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.

“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”.