London Hackney Restaurant Guide

“If you want your meal dripping down your chest, this is the place!” – “very consistent and superb-tasting burgers” again win a big thumbs-up for this expanding chain, which in 2022 adds branches in first Northcote Road, then Canary Wharf. Top Menu Tips – their classic ‘Ari Gold’ and ‘Smokey Robinson’ options are consistently great (cooked rare on request); vegetarian burgers get upvoted; and any “monthly specials are always worth a look” (“love the limited editions”); “decent sides too”.

2019 Review: “Yummy” fresh fish and “crispy fat chips” all in “great value, generous portions” win raves – if from a small fanclub – for these “classy” chippies in Stokey, Hackney Central and Islington. October 2018 marks a first, with the launch of London’s first fully vegan chippie at the Hackney Central branch (which is itself moving down the road to 218 Graham Road).

2019 Review: “Yummy” fresh fish and “crispy fat chips” all in “great value, generous portions” win raves – if from a small fanclub – for these “classy” chippies in Stokey, Hackney Central and Islington. October 2018 marks a first, with the launch of London’s first fully vegan chippie at the Hackney Central branch (which is itself moving down the road to 218 Graham Road).

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.

This “slurpy Japanese noodles” outfit has grown from a 2011 pop-up to a fledgling national chain (14 branches in London, plus Brighton and Brum). These days it “feels formulaic, but the ramen does the business – the tonkotsu (pork broth, from which the place gets its name) is satisfyingly porky and the chilli chicken has a spicy hum”. Critics are not so sure, pointing to “very disappointing noodles” and “drab stock”.

One of Hackney’s better-known culinary destinations, this unassuming little spot wins high marks from everyone who reports on it for our annual diners’ survey, on the basis of its “lovely tasting menu”. On the downside, “the space is small so feels crammed” and – given all the excitement that’s been whipped up over the years – the odd reporters find it “very good, but a mite underwhelming compared to the rave reviews”.

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.

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”.

“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”.

“Hackney’s newest foodie hotspot doesn’t disappoint” and “the passionate commitment of all involved shines through” at Andy Benyon’s year-old 18-seater, near London Fields. “Very friendly chefs serve you personally” at a counter overlooking the kitchen “allowing a view of the preparation of each course (it’s a bit like dining on the set of an episode of MasterChef: The Professionals)”. The focus is on fish and seafood, and “a succession of elegantly prepared dishes bring complex flavours to some of the most sustainable species on the market”, all adding up to a “superb” overall meal. Given its high quality, it’s not an overpriced venue at all: “you get amazing value on top of an amazing experience!”

A “too-cool-for-school railway arch” and covered courtyard (“a great fun place on a sunny day”) provides the “quirky” setting for Tomos Parry’s “funky hang-out” in London Fields (a pandemic pop-up in 2020 that turned permanent). Staff are “casual but super-knowledgeable” and deliver “simple food cooked over fire” that’s often “fabulous” (“that turbot… Wow!”). But, while most reporters have found it “hard to pick fault the few times we have visited”, others feel it’s “interesting and trendy, but at a hell of a price for a glorified pop-up” or say “I really wanted to like it but came away underwhelmed by the food and the plastic tent (prefer the original)”.

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.

Funky chandeliers, plants and random artworks lend an eclectic and energetic vibe to the dining possibilities of this hiply transformed Hackney office block (nowadays a 10,000 square foot market), where you eat (the same menu) in either the ‘Open Kitchen’ or the ‘Dining Room’ (cosier, with a higher concentration of design pieces). An array of pizzas is a menu mainstay as is a selection of small plates and a few grills. It’s not a foodie destination, but can be “good value”.

Rising star chef Matthew Scott laid down a marker with creative zero-waste cooking for his HOT4U meal delivery service during the pandemic. He is now in a permanent venue in London Fields that Grace Dent of The Guardian assures readers is "genteel".

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.

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.