Shoreditch is the busiest part of East London and is the spiritual home of the pop-up, so naturally, it’s bursting with places to eat and drink. In fact, you can probably eat your way around the world without leaving the E1 postcode. Aside from all the cooler-than-cool shops, Redchurch Street alone boasts Smoking Goat, Brat and BAO Noodle Shop, which are some of the best restaurants in London, not just the neighbourhood.
Shoreditch has changed massively over the years, so it’s an area where some of the best new restaurants in London rub shoulders with old-school institutions like Beigel Bake, where hidden gems like Popolo Shoreditch sit alongside Michelin-starred establishments like Lyle’s, The Clove Club and Cycene.
It’s also become a must-have location for many of London’s mini-chains – there’s a Tonkotsu, Blacklock, Pizza Pilgrims and Dishoom in Shoreditch and they’re always packed out, proving just how many people flock east for a good feed. Too much choice can be overwhelming though so that’s why we’ve run down the ones you need to know about.
Whether you’re after a cheap eat that won’t break the bank, a special occasion meal to remember featuring some serious cooking, or just good, honest, comforting food that’ll leave you feeling happy (and most importantly, full), these are the best restaurants in Shoreditch.
Smokestak
After killing it on the street food circuit for years, David Carter’s first permanent Smokestak is a dark, moody BBQ dream, complete with an absolutely huge custom built smoker, responsible for slow smoking all that meat (plus your clothes by the end of the night too). There’s some great snacks on the menu such as a giant slab of pork scratching dusted with chilli powder and BBQ pigs tails which won’t be to everyone’s taste but you should definitely try. A thick cut pork rib with picked cucumber is another favourite and even the veg dishes hit the spot – check out the coal roasted potato and the smoked girolles and beef dripping brioche toast. The snug basement bar is a top spot for cocktails too, perfect to help all that meat go down at the end of the night.
35 Sclater St, London, E1 6LB
smokestack.co.uk
Leroy
Despite earning a Michelin star, the Ellory boys decided to shut up shop in London Fields and open Leroy in Shoreditch in 2018 and it’s been a fave ever since. It’s more of a relaxed affair, influenced by the new wave of Parisian wine bars. The space is lovely, a sort-of triangular site with lots of natural light, a bar/counter area with high stools and an open kitchen. They offer a range of snacks and sharing plates on the menu, as well as cheese and charcuterie so it caters for all occasions – we’d happily pop in for the terrine, a plate of cheese, and a glass of wine at the bar.
18 Phipp St, London, EC2A 4NU
leroyshoreditch.com
Smoking Goat
Smoking Goat in Shoreditch branch is the place to come for smokey, BBQ Thai food. We love their freshly made rotis, goat krapow, turmeric crab curry, and the Thai-style fried chicken. It’s all a world away from cheap pad thai and prawn crackers and has been part of a wave of restaurants that woke London up to proper Thai food.
64 Shoreditch High St, London E1 6JJ
smokinggoatbar.com
Brat
It’s all about wood fire cooking at Tomos Parry’s Michelin-starred Brat. Named after the slang word for turbot, the restaurant serves whole pieces of fish and meat with other dishes, like young leeks with cheese, oysters roasted with seaweed and chilled tomato soup, representing a mix of Welsh (where he’s from) and Basque (where he’s travelled) influences. The dishes are simple, often just one or two ingredients per plate, but that just highlights how good the chefs are over that grill – the signature turbot really is something special. With the kitchen and grill, bar and tables all in one wood-panelled room (Brat is on the floor above Smoking Goat) the atmosphere is always great too.
4 Redchurch St, London E1 6JL
bratrestaurant.co.uk
Rochelle Canteen
Rochelle Canteen, run by Margot Henderson and Melanie Arnold, has long been one of London’s favourite spots. Housed in a former school bike shed on Arnold Circus in Shoreditch, accessible only through an unmarked door that, when buzzed in, leads you through a pretty garden and to a small dining room, it’s always been a hidden spot for Londoners to enjoy. Aside from being an excellent setting to enjoy a leisurely weekend lunch, the cooking is really quite good too. Simplicity is the order of the day and although menus change daily we can highly recommend the Queenie scallops, grilled in garlic and butter; the skate wing with burnt butter and samphire; and our favourite, the incredible braised lamb with peas and mint.
Rochelle School, Arnold Circus, London, E2 7ES
arnoldandhenderson.com
Lyle’s
Lyle’s has built up a stellar reputation thanks to its elegant, seasonal British food but if you don’t want to plan ahead, you can also drop in for small plates and a glass of wine from their bar snack menu (as long as one of the six bar stools are free of course). It is a changing menu, but if the mussel, garlic and spenwood flatbread or the smoked eel with cabbage and seaweed are on, they’re must-orders. It’s not exactly cheap, but as a Michelin-starred pit-stop it’s pretty perfect.
Tea Building, 56 Shoreditch High St, London, E1 6JJ
lyleslondon.com
Popolo
Popolo is a hidden gem of a restaurant, which boasts a pretty impressive bar for counter dining and intimate dining room upstairs. The menu is mostly Italian with Middle Eastern and Spanish influences…hello fried olives with labne and morita chilli oil. With other dishes like octopus with paprika and potatoes, gnudi with buffalo ricotta and sage butter, and burnt honey panna cotta and figs, this place is defo worth a visit.
26 Rivington St, London, EC2A 3DU
popoloshoreditch.com
Manteca
Manteca in Shoreditch is the third iteration of a restaurant that started at 10 Heddon Street before moving to Soho, and now finally settling here in on Curtain Road. Of all these, the new place is the one that really feels like their home. If you’ve been to Manteca before and loved it then you will definitely be a fan of the Shoreditch restaurant. All the elements are there – the in-house charcuterie, the nose-to-tail menu, and the fresh pasta – and now it’s all wrapped up in a beautiful new space and a bold menu that combines some of their classic dishes with several new ones. Don’t miss the incredible mortadella, made fresh in house; the crisp, rich pig head fritti; the clam flatbread; the n’duja mussels; and the tonnarelli with a brown crab cacio e pepe sauce.
49-51 Curtain Rd, London EC2A 3PT
mantecarestaurant.co.uk
Blacklock Shoreditch
Blacklock brings quality chops to the people of Soho, the City, Covent Garden and Shoreditch. It’s all about the meat here, with a range of steaks, big chops, skinny chops, burgers at lunchtime and specials up on the chalkboard. For us, the best way to go is still the All In, which gets you three varieties of pre-chop bites and you get a pile of perfectly cooked beef, lamb and pork chops sat on top of thick fingers of flatbread, so all those meaty juices run down and soak in, plus sauces and sides. And not forgetting a big spoonful of white chocolate cheesecake scooped right from the bowl.
30 Rivington St, London EC2A 3DZ
theblacklock.com
BAO Noodle Shop
Bao Noodle Shop is part of the Taiwanese mini-chain’s empire that includes three ‘regular’ Bao restaurants and Cafe Bao in King’s Cross. As you might guess from the name, it’s noodles that are the focus here rather than the steamed buns that made them famous, specifically the beef noodle shops of Taiwan. Despite this, there’s only actually two beef noodle soups on the menu, a rich Taipei-style with beef cheek, short rib and spiced beef butter, and a lighter Tainan-style beef soup with rare beef rump. And then to the trusty bao, here as good as ever, and with a particular shoutout to the prawn croquette bun which may just be our new favourite.
1 Redchurch St, London E1 6JJ
baolondon.com