London Spitalfields Restaurant Guide

2023 Review: This “tiny place near Truman’s old brewery” serves an “excellent and authentic take on Sichuan cuisine, in a calm atmosphere, away from the agitation of Brick Lane”. Top Tip – “‘numb and spicy’ dumplings live up to their name”.

“Legend!” – East Ender Mark Gevaux has earned cult status for the BBQ ribs and pork rolls he sells at Brick Lane’s Sunday market, along with his signature ‘Holy Fuck’ and ‘Christ On A Bike’ hot sauces to spice them up. The queues are long and he sells out quickly – but these days you can buy his cooked ribs (and the sauces) online.

2023 Review: You can “travel back in time” at this trio of deliberately retro chippies, with their “Formica tables and period posters creating a great atmosphere” – “the fish ’n’ chips are excellent, too”. Founder Pat ‘Pops’ Newland, an East Ender who started working at the age 11, was still a hands-on owner in his 80s when he died in April 2022.

“A simple but very effective formula” that “really works and long may it continue!” – “When you hear the word ‘chain’ you may think of other steak chains best described as ‘bleugh’. Flat Iron isn’t one of them! Each branch has a cool, independent feel, and most importantly, their steak is actually really good”. Now with 15 branches in London (as well as Brighton, Cambridge, Manchester and Leeds), they provide a curt “well priced” menu of “excellent steak and sides”, plus the odd burger, and “the free ice cream cone at the end is a tasty topping to a very good offering”. “A great example of one getting what it says on the tin” and “impressive how they have kept the quality and friendly service going so well”.

“A perennial favourite” – this engagingly stark Spitalfields canteen provides a “more accessible entry point to the great St John” cuisine of Fergus Henderson, and “always has something original to tempt you on its classic menu” of simple punchy British dishes twinned with interesting wines. Top Menu Tips – “tasty brown shrimp with capers and smoked eel; devilled kidneys (always superb)”; “ox tongue and pigeon pie” – “leave room for pudding” (“Eccles cakes are probably best shared although they are the best you’ll ever eat”).

“Still 10x French” – this cute ‘bistroquet’ has flown the Tricolore in Brick Lane curry territory for a dozen years, and remains a “great local”, with a “minimal menu, but the food is good and the service very friendly”.

2023 Review: Nowadays just in Spitalfields (with Soho, Shoreditch and Notting Hill branches opening and closing over the years), this Peruvian-inspired haunt received mixed reviews this year, linked with one or two incidents of “awful” service. Feedback on its Latino fare, which majors in ceviches and salads (but which is also accompanied by a selection of larger and mostly meaty ‘classic dishes’) is more consistent, though, and fans say it’s “still a cracking place, even after relocating”.

Harneet Baweja’s 10-year-old Indian street-food outfit “just gets better and better”, with “innovative, authentic and well-spiced sharing plates” and “warm service”. The Spitalfields branch is “the original and best”; while the Soho and Tower Bridge follow-ups also win praise. Top Tip – look out for the ‘India Club’ events: one-off celebrations of a particular city, region or festival.

“Best steakhouse in London? Yes. Best in the world? Could be!” – Childhood mates Will Beckett & Huw Gott have successfully surfed the zeitgeist for twenty years, since they opened their first venue near Spitalfields in 2006. Now they have 13 as far afield as Chicago, and a still significant stake in a private equity-backed steak empire valued as high as £100m (a price bandied around when it seems they were looking for buyers in late 2024). The group is a particular favourite for a generation of thirtysomething or fortysomething Londoners for whom it’s been a treasured part of their culinary journey. Its City, West End and (floating!) Canary Wharf outlets are also a big and enduring hit for business wining and dining. “Prime cuts of matured beef” are “perfectly cooked” and “served in striking surroundings with a carefully curated wine list”. Amongst the huge volume of feedback the brand inspires, there are inevitably some dud reports, but more eyecatching is the consistency of praise it still achieves. There is a widespread feeling, though – has been for years – that even if “the quality is up to scratch”, “sheesh it’s expensive”, with prices verging on “silly” (“although the excellent cocktails help numb the pain when the bill comes!”). Top Tip – “Set lunch on a Monday when you can BYO wine for £5 represents excellent value”; dip your toe in the water with an “unbeatable breakfast” (“although you have to have a big appetite to handle the full version”).

“I dream about the hummus and flatbread…!”; “Believe the hype: even the meat-eaters don’t complain” and visit “these vibrant (often heaving!)” venues whose “completely brilliant” meat-free dishes (“such variety, with great combinations of flavours”) provide “taste explosions” of “fill-yer-face food”. But even fans concede you get “squashed in” and that “the bare walls and decor make it noisy” – “then again a more comfortable ambience would just push up the reasonable prices” and the net outcome is “jolly”. From its Soho base, expansion has come to Shoreditch and – from April 2025 – also now to King’s Cross. Top Tip – avoid W1’s “cramped basement”.

“Just simple and exceptional!” – Zan Kaufman’s fast-expanding chain still remains widely hailed for offering “the best burger in London”: a winning formula that’s bringing an eighth site in Soho in 2025 alongside recent additions in Seven Dials, London Bridge and – the biggest one yet (28 covers) – on Baker Street. All of the many reports we receive acclaim its “amazing burgers and amazing fries”. One caveat – “expect delays if you want to eat in the evening at the Bloomberg building outlet as they can be too busy fulfilling the constant Deliveroo orders for the starving investment bankers who are all still working until midnight!”

“Stunning Thai food (some dishes will blow your pants off!)” inspires plenty of superlatives for this “vibrant” destination near Spitalfields Market, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. “An early innovator in London’s Thai food world” when it opened, its menu is “truly authentic and constantly changing”, delivering “unusual flavours that make it a standout from the herd” (and “the highly knowledgeable team guides new guests on how to choose their dishes”). Top Menu Tip – “the signature deep-fried sea bass is a wonderful beast, curled up on the plate and staring up at you like an angry horror-film monster”.

“The flavours are big, the combinations exciting and the breads fluffy” at these “cheerful and helpful” Eastern-Med cafés, created by (self-taught chef) Limor Chen and husband Amir, which have won a good degree of renown for their “sharing plate concept” of “creative Middle Eastern dishes” with a good level of “balance, imagination and good value”; and “although there are an increasing number of Middle Eastern restaurants in London, these are some of the very best”. Their original in Marylebone and rather "beautiful" new ‘Townhouse’ in Covent Garden are the most popular branches, although the one in Shoreditch is consistently well-rated too.

This “beautiful, restored Victorian pub” on a corner in Spitalfields is a useful meeting place for a meal, especially in summer when the “fabulous rooftop bar” comes into its own. The food in the first-floor restaurant is a step up from gastropub fare, and there’s a private dining space in the rooftop greenhouse seating 10 guests.

Brunch in particular is “varied and delicious” at this vibey group: launched a decade ago as a pop-up in an ex-greasy spoon in Balham and progressing via supper clubs to six permanent sites open till late. “Great flatbreads with the mezze” and “the beautiful treatment of vegetables” are typical of the “simple and very good” Eastern Mediterranean dishes, wines and cocktails inspired by co-founder Tas Gaitanos’s Cretan/Cypriot heritage (the name honours owner Alex Large’s kid brother). Summer 2025’s Canary Wharf opening was the biggest yet, with an 80-seater outdoor terrace and a new dedicated ‘skewers’ menu.

“You will want to lick the plate” if you brunch (the highpoint) at one of Yotam Ottolenghi’s inspired deli-cafés, whose creation in 2002 helped created the TV fame of the owner, and started to popularise the Middle Eastern-influenced cuisine that’s swept London and even now is seen as fashionable. The formula is little changed: “tasty, healthy and yummy dishes” that are “beautifully flavoured” but “a bit on the pricey side”. “Ottolenghi is the master of flavoursome veg (with more veg choices than at most non-veg restaurants)” and, in particular “the cakes are wonderful!”. (Also, “they’re great on allergens.”). On the downside, “space is tight” and the “ambience could be more relaxed”. There’s also a feeling in some quarters that “Yotam has become a brand and it shows”, with food that is “good but after a while same-y”.

“Always impressing anyone who visits” – the Galvin Bros’ “elegant and professional” destination by Spitalfields Market boasts one of London’s most “glorious” dining spaces: “a high-ceilinged Victorian room that seems far too grand for its one-time use as a girls’ school”. “To accompany this wonderful atmosphere is a menu that really showcases fabulous international dishes focussing on the classics”, alongside “a wine-list offering plenty both at the high end for celebrating and at the lower end for when you need to stick to your expense-budget!”. (The cellar has “the largest collection of La Chapelle outside of the Rhône”, with a complete selection of vintages back to 1952). Boosted by its City-fringe location, it is “perfect for business entertaining” with just the right “serious tone” but also with a bit of a bounce to the occasion. “The food can misstep when it’s trying too hard, but the more traditional dishes are really very good”. Top Menu Tips – “an absolute winner is the crab lasagna: divine!”: “excellently slow- cooked Herdwick lamb shank and tarte tatin properly infused with a Calvados caramel”.

Hand-pulled ‘biang biang’ or ‘belt’ noodles in a choice of “nice and spicy” soups are the signature “pot-stickers” at this Spitalfields canteen from chef Guirong Wei (who made her name with the tiny Xi’an Impression opposite the Emirates stadium and has done much to popularise the distinctive cuisine of China’s Shaanxi province in London).

“A fix of huevos rancheros never disappoints” at this collection of 11 all-day London ‘cafs’ (with another four across England and two pubs), whose menu mixes British greasy-spoon fare with American diner classics (pancakes, fried chicken, milkshakes) that certainly “set you up for the day”. “Basic, but with a nice buzz”, they are also “great for oldies, with half-price mains for the over 60s”.