Shoreditch Restaurants

Brat is Welsh slang for turbot, so it follows that that’s the thing to order here. It’s a perfectly-cooked whole fish, grilled over a fire, and meant for sharing. It’s a technique they use for many menu items, including the bread (always a reliable indicator of the dishes to come), which is almost a satisfying meal in itself, grilled and made of flour from one of last standing stoneground mills in the UK. Even the cheesecake is smoked and accompanied by brown bread ice cream, a familiar treat in the UK and Ireland but rarely seen stateside. Once you have a bite you’ll wonder why.

Nuala is named for chef Niall Davidson’s little sister, and every detail of the restaurant speaks to the deep thought Davidson has put into it. The staff is friendly, the room is warm (thanks to the fire pit), and the food tastes like home—if you grew up in a remarkably talented culinary Irish family. The sour sourdough comes grilled with a good heaping of salted butter, made saltier by the dulse seaweed whipped into it (the Irish are big on seaweed). The beef tartare (a small mound of aggressively seasoned raw beef topped with a cured egg yolk and drizzled in a Guinness-infused sauce, with a few thick-cut fries on the side) is the best we’ve ever had. The wine list is the work of sommelier Honey Spencer (who cut her teeth at Noma Mexico) and emphasizes organic and biodynamic wines, playfully under the “wild things” section. It’s a good descriptor for Nuala in general: The food is earthy, and the interior resembles the modernist cabin—firewood included—we all wish we could escape to. A solid attempt at representing a slice of Ireland in London.

Margot Henderson knows a thing or two about cooking—her husband, Fergus, owns London nose-to-tail staple St. John Bread and Wine. But, Rochelle Canteen is about much more than food. This is the place you go to hang out, especially in the summer. At the sunny tables in the pretty courtyard, one glass of wine turns to two (or three?) as the afternoon passes by in a pleasant haze of good food and great people-watching. The food is traditional, almost retro, but there’s a reason the British spent most of the twentieth century tucking into mustardy Welsh rarebit and flaky, pastry-topped leek and chicken pies. It’s mouthwatering comfort food that makes us feel happy, full, and deeply understood. Subtle details like the Aalvar Alto tables and the line of straw hats hung along the walls make for restrained, chic decoration in the whitewashed-brick room. The light streaming through the floor-to-ceiling window is the main decoration.

Catering to East London's hardcore foodie scene since 2010, Brawn serves up seasonal cuisine with an emphasis on provenance. Their cheese is from the venerable Androuet, their bread is from the one and only E5 Bakehouse, and their wine list features a good number of natural wines. And then there's the meat: This is nose-to-tail eating at its best—their house-made black pudding alone is worth the trip. A meal in their delightfully bare-bones dining room any day is a treat but their Sunday roast is what they're best known for.

Kennedy's takes the English concept of a typical pie and mash shop to another level. Not only do they serve fish & chips, the best being wing of skate and fish with a pickled cucumber, but you can also choose from steak and stilton pies, venison and red wine, and salmon and tarragon pasties.

At four locations deep (three of them are in the UK), this casual Italian joint can easily qualify as a chain. Their approach to pizza, however, is very mom-and-pop: all are made in a wood-burning oven, resulting in a chewy, crispy crust that's actually pretty hard to find in London. You can get a table inside the sprawling, industrial-looking dining room, have a quick snack at their bar, or order for takeaway.

If you happen to be wandering through Spitalfields Market, make sure you stop into this innovative and lively restaurant. The menu constantly changes with seasonally available ingredients. As the name suggests, the baked goods and wine list are the superstars, but they're almost out-shined by the nose-to-tail style meat dishes.

It’s no surprise that Chef James Lowe cut his teeth at the Fat Duck and then at St. John Bread & Wine, as his first restaurant has the "nose-to-tail" ethos down pat. The à la carte lunch and set dinner menus change daily, where you’ll come across parts of fish, vegetables, and meats you’d never known to be delicious before. Beyond the local, seasonal cuisine, it’s the lightness of the way it’s served that makes the meal: The white-tiled room is spacious and airy, and the servers will tell you all about each dish without rushing through the details (many of the ingredients are quite unusual, so you’ll have questions). Another highlight is the wine list, selected by the River Café veteran sommelier, featuring some fantastic and unusual wines, sourced everywhere from Santa Rita, California to Slovakia.

The Clove Club serves a short but exciting menu in the historic Shoreditch Town Hall. The meals are beautifully prepared and presented, but the most impressive aspect is the quality of each locally sourced ingredient: from Zerbinati melons, to pine salt, to the freshest heritage tomatoes. It's a set menu (£35 for a three-course lunch and £65 for dinner) with a choice for each course, though if you're not in the market for a full meal, stop by for a drink and a few à la carte dishes in the front bar room.

For those missing out on the Shoreditch House's private member's rooftop and pool next door, The Boundary Hotel comes to the rescue with a rooftop bar and restaurant that's open year-round, under a canopy of grape vines, no less. You'll also find a kitchen garden upstairs, along with an outdoor lounge that's set around a wood-burning chimney, ideal for a lazy afternoon in good weather. Being part of Terence Conran's empire guarantees that everything from the Mediterranean food, to the wicker furniture in the rooftop lounge, is in great taste.