London Shoreditch Restaurant Guide

Despite its famous brand, this chic Shoreditch-fringe boutique hotel has struggled to make waves since its 2017 launch (no survey feedback this year), and in summer 2023 relaunched (re-relaunched?) its basement restaurant with adjoining sunken garden as a ‘destination bar’, complete with ‘world-renowned Nobu signature dishes, small plates and sushi’ and a regular DJ. As well as the wizard Nikkei bits, options include the ‘newly launched Monaka… a lightweight flat rice crispbread, branded with the Nobu logo and stuffed with fresh toppings’.

2023 Review: “Superb food with a real eye for detail and quality” – Ruth Hansom’s “outstanding modern cuisine” is really “going places” at this well-established gastroboozer, just off Great Eastern Street. The pleasant-enough dining area is quirkly located on the mezzanine, up a spiral staircase from the main bar: choose from either a five-course or eight-course tasting menu.

These “lively, colourful” Mexican street-food joints are, say fans, “great for a quick bite” – “the food remains pretty good (if not where it was several years ago)” and “you can’t complain at the prices”. That’s the majority view anyway, although there is a small minority who feel it’s “very average” now (and its ratings risk heading that way). Founded by MasterChef winner Thomasina Miers in 2007, the group hit the buffers during the pandemic and halved in size to 10 sites in London, with Dick Enthoven of Nando’s taking a controlling stake.

“A super choice to explore Peruvian cuisine with a wide variety of dishes available on their tapas-style menu” (ceviche, croquetas, churros…) – these noisy and atmospheric, cocktail-fueled operations in Marylebone and Shoreditch make for a fun night out: “a great evening was had by all!”

2023 Review: For a meat-free burger, this tiny brand (the first vegan restaurant in Europe to use ‘Beyond Meat’ in its patties) is well worth a try if you need a bite near the Old Street roundabout, or are down Pop Brixton way.

“A find!” – “Sit at the ground-floor kitchen bar for a fun, close up experience” at this sophisticated Shoreditch joint, where Jon Lawson and his team provide accomplished sharing plates (often with Moorish touches) and deliver them in a “knowledgeable and friendly” manner. But ratings took a hit this year, with the odd review referring to cost-of-living concerns: “most of the food is excellent but the size of the portions for the price charged was ridiculously small and felt like a starter at the price of a main. For the premium cost, you might expect comfy seating too!”

On a quirky Shoreditch corner-site, this “relaxed” haunt offers affordable and interesting small plates, “good wine” and just the kind of “buzzy” ambience you’d hope for in these hipster environs. But for slaves to ‘Le Guide Rouge’ and their grading system there’s a problem. “It’s a really good restaurant. It’s just not a Michelin star place – its star is a distraction”. (“If this was a Michelin ‘bib gourmand’ it would be spot-on, and it absolutely deserves that sort of grade. But the star creates an expectation of something more special than this place delivers. That’s the only criticism. It is a cracking spot, but someone at the tyre place got a bit carried away”.)

“Absolutely delicious grilled meats with equally tasty accompaniments, all in a buzzy and fun setting” inspire many loyalists for Gordon Ker’s “go-to” chain, which in May 2023 added a fifth branch in Canary Wharf’s North Dock. “Hawksmoor every week could be financially ruinous, but this never disappoints, be it lunch or dinner, for half the money”. Top Tips – “Butchers Block Monday prices, and regular £10 corkage. Get in!” Also the “all-in” meat-fest of lamb and pork chops, steak and bacon: “it uses cheaper cuts and preparation is basic, but juices drip over the plate, and the peppercorn sauce is delicious!”

“Great for a fun dinner out with friends or family, thanks to the lovely cocktails and amazing decor!” – Big Mamma Group’s happening Shoreditch Italian is a happy, overblown pastiche of retro Amalfi-coast style. Results are “inconsistent in quality, but some dishes are mind blowing” (if only in terms of their heart-attack-threatening creaminess). Top Menu Tip – yummo pizza.

“Love Padella! Both the one in Borough Market and the one in Shoreditch”. “It doesn’t need any review as everyone seems to already know it” – a “go-to Italian” with “simple, perfect portions whose comforting flavours just sing” (freshly made every morning on the premises) all at “amazing value” prices. “It’s so busy, you need to book way in advance (at least in EC2, unlike SE1 where you need to queue)”. “All in all, the whole experience is devoid of pretence: nothing tries to be fancy, it is just damn good.” “I take all my friends, all of whom have been impressed… and many have subsequently returned for themselves. Says it all!”

2022 Review: With its swish, spacious metropolitan styling, this 100-seater brasserie on one of Shoreditch’s main drags does little to advertise the fact that it’s part of the Hart Shoreditch Hotel London (part of the Curio Collection by Hilton), which opened in early 2020. Knowing this helps explain the slightly over-plush styling – at odds with the strenuously hip neighbourhood – and also the wilfully un-corporate menu: inspired by the flavours of Levantine coastal towns (Levantine weekend brunch is a feature). Early reports are too limited for a rating, but all-round very good.

2021 Review: With their “chilled ambience and laid-back vibe” this trio of cafés have championed Aussie-style day-time eating for more than a decade in London. “Good for breakfast, brunch and lunch”, they are “not too overpriced compared with competitors”, and the Shoreditch and London Bridge venues are open in the evening for drinks and dinner.

2022 Review: On the sizable Shoreditch site that was Merchant’s Tavern (RIP), this mid-2021 newcomer is nowadays a 130-cover Japanese izakaya, with more of an emphasis on drinking (and DJs) than of old. It comes complete with open kitchen and robata counter, serving skewers, sushi and steamed buns to soak up the hot or cold sake, beers and cocktails.

“Tasty kebabs and sides” that “offer a modern twist on traditional Middle Eastern cuisine” make this “brilliant” Carnaby Street outfit “a must-visit”, “in the lovely setting of Kingly Court”. The Battersea branch is “an absolute gem”, and there are now half a dozen outlets around town, including at the Market Halls in Oxford Street and Canary Wharf. See also Kebab Queen.

“Thoughtful” Vietnamese food is served at “fabulous prices for the generous portions” at this duo in Soho and Hoxton from Hieu Trung Bui, who has done much to popularise pho and other southeast Asian dishes in London over more than 20 years. That “plenty of Asian people eat there too” speaks for its “authentic” style.

“One of the best bangs for your buck in town” – this “well-priced” steak chain has a “sensible formula” and has “managed to keep standards up despite constant expansion” (its latest, 11th London site, opened in March 2023 in Kensington). “Surroundings are basic” and “their menu is very simplistic: you choose a cut of meat, sauce and sides – the cuts are cooked to perfection”, “chips are hot, the service is punctual” and “free ice cream at the end ensures happy faces when people leave”.

“The ramen is excellent” at this West End-based group from the Japan Centre’s Tak Tokumine – although “the rest of the menu is not as good” and the venues tend to be “too cramped and/or noisy to be ideal”. A drive to expand via franchise operations has apparently stalled since the summer 2022 opening of a branch in Kensington High Street – a possible sign that “we may have passed peak noodle”.

Star chef Dani Garcia opened his first UK venture in Shoreditch’s Mondrian Hotel a couple of years ago, to mixed reviews. This up-and-down sentiment continues in feedback to date – some reporters think the Spanish cuisine – paellas, roast and grilled fish and meat, tapas – is “very good” (but encountered “an empty room on a Sunday lunch”); other well-travelled types thought it “underwhelming compared to the wonders of his native Andalusian restaurants”.

Richard Corrigan’s “unassuming but amazing” bar/restaurant, just south of Silicon Roundabout, has – perhaps due to its pre-pandemic debut – never quite capitalised on his renown and its high quality. An “imaginative menu” of Irish-inflected dishes are “all matched by the superb, friendly, welcoming service” led by his son Richie. “Not cheap but equally not too expensive and certainly worth the visit”.