Often reduced to Shoreditch or simply sweepingly referred to as east London, the borough of Hackney technically stretches from Regents Canal up to Hackney Downs, and from Dalston in the west to Well Street in the east. Despite its technical parameters, it has become something of a catch-all area from Shoreditch north, and anything between Kingsland Road and Victoria Park.
However you define the neighbourhood, there’s no doubt that Hackney is one of the most densely populated areas of London when it comes to good restaurants. At times achingly cool and, yes, awash with enough overpriced small plates and natural wine to satiate hipsters til the end of time, if you sift through the Perello olives and Torres crisps, some of London’s coolest restaurants still call Hackney home. We’ve done the hard work for you, rounding up our pick of the best places to eat in Hackney.
Morito
195 Hackney Road, E2 8JL
The younger sibling of River Cafe-trained Sam and Sam Clark’s much-loved Exmouth Market restaurant Moro, Morito is home to a delightful Mediterranean menu with heavy Middle Eastern accents. It is joyous, bright food at its most delicious; with an ever-changing selection of dishes that seem to beautifully personify the seasons. It is precisely the kind of restaurant many chefs have attempted to copy around London to far less success, so why not just visit the blueprint?
Cafe Cecilia
32 Andrews Road, E8 4FX
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When Max Rocha’s Cafe Cecilia opened just off Broadway Market, overlooking the vaguely swampy stretch of Regents Canal between Haggerston and Victoria Park, it did so to raving critical success. The restaurant (sorry, cafe) quickly became a crowd-favourite, with tables getting snapped up faster than diners were wolfing down Rocha’s deep fried bread and butter pudding (yes, really). This, really, is down to the wonderful menu which reads like a rolodex of things you want to eat. Whether it’s the staple onglet and chips with peppercorn sauce or the wonderful way Rocha manages to make something as simple as sage and anchovy fritti feel like a masterpiece, it’s difficult to go wrong with a menu this devourable.
Ombra
1 Vyner Street, E2 9DG
Yes, this is technically Bethnal Green, but we figured given the loose definitions of Hackney we could sneak it in here anyway. Ombra has remained a firm favourite over the years, but really seemed to grow up over lockdown, reaching its full culinary potential. It’s simply impossible to have a bad meal when it kicks off with gnocco fritto draped in silky frills of wild boar mortadella; even more so when it finishes with Ombra’s infamous tiramisu. Fancy taking a slice of Ombra home with you? Nip across the road to Forno, the recently opened bakery, pastificio and deli that pumps out Italian goodies that attract Londoners like moths to a flame.
Sune
129A Pritchard's Road, E2 9AP
Did East London need another small plates wine bar? Probably not. Does Sune bring something special to the table anyway, somehow redefining what everyone wants their neighbourhood restaurant to be? Absolutely. Opened by industry veterans Charlie Sims and Honey Spencer who have decades of experience between them, including stints at Noma, Sune inhabits a delightful little candle-lit canal-side pocket just off Broadway Market. You’d be hard pressed to find someone curating more interesting drinks lists than Spencer, while Sims is a masterful front of house expert. Feast on crispy potato cakes topped with the components of a gilda, croque monsieur topped with a mound of beef tartare alongside an ever-changing selection of larger plates, and wash it all back with a genre-bending glass of wine (or two).
Mambow
78 Lower Clapton Road, E5 0RN
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When Abbey Lee returned to Malaysia over the Covid-19 pandemic, she rediscovered the cuisine of her home country through fresh eyes. Following a crash course in cooking the recipes of her childhood, she came back to London armed with the culinary talents to bring this food to the city. Initially operating Mambow in Peckham, she moved the restaurant to Clapton in late 2023, where the larger space allows her to experiment further, expanding her menu and properly cementing Mambow as one of the city’s most exciting restaurants right now.
Dalla
120-122 Morning Lane, E9 6LH
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While we’re hardly a city short on good Italian eateries, Dalla still seems to have come along and brought something new to the table. The brainchild of brothers Gennaro and Gianmarco Leone – the former an art collector and furniture dealer, the latter a chef – and ex-P.Franco chef Michell Damota, the restaurant takes its decor just as seriously as the food. And the food – oh, the food! This is Italian food as a nonna would make it – thoughtful, delicious, simple but impressive – with ingredients sourced from Italy and within Britain, too. Small but perfectly formed, Dalla is already romancing Londoners in Hackney and beyond.
Angelina
56 Dalston Lane, E8 3AH
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If I was to say Japanese-Italian fusion you might not quite understand, or perhaps be enticed by the idea of the finished product. And yet, that is exactly how the food at Angelina is described, and it wholly and entirely works. Perhaps better viewed through the lens of two cultures that take food very seriously (and have a penchant for letting flavours do the talking without too much intervention), at Angelina you’re just as likely to see burrata astride chawanmushi; or nori next to bottarga. Either way, it works, and the resulting meal is one positively packed with flavour.
Towpath
42 De Beauvoir Crescent, N1 5RY
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Look, we really do need to apologise in advance of this one. There is a high chance that you may follow our advice and head to Towpath only to be faced by a multiple-hours-long queue in the beating sun. That, unfortunately, is the risk you take to eat at one of London’s most delightful eateries. What we can recommend is you visit on a weekday outside of peak hours, or at the very least bring a dose of good humour and a bright mood. You will of course be rewarded for your patience when you reach the table. Food is simply joyous and the seasonal menu celebrates the best of British cooking with a distinct Italian accent, plus you get to do it all sitting right by the canal, with a front row seat to the life that moves down its towpath, from swans gliding along in packs, to speeding bikes weaving around unsuspecting pedestrians.
Koya Ko
10 Broadway Market Mews, E8 4TS
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Koya made a name for itself across London with its incredible udon noodles. Celebrating the joy in simplicity, a bowl of Koya udon noodles with an unadorned, umami-rich broth is still easily one of the best meals in town (but the rest of the menu is equally as wonderful). Koya Ko pares things back and speeds them up at its newest outpost, Koya Ko, just off Broadway Market. A concise menu of classics, a heavy-hitting selection of breakfast dishes (the english breakfast udon is the stuff of dreams) and a casual approach to ordering and seating makes this the perfect spot for a speedy in-and-out meal while still serving up some of the best food in London.
Brawn
49 Columbia Road, E2 7RG
Brawn isn't just one of our favourites restaurants in Shoreditch, it's one of our favourites in London
Brawn isn't just one of our favourites restaurants in Shoreditch, it's one of our favourites in London
Brawn isn't just one of our favourites restaurants in Shoreditch, it's one of our favourites in London
Brawn isn't just one of our favourites restaurants in Shoreditch, it's one of our favourites in London
Brawn isn't just one of our favourites restaurants in Shoreditch, it's one of our favourites in London
When it opened in late 2010, Brawn fundamentally changed the dining scene in London, creating an almost rabid appetite for creative small plates, bringing a distinct Italian accent to the already sweeping modern-British and European style of cooking that was sweeping through the city. The restaurant was on the natural wine chain before the residents of Hackney even really knew what organic meant, and has remained steadfast on its viticultural approach, comfortably pouring the most beautiful of low-intervention drops while deftly avoiding the period of time when it felt like everything of the sort tasted vaguely like wet cardboard. It takes a certain kind of panache to remain as interesting as ever over a decade after you’ve opened, and yet that is exactly what Brawn has achieved, continuing to sit at the forefront of dining in London.
Mangal 2
4 Stoke Newington Road, N16 7XN
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What is there for us to say about Mangal 2 that hasn’t already been said? What started as the second (hence the 2 in the name) ocakbasi restaurant in London over the years became embedded as a crowd favourite for incredible Turkish food, a vibrant atmosphere and its BYO policy. At some point, Ferhat – the son of original owner Ali Dirik – took over from his father and began brainstorming ways to bring his plans for the restaurant to fruition. It turns out the Covid-19 pandemic offered him that opportunity, bringing his brother Sertac back from Copenhagen where he had been cutting his teeth in some of the city’s best kitchens. Fast forward three years and this is a bastion of modern Turkish cooking where the cuisine is finally given the attention and detail it deserves.
Acme Fire Cult
Abbot Street, E8 3DP
Set in a former car park at the bottom of Abbot Street in Dalston, Acme Fire Cult is not, as you might suspect from the name, somewhere that’s going to lock you up and force you to pledge allegiance to the BBQ. Although, it’s likely that will come voluntarily after eating the restaurant’s food. Where other BBQ restaurants tend to focus on all that’s protein-heavy and meaty, Acme Fire Cult puts the veg front and centre, packing big flavours into bold, heavy-hitting dishes that prove a lick of smoke makes everything better. Kick things off with the marmite and pecorino bread bites to whet the whistle while you peruse the menu.
Albers
23A Englefield Road, N1 4JX
Plaice with beurre blanc and crisped curry leaves
If, like us, you often find yourself in De Beauvoir sipping pints in its bucolic, almost village-like pubs and hankering for something to eat beyond Scampi Fries, Albers should be on your radar. This neighbourhood spot with a capital N sits almost inconspicuously on a street corner – a light-filled, west-facing site that, despite having been open for a year or so, already feels part of the area's fabric. The swoonsome interiors of biscuit browns and oatmeal are a soothing antidote to the throb of nearby Dalston Junction, and the menu is equally coddling. Chef Ania Stanton has assembled a concise selection of snacks, starters, mains and puds on a dinky sheet of A5, leaning British nostalgia with modern flair. The ana maria anchovy with crème fraîche, kumquat and crostini; torched red mullet with brown butter, shrimp and cedro; and grilled bream with curry sauce and fried vermicelli are all firm favourites. Finish with a banoffee babka and a tiny espresso martini and you'll be turbo-charged for a night in East London.
