London Whitechapel Restaurant Guide

“OMG!! Do not judge a book by its cover!” “The grand-daddy of cheap ’n’ cheerful Pakistani kebab joints” in Whitechapel has been “an East End staple” since it opened in 1972. A “huge, echoey, tiled room, with big screens showing cricket”, it’s “such amazing value” and “so damn consistent, it just keeps getting bigger, busier and better”. Top Tip – “step in at the off-licence next door for your booze”. Top Menu Tips – “the chops are special”, and it serves “the best chicken tikka ever”.

The “strongly authentic Sichuan food” at this “fairly basic” Brick Lane venue “may not be the best in London, but nonetheless offers a properly ‘ma la’ (numbingly spicy) experience”. It’s particularly “good value for lunch”.

“Queues are mad!” at this “always crazy” and “fantastically good-value” 500-seater, Punjabi BYO in the East End, which is “busy even into the late hours”, and a serious rival to the older Lahore five minutes’ walk away. Everything is “simply delicious”, with “the real highlights being the sizzling and smoking tandoori plates”: lamb chops in particular “always hit the mark”, but “everything is so fresh”.

“High-quality burgers” hit the spot at this funky small chain which “does the simple things well”. The outlets are “fab for families and kids – there’s something for everyone and puddings are a great crowd-pleaser”.

The first London outpost of a popular British chain, specialising in pizza, pies and cider, with 13 other sites across the UK in cities like Bristol, Bath, Birmingham, and Cardiff. Its Whitechapel restaurant is expected to open on 21 April - watch this space for further details.

Little sister to Spitalfield's BBQ spot Hot Box, this burger bar opens in a renovated 'classic East End London caff' in Whitechapel after a stint at Street Feast's Hawker House.

The latest in a series of impressive residencies at grade-II listed Whitechapel Gallery sees Nick Gilkinson (ex-Anglo and the Lambeth's Garden Museum café) and Joe Fox (ex-head chef at Petersham Nurseries) planning "a modern British dining room"; the name references the gallery's architect, Charles Harrison Townsend.