26 January 2026
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Shoreditch and its food scene have changed a lot over the years. Locals will tell you that, back in the 1990s, the neighbourhood was a culinary wilderness of quiet streets and disused warehouses. However, rents were cheap, drawing in a wave of artists who helped the area earn its reputation as London’s coolest district. Fast-forward to the present and, while the street-art-splashed walls are still a testament to its arty heyday, the neighbourhood now hosts a dining scene where MICHELIN approval is less exception and more expectation.
In the last decade, chefs have taken on the East London food scene and championed it. For instance, it’s here that the trend for wood-fired grilling caught alight and pioneering plant-based dishes reached Star status. It's this spirit that has positioned chefs and restaurateurs as the modern face of Shoreditch creativity.
Walking east from the busy interchange at Liverpool Street station, Shoreditch begins where the glass- and steel-clad skyscrapers give way to converted textile warehouses and office workers in suits are replaced by a creative crowd donning fresh Carhartt jackets and Palace caps. More money and development have come pouring into the area in recent years, but the core of its industrial-yet-colourful aesthetic remains.
In today’s Shoreditch, the art galleries and design studios that bloomed in the early 2000s have been joined by restaurants that are now powering the area’s creative engine. Around a decade ago, chefs wanting to realise their visions were lured here by more affordable sites compared to other areas of London with sky-high rents. Those same chefs have turned the tables, not only earning themselves red MICHELIN plaques above their doors but also drawing well-heeled crowds out of areas like upmarket Mayfair – placing Shoreditch’s chefs among the leaders in London’s food scene.
No restaurant shows this evolution better than Brat. In 2018 it began life as an unassuming spot offering Basque-inspired wood-fired cooking – something rarely seen in London at the time. Its MICHELIN-Star status and explosion in popularity have not just put its name on the lips of chefs and A-listers, but have sparked a citywide trend for both cooking over fire and Basque cuisine.
Building on Brat’s momentum, its chef-owner Tomos Parry has since exported his signature cooking style into London’s more established Soho with his restaurant Mountain – and this second venture’s phenomenal popularity wouldn’t have been possible without the Shoreditch original.
“I’ve always thought of restaurants as being a part of the community they’re in,” Parry says. “I’ve always wanted to add to the tapestry of the area.” Brat is indeed built on the bones of Shoreditch past – housed in a former pub, its walls bear the mark of the Truman Brewery, an East End icon that closed in 1989 – but it has become a part of the fabric itself, with regulars aplenty and a status as arguably Shoreditch’s most famous restaurant.
Brat’s not the only one putting food at the heart of Shoreditch’s allure: Londoners are also enjoying Two-MICHELIN-Star quality at The Clove Club, vegan innovation at One-Star Plates London and restaurants awarded a Bib Gourmand for their affordable, accessible dining like nose-to-tail Italian manteca and barbecue house Smokestak. David Carter, founder of the latter two, says there are so many restaurants in East London because that’s simply where all the chefs live. “There’s a sense of camaraderie,” he explains, smiling. “On my days off, I don’t eat in my restaurants, I eat in their restaurants.”
In 2025, two of Shoreditch’s most acclaimed new openings provided a window into its present and its future. Legado is the bigger, younger sibling to MICHELIN-Starred Sabor in the upscale area of Mayfair; meanwhile Singburi is the new incarnation of a cult Thai spot, born further east in Leytonstone. Two restaurants moving from different directions to arrive in the neighbourhood shows the hybrid appeal it now carries, seamlessly linking East London and the city centre.
After several evolutions over the years, Shoreditch remains essential to London’s food scene – both a culinary laboratory where trends take root and a magnet for the city’s best chefs. Between them, a crew of forward-thinkers and MICHELIN-Star talents are cementing Shoreditch not as a left-field alternative to the centre but as a polished starting point for food lovers visiting London.
Where to Eat in Shoreditch
If there’s one restaurant that has helped to define the last decade of Shoreditch dining, it’s Brat. With its unfussy, wooden-meets-industrial interiors, sharing menu and open-plan layout (think an on-view kitchen and an island-like bar in the middle of the room), it helped to popularise a more casual, communal and back-to-basics kind of dining that London was lacking – and it became one of a new breed of MICHELIN Stars in the process.
Key to Brat’s stripped-back appeal are Tomos Parry’s dishes, spotlighting the natural flavours in British produce cooked over fire. Back when Brat opened, there was little of this around. Now, both wood-fired grilling and proudly British sourcing – in Brat’s case that includes Hereford beef and the signature whole turbot – are ubiquitous thanks to Parry’s influence.
Hailing from rural Wales, he was inspired by his travels in the Basque Country, which he says shares much DNA with Wales in its spirit of independence, fishing communities and produce-driven cooking. “Why don’t we have this in the UK?” he thought when eating Basque wood-fired dishes. “We have the best fish, we have amazing meat – what’s the problem with sourcing it well, grilling it and putting it on a plate? It’s worked for decades in the Basque Country and other parts of the world, but for some reason I think in the UK we always thought that we had to overwork things for them to be successful.”
A little further north, towards Old Street station, Plates London is sheltered from the nonstop bustle of the area thanks to its serene courtyard location. When siblings Kirk and Keeley Haworth renovated what was a derelict café in 2024, they wanted to create a restaurant that was so calming it wouldn’t feel out of place in established dining-focused neighbourhoods, but that diners would travel to East London for. In fact, Kirk, the chef of the pair, notes, “We have people come here from Mayfair and Notting Hill all the time.”
That Plates came six years after Brat is no accident: this is the product of a newer Shoreditch – more refined and more appealing to those used to the central districts. It’s decked out in soothing beige and carries a calmer vibe than the buzz of Brat. However, as the UK’s first fully vegan MICHELIN-Star restaurant, it’s still a pure product of a neighbourhood that has regularly led the way and sparked conversations.
As we sit down with Haworth, he brings us his latest creation: a luscious parsnip ice cream with raw caramel and cacao sponge, finished with grated Buddha’s hand, a lesser-seen citrus fruit. “We’re trying to change people's perceptions of veganism through flavour,” he says, explaining that it takes a lot of creative thinking to make vegetables the star. “One per cent better every day is the rule at Plates,” he tells us, referencing the constant tweaking and reinvention of his menu to find new ways to unlock the possibilities in plant-based cuisine.
Despite the higher cost of running a restaurant over the last few years, Shoreditch can still offer great value for money, like over at Smokestak, a Bib Gourmand. Opened in 2016, it looks and feels closer to the grittier iteration of Shoreditch thanks to its dark, brooding aesthetic and buzzing atmosphere. Diners walk through a heavy black metal door, a smoky aroma filling their nostrils, before sitting down at tables under the glint of exposed piping and naked lightbulbs.
For owner David Carter, his barbecue restaurant is not just about affordability – the signature brisket bun is £12.50 – but also about accessibility. Smokestak has a roughly equal ratio of bookings to walk-ins, ideal for locals or visitors passing through, and there’s something comforting about its straightforward menu. “You go in there not being intimidated by the prices,” he says. “Nothing intimidates you. Everybody knows what pork belly is; everybody knows what brisket is; everybody knows what a rum punch is.”
As for the food, MICHELIN Guide Inspectors say it’s one of the city’s best spots for barbecue fans. “What we focus on here is long, gentle slow cooking,” Carter explains. “The idea is to break down the collagens in the meat, so you not only cook it, but you change the texture of it.” It’s a technique Carter has clearly honed, with the Inspectors loving the rich flavours and melting texture of the brisket in particular.
Where to Stay in Shoreditch
Just as it is now a dining hub, Shoreditch has steadily become one of the best places to stay in London. It’s within easy reach of the city centre’s landmarks, but as the gateway to East London, you’re just steps away from the history of Brick Lane and the beautiful blooms at Columbia Road Flower Market. The hotels here have a distinct style too, offering comfort mixed with nods to Shoreditch’s industrial heritage, be it exposed brickwork or metal columns. And of course, being out of the city centre means lower prices and a great deal more space for your money.
If you want to see where the East London hotel scene began to blossom, look no further than The Hoxton. It may now be a global group, but the story started in Shoreditch. Way back in 2006, it set the template for the future of hotels by using its lobby as a lively common space, while offering pared-back yet comfortable rooms at affordable prices. It doubles as a culinary destination too, thanks to the vibrant Peruvian flavours taking up residence at Llama Inn on the rooftop – where you can also sip pisco sours and soak up some of that lesser-spotted British sunshine.
A short walk away, Virgin Hotel London Shoreditch occupies a relatively new building with a warehouse-like facade paying homage to the area’s industrial past. Inside, its biggest selling points are its rooftop pool, the kind of summertime idyll you can’t believe exists somewhere as built-up as this, and Hidden Grooves, the ground-floor vinyl bar. Hidden from the lobby behind a thick velvet curtain, it’s a musical wonderland featuring 5,000 handpicked records: Order yourself a Punk Punch cocktail, bask in the beat and spot iconic covers on the walls, from Prince’s flowing locks on 1999 to Iggy Pop’s impish grin on Lust for Life.
Shoreditch has even got its own outpost of Soho House, the global group of swanky hotels and members’ clubs that began life in central London. Yet this branch, Redchurch Townhouse, has slotted into the area well, discreetly tucked down a road lined with colourful street art. Non-members are welcome to stay in the MICHELIN-Key hotel, and rooms come with temporary access to the members-only spaces at the nearby Shoreditch House club, allowing you to bask in the exclusive atmosphere.
Another MICHELIN Guide favourite is Boundary Shoreditch, a boutique hotel as distinctive as this famously inventive neighbourhood deserves. It’s a modern, colourful and creative spot, flying in the face of cookie-cutter design with different styles across its 17 rooms and suites, ranging from Bauhaus to Mod, via those paying homage to specific designers like Josef Hoffman and Heath Robinson.
What to Do in Shoreditch
So much of Shoreditch’s appeal is rooted in its reputation as a creative hub, so coming here has to mean embracing the arts. For that, Rich Mix is the catch-all destination that mixes a cinema, music venue and theatre into one, bound together by a common mission. “At the forefront, we are an arts charity and we deliver a cultural programme for the communities of East London and the world,” says producer Max. “Every pound and penny spent at our box office or in our bars goes back into our charitable work – and that’s all about creating access to the arts. Literally as we speak, there is a local college coming in.”
Open since 2006, a decade before the likes of Brat and Smokestak, Rich Mix is a window into the arts wave that defined Shoreditch in the 2000s – one whose message and mission has endured. Village Underground, a multipurpose arts space and live music venue once famed for its club nights, opened in the same year – as did The Hoxton. Seeing them all is a must for understanding how Shoreditch became so cool in the first place.
When you’re feeling thirsty, Shoreditch is packed with creative cocktail bars that will have budding mixologists purring. Chief among them is Tayer + Elementary, the brainchild of revered bartending duo Monica Berg and Alex Kratena, which has been named as one of the world’s best bars. Kratena – who looks every inch the Shoreditch resident with his tattoos and gold glasses on a chain – says they see drinks “as a language”. “The more ingredients you know, the more interesting things you can create, the more interesting language you can speak,” he explains. The result is intriguing twists on the classics, like sandalwood martinis, vetiver negronis or bergamot margaritas.
The minimalistic space is designed, Kratena says, to put the focus on “what’s in the glass” and is divided into two: Tayer up-front and Elementary in the back. The latter is the more exclusive spot, which Kratena says has led to some “wild theories online” about how to gain entry – but he assures us it’s simply based on availability on the night. Its industrial test kitchen look – think counter seating and visible boxes of produce – was designed to blend front- and back-of-house, with guests witnessing the creative process firsthand. Kratena also points out the green tiles on the walls, designed to mimic those regularly found on the outside of old East End pubs.
If you’re after a different kind of drink, head down to Jolene on the bustling Redchurch Street (home of Brat). The bakery and coffee shop is an East London staple, with multiple sites around the area, plus an Inspector-approved restaurant at the Newington Green branch. Just a few paces away, Labour and Wait sells highly curated homeware and clothing with a focus on timeless style. There are other branches in Marylebone and even in Tokyo but only the original, on the site of a former pub, is decked out in East London’s signature green tiles.
Finally, you’ll have seen Shoreditch’s famous street art wherever you go in the neighbourhood, but if you want to know more, then a guided tour will help you really get under the surface. As an area once filled with artists, Shoreditch's walls tell its story better than anyone. Even as things have changed, colourful splashes of paint are a permanent fixture, and without them it simply wouldn’t be the same.
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Hero Image: Chefs gather in the kitchen at Brat, one of the best restaurants in Shoreditch. © Joanna Yee/The MICHELIN Guide
