Hackney Restaurant Guide

“So tasty and messy – I love it”, say fans of this 12-year-old London operation who insist it’s the “best burger restaurant in town – others copy but this is consistently the best” “for when you want a full-on dripping burger and to hell with the diet!”. Expansion of the chain has proved difficult in the last year, with the Notting Hill branch shutting up shop just months after its summer 2022 opening.

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.

“Tasty, good-value noodles” in a “relaxed environment” make this 12-year-old London chain (14 branches, plus Brighton and Brum) “worth a visit”. The “ramen is deep and fabulous” if “limited in range (no fish-based dishes except prawn)”, and is augmented by “quite acceptable katsu curry”. Aficionados should head to the Haggerston branch to watch the noodles being made.

No journalistic round-up of East End restaurants is complete without mention of this unassuming-looking Hackney eight-year-old (est 2015), which has been a darling of London’s fooderati ever since winning (and quickly losing) a Michelin star in the years after its opening. But feedback in our annual diners’ poll – while positive – was, surprisingly, too limited this year for a reliable rating on its experimental tasting menu of funky small plates.

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.

2023 Review: This “outstanding” four-year-old is an “engaging but cramped little venue” whose “absolute bargain of a menu” from co-owner Johnnie Crow (ex-Harwood Arms and Anglo), makes it “well worth the trip up to Hackney (booking essential!)”. The meal is structured around one type of meat each month – chicken, game, wagyu – to minimise waste, and “service is personal, enthusiastic and charming”. “You’re unlikely to find much better value in town, with some truly stellar dishes given the mid-range price-point”.

2023 Review: “Great value and unusual tasting menus, nice wines & lovely service” win all-round applause for this yearling in a Hackney Downs warehouse from Anthony Lyon (of Lyon’s in Crouch End). Head chef Giuseppe Pepe (ex-Pidgin and Marksman) is responsible for the seasonal, minimal-waste menu, and his “food is beautifully presented and served”.

“Wow!” “Andy Beynon continues to produce superb, good-value cuisine in a relaxed and intimate setting” at his small venue, near London Fields: “an immersive experience, where the chefs prepare the food around you as you sit at the bar”. “There are no waiters: the chefs cover service, chat about the food and ferry each new course from the nearby open preparation areas”; and the team gives the impression of being “super keen and far from weary, jaded or sitting on their laurels”. “Sustainable fish is the clear focus here, and everything is on point in each exceptional dish”.

“Such a treat on a summer’s day” – ace chef Tomos Parry’s railway arch pop-up-turned-permanent in London Fields “feels like a (rather smoky) house party”, serving “great grilled meat and fish in a tent” – “the only issue is trying to limit the number of dishes one orders, and the quandary of whether to have THAT turbot or try something else!”.

2022 Review: In gentrifying Clapton – this ‘pizza pub’ (on the former site of The Elephant’s Head) is the creation of the founders of two pizza multiples: Santa Maria (Pasquale Chionchio & Angelo Ambrosio) and Firezza (Edin Basic). Craft beers and live music complete the offering.

This “cool hangar of a restaurant in Hackney” (part of the design-conscious Barworks group) sits in a repurposed and eclectically decorated 1960s office block and also incorporates a coffee shop, deli, barber and tattoo parlour. “Recommended for large groups – the food is very good for the price” and includes a range of global favourites plus sourdough pizza, to be eaten in the spacious ‘Open Kitchen’ or the cosier ‘Dining Room’.

Near London Fields, this ‘hyper-seasonal’ spot in Hackney (from Elly Ward and the team behind plant-based pioneer Super Nature) opened in spring 2023 and focuses on a low-waste philosophy. There’s a short array of meat-free, modern British dishes, accompanied by a selection of low-intervention wines, beers and ciders. Or, in the evenings, you can go for an eight-course tasting menu with the option of a drinks pairing. No survey feedback as yet, but if you are avoiding meat, this is one of the more interesting-looking openings this year.

Taking over the former Nest site in Hackney's Morning Lane, this informal venue offers communal dining on skewers of grilled meat and other small plates. It's inspired by Japan's izakaya drinking dens, while using British ingredients.

“Any restaurant with five orange wines gets my vote!” – initial reports give a green light to this early 2023 newcomer in London Fields: the successor to ‘Hot 4 U’, a wacky former meal delivery service for hipsters that was born of the pandemic. “The small menu highlights some imaginative dishes” from chef Matthew Scott and there’s an “extensive wine list” curated by Charlie Carr.

2023 Review: Owner Julian Denis previously ran the super-popular vegan Chinese Mao Chow just up the road. This new venture (named for the medium-hot pepper) is twice the size (although still only 28 seats) and promises ‘an evolution’ of the food there, incorporating flavours and techniques from Puerto Rican, Portuguese and American cuisines. No survey reports, but The Evening Standard’s Jimi Famurewa found, in his May 2022 review, the vibe of a “dangerously raucous east London house party circa 2009” matched with food that needed “a little more finesse, and… enough confidence… that they don’t reach for the chilli-and-umami hose at every juncture”. As of August 2022, the restaurant’s website shows no availability and says it’s currently closed for a refurb that should have ended in July 2022? So change may be afoot.

Opening in December 2023 at an undisclosed address in Hackney, the first permanent venue from the 'underground guerrilla pop-up' chef who calls himself Whyte Rushen. Inspect a neat melange of upmarket and mass-market flavours, along with top-class cheffy techniques.

2023 Review: Above a new branch of Dumpling Shack in the basement, John and Yee Li’s ground-floor operation in London Fields will host this new outlet based on spicy burgers (‘The Sichuan’, ‘The Vegan’ and ‘The Hot and Mala Mapo’) in potato rolls plus ‘shake shake’ fries, as road-tested over a couple of years at Spitalfields Market.