Best restaurants in Shoreditch

It will always be the little brother of St John Smithfields, but Bread & Wine’s canteen vibe has long been popular in Shoreditch, and many actually prefer the ultra-minimal style here to St John proper. You’ll find much of the same excellent stuff on the menu (Eccles cakes, madeleines and pies, among other St John treats). Bread & Wine is always worth a visit if you’re nearby.

Billed as Nieves Barragan-Mohacho's 'legacy' restaurant (legado means legacy in Spanish), Legado champions lesser-known regional Spanish cooking (in Nieves' typical full-throttle style). Inside, it's polished but buzzing with contented diners. The menu is long, but don't be fearful - just let staff guide you towards traditional suckling pig, crispy Andalusian prawns, and a delicious new-style tortilla you'll never forget.

Sagardi highlights the ancestry of Basque cuisine without fear of setting it in the context of good European produce. The best way of understanding the style of Sagardi is observing that a tasting menu sits aside a section of the menu called ‘Grandma’s Home Cooking’. This eatery brings together some delicious ways of cooking and champions the rich Basque region.

Bubala takes Middle Eastern cuisine and, rather than complicating it, champions its simple elegance. With a vegetable focused menu you can expect delicious and vibrant dishes that might well be the enemy of conversation at the table. The set menu is listed as ‘Bubala knows best’, we think they might just be right.

The first thing that hits you about The Clove Club is the striking bright blue colour scheme, which stands out against the 19th century building the restaurant is housed in. The menu boasts modern British cuisine and features a delicious tasting menu, as well as four- and six-course feasts.

Although the Princess of Shoreditch houses a very very good downstairs bar, (Old Fashioneds and duck fat popcorn), the upstair’s dining room is what’s most interesting to us. With five- and eight-course seasonal tasting menus that focus on expertly sourced British produce, the Princess of Shoreditch is a great place to take anyone who suggests Britain can’t produce great food.

Brat, the rustic Italian restaurant on Redchurch Street, is just, well, cool. From the exposed brick walls to the airy, high ceilings, this feels like an effortlessly chic place to hang out. The food’s pretty great, too. The restaurant specialises in cooking with a wood fired grill and must-try dishes include oysters roasted with seaweed and velvet crab.

Manteca over in east London has become a hugely raved-about hotspot for relaxed, high-quality Italian food. Discover hand-rolled pasta dishes, wood-fired breads and salami made in-house at this buzzy neighbourhood gem.

Is there anything more Shoreditch than a white-washed warehouse? Well, welcome to Bistrotheque, an effortlessly cool Modern European restaurant sitting on the edge of Bethnal Green. The industrial décor is Instagram-worthy and the menu is not to be missed.

Rochelle Canteen continues to impress punters with its daily changing menu, which is kept small so it can focus on executing each dish to an exceptional level. Take a seat amongst nature in the garden greenhouse, or opt for the equally laid-back dining area indoors, at this east London institution.

This industrial, yet highly polished restaurant rests above its sister bar; both are Irish by nature, deliberately mischievous, and dangerously high in quality. The food, spread across small and large plates, is any foodie's… or hedonist's... dream. The only thing to do here is enjoy some well made drinks, eat some delicious food and give thanks for the luck of the Irish.

Having first opened its doors back in 1880, The Knave of Clubs has returned to its roots, bringing that classic old-school boozer vibe and succinct menu of elevated pub grub. Head in for a pint of Guinness and some Taytos, or order up one of the signature rotisserie chickens, and embrace the boisterous atmosphere.

It's impossible not to fall in love with Italian wine maestro Luca Dusi and his azure blue wine shop. Passione Vino hides magic touches across multiple floors, and inside you'll also find an excellent restaurant serving no-frills Italian food, with a nod to Luca's native Verona. Expect northern Italian classics like baccala mantecato and ragu with bigoli, alongside outstanding wines.

If you’re looking for a dramatic setting, this is the place. Think impossibly high ceilings, gothic arched windows and atmospheric lighting. Oh, and we haven’t even started on the food. The French fare at this Galvin restaurant branch is Michelin starred, so make sure you treat yourself to the full three courses.

Padella’s ludicrously popular London Bridge restaurant, which rarely sees a day without a huge queue expanding into the nearby Borough Market, has opened a branch in Shoreditch. With Italian dishes, principally pasta, that are incredibly affordable yet seriously accomplished, this is the kind of eatery that is impossible to exit without a smile on your face.

The latest venture from the Pachamama Group, Lagana ticks all our boxes when it comes to casual dining in London. Expect indulgent Greek menus packed full of dips and breads (be sure to order them all), an exciting selection of wines, and the chance to sprawl across the paper table cloths. What's not to love?

Blacklock is a modern day chophouse dripping with style, home to an innovative menu that champions ethically sourced meat and exciting drinks. A focus on affordability has somehow been paired with heightened quality (£7.50, well made, cocktails can only be a good thing), and any meat-eater should add Blacklock's 'All In' to their bucketlist. 

Sticks 'n' Sushi brings its signature brand of 'Japandi' style to one of London's coolest neighbourhoods, with chic interiors, a central bar and open kitchen where guests can watch chefs work their magic. Indulge in everything from buttery black cod maki to a plethora of sushi, sashimi, tempura and special dishes. 

This cool eatery takes influence from Bangkok canteens and gives everythinig a dark and sultry Shoreditch edge. The menu brings together the vibrancy of Thai cooking (think laab and sambal) and mixes it with some of the best produce the UK has to offer - including Matt Chatfield’s increasingly popular, and seriously tasty, cull yaw (aged Cornish mutton).

Shoreditch is no stranger to a cool wine bar, so Clara's is clearly in the right place. It sits just metres from Shoreditch High Street station, offering a seasonal selection of Mediterranean-inspired sharing plates, including duck croquettes, whipped cod's roe and Iberian featherblade steak. Might we suggest a Blue Cheese Olive Martini while you're there?

Brawn is a beautifully airy, high-ceilinged space focused on Mediterranean dishes, centred around very good produce. The restaurant has a chic yet homely feel (the kind achievable only in films) with books and art surrounding simple wooden tables. Brawn feels like an Emporium of high quality, with an online shop and journal featuring articles on producers and food.

This industrial-chic site is discreetly tucked away near the top of Brick Lane, but there’s nothing discreet about the all-guns-blazing smoke and grill cooking happening inside. The main dining room is buzzy and thick with the smell of grilled meats, cooked in the ilk of southern USA barbecue. Staff make a mean cocktail in the moody basement bar as well.

Generous pies, snails in garlic and tarragon butter and candlelit tables - what's not to love about Bistro Freddie? The menu is bold and comforting from start to finish, backed up by a superb winelist courtesy of Alex Price, one of the best sommeliers in the game right now.

Angelina's stylish sibling dazzles in Spitalfields with its seamless Japanese-Italian fusion. It's busy and theatrical, with a buzzing open kitchen, and some utterly beguiling cookery. More than just a concept, Osteria Angelina is a serious culinary destination - intelligent, delicious, and a must-visit for anyone travelling to East London. Whatever you do, order the milk bread with honey butter and kumquat. 

Taking over the former Leroy site, Alex Grant and chef Simon Shand have brought this 40-seater spot back to life, drawing inspiration from the Duchy of Savoy with their French-Italian menus. It's warm and familiar, but with a bright new twist, making it one of the area's hottest new openings.

In a former fabric warehouse, Som Saa serves up traditional, regional Thai food that has locals hooked. Swing by for lunch or dinner for an eclectic range of Thai dishes underpinned by high quality produce. There is also a huge drinks list covering all bases, with exciting cocktails and long lists of spirits and wines. 

Crispin’s angular pagoda stands out among the old Victorian brick of Spitalfields, and the idiosyncratic exterior gives a clue to the artful food within, which comes courtesy of chef Lewis de Haas. The food is clean, balanced, seasonal, and plated with an eye for aesthetics but most of all, cooked with flavour in mind. Crispin is especially worth a visit in the summer when the terrace becomes a real sun trap.

One of the few true Burmese restaurants in London, Lahpet introduced the delights of this country's cooking to a new generation of London diners, including unique treats like chickpea tofu, fermented tea leaf salad and fiery dried shrimp and onion balachaung relish. That's not all though - the verdant interiors are rather beautiful, and the cocktail list is excellent too.

Tucked away in the new Norton Folgate development, Kolamba East is the latest restaurant from Eroshan and Aushi Meewella, serving up authentic Sri-Lankan cuisine. Sleek interiors and a homely feel, make this one worth a visit, and once you’ve had a bite of the string hopper biryani, you’ll find it hard to stay away.

It's highly unlikely you've been in Shoreditch and not spotted Delamina EAST's avocado green frontage and potted olive trees. We'd recommend heading inside - the dining room is similarly foliage-laden, and the easy-going food channels flavours of the eastern Med and Middle East. Affordable, delicious, vibrant and nicely balanced, Delamina EAST is proper crowd-pleaser.

Hawksmoor might just be the greatest restaurant success story of the last few decades - once confined to London, this steakhouse group now has restaurants all over the UK, and even as far afield as Dublin and New York. The secret to its success is incredible consistency - a visit to Hawksmoor is just as good as ever, with the excitement just as palpable as the table plans what steaks to take from the blackboard and gets ready for triple cooked chips. Remember to save room for the iconic sticky toffee pudding and salted caramel rolos.