London Stratford Restaurant Guide

This ‘Philadelphia dive bar’ in Cleveland Street, Fitzrovia, has certainly “got the American vibe”, with “US-style beer and bar food” giving a real taste of the City of Brotherly Love. Philly street food classics such as the hoagie and cheesesteak are on the menu – and “it’s not health food, that’s for sure”. Reporters are divided on the results – “defining the category” for fans, “pretty underwhelming” for sceptics. There’s now a second site at Westfield Stratford, complete with baseball batting cages, but a 2021 crowdfunding bid to raise £150,000 for a massive bar under the railway arches in Leake Street, Waterloo, struck out.

2021 Review: “A sort of neighbourhood bistro, just beyond the touristy influence of the South Kensington museums” – the main survivor of an erstwhile chain (there’s also a Stratford sibling no-one talks about) “offering British upmarket pub food”, which is variable to good. It’s “a nice and warming place”, but it can become “rather busy and noisy”; and “service, while cheerful and pleasant, is extremely variable”.

2021 Review: In less than 20 years, Danny Meyer has transformed his New York City hot-dog cart into a global fast-food brand giant with eight outlets in London – including a Covent Garden flagship that was revamped earlier this year. Ratings remain remarkably solid for “a chain that does what it’s supposed to do”.

2021 Review: The “lovely Thai food” at these reliable cafés is “impressively authentic given that they are a chain” – “excellent value” and “fast”, if occasionally let down by “iffy service”. Founded in 2008 by Saiphin and Alex Moore, who inherited the name of their first East End site, the group has 18 branches in London and expanded to Liverpool, Manchester, Reading (delivery only) and Leeds following the sale of a majority stake to US investors. The couple also have two spin-offs, Lao Café in Covent Garden and the new Chinese noodle bar Hoh Sek in St Katharine Docks.

2021 Review: From its Finsbury Park base (next to the Park Theatre), this “cheerful” group of “good neighbourhood pasta-stops” subsequently expanded to Ealing and then onto Wembley branch (there’s also an outlet in Westfield Stratford); all deliver “well-cooked”, affordable pasta.

2021 Review: “When all you want is an old-school burger”, these US-based arrivals of recent years really “hit the spot” – you can “build your own”, with “tons of accessories”; plus “seriously addictive fries”, “thick milkshakes”, and “more soda flavours than is reasonable”. “The eat-in experience is as depressing as McDonald’s”, though, in fact perhaps more so – “some branches have a strangely gloomy ambience” – but fans feel that “if you don’t mind 1980s-rock, a trip can still be surprisingly fun”.

“Casual and inexpensive, but no compromise on the standards” – this Japanese noodle chain has become a firm favourite in London’s “competitive” ramen market, with 14 branches (and counting). “I can’t speak highly enough of the quality of ramen here, absolutely packed full of flavour and at a really good price.” The name is taken from the pork broth used, and the noodles are made daily in-house and cooked, it is said, for precisely 32 seconds.

By the Stratford entrance to the Olympic park, this all-day Italian restaurant and café arrived in autumn 2019 and has since spawned a couple of Essex-based spin-offs. The space – with big windows – is modern, but the food is traditional: arancini, pasta, pizza from the oven…

Part of Stratford’s coming of age as a restaurant destination – and part of East London’s International Quarter development: this D&D Group launch occupies a new, sustainably constructed three-floor landmark – The Pavilion – within the Olympic Park. It has a sizeable 550 covers in all and comprises a ground-floor deli plus large restaurant and ‘winter garden’ (sounds a bit like Bluebird); plus a first-floor dining room, also with terrace; and a rooftop bar with views of Stratford and the Olympic stadium. Foodwise, it’s akin to The German Gymnasium – an Alpine theme with references to France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

“A bit of the West End in E20” – this stylish contemporary dining room sits on the seventh floor of a hotel/apartments tower, with an interior fit-out by the Copenhagen design team behind Noma, and boasts a terrace with views of the City skyline. Ex-Chiltern Firehouse head chef Patrick Powell uses high-quality British dishes to create what fans say is “by far the best cuisine in the Westfield Stratford area”.

Another globally hyped fast-food chain, this one serving "soul powered" Louisiana-style fried chicken sandwiches, has landed in Westfield Stratford City; expect a roll-out very soon.