addition to the local restaurant scene”.

2018 Review: The trio who previously ran Bethnal Green boozer The Sebright Arms together opened this airy all-day Hackney spot in May 2017. Local beers, coffee, Sunday brunches and roasts aim to make it a linchpin of the local scene.

“A beautiful little spot in a tucked away part of Hackney” – this ‘unassuming neighbourhood restaurant’ won particular renown a couple of years after its opening in 2015 when it won a Michelin star. The tyre men removed it again the next year, but – whatever the changes of mind in Clermont-Ferrand – our reporters consistently acclaim its “fresh, thoughtful and well-executed tasting menu, which, with the pairing wines, are a real treat”. Also, it was a godsend for many during lockdown thanks to its “consistently high-quality At Home service”.

Delicious breads and “lovely interesting sandwiches” have won acclaim for this hipster bakery in a Dalston car park, which helps get young offenders onto the straight and narrow. You can also book for eat-in pizza (Thu-Sat evenings only). In summer 2021, a second café and bakery opened on Haringey’s Green Lanes.

“A menu that’s interesting without being pretentious, plus friendly staff and fun cocktails” underpins the appeal of this airy, industrial-ish venue, near Dalston station. Nice outside terrace, too.

“I’m completely addicted to the unique blend of fried chicken with a range of light and fresh, or even rich and unctious, Asian flavours!” say fans of these pit stops in Haggerston and Covent Garden. “Takeaways were a revelation during lockdown – the delicious chicken burgers travel pretty well”. A third branch in Spitalfields was still ‘temporarily closed’ due to Covid-19 in September 2021.

“Such a shame I moved from Hackney, so this fabulous place is no longer within walking distance!”. Ex-Pidgin chef Adolfo de Cecco’s “eclectic” cuisine is focused on a “chef-delivered tasting menu” and provides food that’s “always interesting with wonderful flavours”. Aside from all the “innovation”, “the service offers that wonderful mixture of professionalism and friendliness which makes it such an enjoyable evening”.

“Wow!! Tasty or what?” This upscale kebab group has expanded from its well-known Kingly Court base, and been busy during the pandemic with a couple of new openings. In May 2021 they opened both a new café in a funky Dalston coworking space (part of a new aparthotel from Locke) and a retro, old-school kebab shop in the heart of Old Street, open till the wee hours. “You can’t really fault the food and it’s at a very good price. It’s a nice place too, relaxed but well managed”. See also Kebab Queen.

From Anthony Lyon (of Lyon’s in Crouch End) – this ‘multifaceted dining experience and community hub’ (that’s what the press release says) opened in August 2021 and comprises a brasserie, wine bar, bottle shop, deli and events space. The eclectic menu is seasonally driven and with zero-waste in mind (from pork cheek and smoked ham hock terrine to stone bass tartare with truffle ponzu). The focus, though, is arguably more on the low-intervention wines, craft beers and good saké selection.

2021 Review: “Try and snag a corner banquette for great E8 people-watching” if you visit this quirky venue – the dining room of a Dalston (technically speaking Shacklewell) events venue where ex-St John chef Chris Gillard delivers some excellent, gutsy dishes. On nights when the venue has a noisy gig though, it can fall down as a foodie experience: “they need to decide if they’re a bar and disco, or a restaurant, because diners don’t want both at once: the waiters were sidetracked mixing cocktails and the DJ an irritant”.

2021 Review: This “buzzy”, well-known Italian (in the Arthaus building near London Fields) continues to inspire relatively limited feedback. Pizza is the most popular option foodwise, and reports say it “ticks all the boxes” for a good time. Its sibling Lardo Bebe is no more.

Live-fire restaurant from Andrew Clarke and Daniel Watkins, at 40FT Brewery in Dalston, where the chefs offer a new veggie-centric approach to BBQ, and where beer by-products are used to make ferments and hot sauces.