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London’s best dining neighbourhoods include Shoreditch, Hackney, and Columbia Road
Brawn, on Columbia Road
Ola Smit

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The Top London Dining Neighbourhoods of 2017

Did east London truly outshine the West End this year?

It is tradition at Eater to end the year with a survey of friends, rovers of the industry, critics and professional eaters. This year, the group were asked eight questions, spanning meal of the year to biggest dining grievance. Their answers will appear throughout this week. Responses are related in no particular order; cut, pasted, and unedited below. We’ve had restaurant standbys, most impressive newcomers, the industry in one word. Now it’s time for the top London neighbourhoods for dining in 2017.


Grace Dent, former ES Magazine — and soon-to-be The Guardian — restaurant critic: Highbury area…Xi’an Impression, Westerns Laundry, Linden Stores, Farang.

Adam Coghlan, Eater London editor: Highbury or Shoreditch.

George Reynolds, Eater London contributor: East London (Hackneyish) and it's not even close. In particular, those two pockets around the Hackney Road (Morito, Marksman, The Laughing Heart, Sager + Wilde, Brawn) and Clapton (P Franco, Del74, Legs, Temple, Every Cloud, Pidgin) are absolutely ridiculous — with the Hackney Road one taking the crown if we're getting hyper-specific.

Victoria Stewart, food writer: Southwark.

James Hansen, food writer, editor and Eater London contributor: It’s a close toss up between SE1 and Hackneyish.

London’s best brunch includes fried egg on an orange table at Morito Hackney Road
Brunch at Morito Hackney Road
Ola Smit/Eater London
London restaurant The Laughing Heart
The dining room at The Laughing Heart
The Laughing Heart

Emma Hughes, freelance food writer and Eater London contributor: Am I allowed to say Soho? If not, south-east.

Josh Barrie, food writer and Eater London contributor: SOHO.

Suze Olbrich, freelance food writer and Eater London contributor: Hackney.

Zeren Wilson, restaurant discoverer and author of Bitten & Written: London Bridge and surrounds: the arrival of Duddell’s and Londrino in December — two late, but very welcome additions in 2017 — have added to a flurry of excellent openings this year in SE1, including Santo Remedio and Pique-Nique around the corner in Bermondsey.

Londrino restaurant by chef Leandro Carreira will close in Bermondsey, London
Octopus at Londrino in SE1
Yousef Eldin
Santo Remedio, on Tooley St, Borough
Nick Hopper

Chloe Scott-Moncrieff, food writer and co-founder of the YBFs: Hackney or Soho.

Sophie Brown, freelance food writer: Borough, always.

Felicity Spector, Channel 4 News writer and pastry lover: Soho.

Laurel Ives, former food editor of The Sunday Times’ The Dish: I liked the burgeoning Rupert Street in Soho: the glamorous Taiwanese XU; Palomar always; the brand new The Blue Posts pub; the cocktails at Hovarda. London Bridge and Borough also featured some great openings: beautiful Cantonese Duddell’s, tacos at El Pastor, french bistro Pique-Nique, pasta at Padella.

Legs

120 Morning Lane London E9 6LH, London, 440203 441 8765 Visit Website

Morito

32 Exmouth Market, , England EC1R 4QE 020 7278 7007 Visit Website

Londrino

, London,

El Pastor

6-7A Stoney Street, , England SE1 9AA Visit Website

Farang

72 Highbury Park, , England N5 2XE 020 7226 1609 Visit Website

Palomar

34 Rupert Street, London, W1D 6DN Visit Website

Every Cloud

11A Morning Lane, , England E9 6ND 020 3441 9850 Visit Website

Hovarda

36 – 40 Rupert Street, London, W1D 6DN Visit Website

Pidgin

52 Wilton Way, , England E8 1BG 020 7254 8311 Visit Website

Pique-Nique

Tanner St Park, London, Greater London SE1 020 7403 9549

Santo Remedio

152 Tooley Street, , England SE1 2TU 020 7403 3021 Visit Website

Linden Stores

220, St Pauls Road , London, N1 2LL Visit Website

Brawn

49 Columbia Road, , England E2 7RG 020 7729 5692 Visit Website

Westerns Laundry

34 Drayton Park, , England N5 1PB 020 7700 3700 Visit Website

Padella

6 Southwark Street, , England SE1 1TQ Visit Website

XU

30 Rupert Street, , England W1D 6DL 020 3319 8147 Visit Website

Marksman

254 Hackney Rd, London, Greater London E2 7SJ +44 20 7739 7393 Visit Website

P Franco

107 Lower Clapton Road, , England E5 0NP Visit Website

SAGER + WILDE

193 Hackney Road, , England E2 8JL 020 8127 7330 Visit Website

The Laughing Heart

277 Hackney Road, , England E2 8NA 020 7686 9535 Visit Website