5 Best Restaurants in East London, London

Welsh chef Tomos Parry brings his signature wood-grilled, whole roast Cornish turbot to this Basque-inspired hipster restaurant, almost hidden up a fairly narrow staircase on a quiet corner behind Shoreditch High Street. Watch the head chef and his team produce live-fire smashes from the intimate, open kitchen like aged Jersey beef chops, seared leeks, and burnt cheesecake. Even the grilled bread is something special at this very relaxed and welcoming venue, where there's an affordable range of options that won't break the bank. Lunch and early evening sittings have a more relaxed vibe with plenty of families and business meetings going on. Housed in a former pole-dancing club, it's probably London's most unassuming restaurant with a Michelin star. It's a small venue, so it can get noisy at night.

It's all Cockney banter and full English breakfasts at this tiny family-run café and onetime gangsters' lair near Brick Lane and Columbia Road markets. The atmosphere may be rowdy, but it's all good-natured, with greasy fry-ups (think eggs, bacon, sausages, baked beans, toast, tomatoes, fried mushrooms, black pudding, and cabbage and mash) served alongside homemade Italian dishes like lasagna and cannelloni and British classics like pies and roast dinners, all courtesy of matriarch Mama Maria. With the ornate food-paneling (installed in 1946 by local carpenter and regular customer Achille Capocci) as a backdrop, a visit to E. Pellicci feels a little like a wonderful performance of East End life being staged for your benefit. 

You'll feel like quite the foodie insider once you finally track down the quirky Rochelle Canteen, founded by Melanie Arnold and Margot Henderson, two doyennes of the London food scene. It's set in a former bike shed at the Victorian-era Rochelle School—ring the buzzer next to a blue door, go through the "Boys" entrance, and enter the long white canteen, where you'll enjoy gloriously understated British fare ranging from monkfish liver parfait and crab apple jelly to beef and pickled walnut pie. Bump along with the Frieze London art crowd and enjoy braised chard with ricotta on toast, or go for a dessert such as poached quince with chocolate sauce and praline or a velvety custard tart.