Eat East - Spitalfields and Brick Lane
Map of Spitalfields and Brick Lane
Spitalfields lies at the heart of the East End of London and is famous for its bustling street markets. At weekends crowds pack the area to buy an interesting mix of fashions and household items, toys and games, fruit and vegetables. 
Each market has its own very distinctive atmosphere and speciality. Spitalfields covered market houses a lively crafts and antique market with an international and organic food hall. Brick Lane is home to bric-a-brac, while Columbia Road Flower Market is a paradise for vegetables, and Petticoat Lane - the oldest and probably most famous market - sells all kinds of clothes, records, leather goods and toys. Enjoy the bustle and banter of the traders and colourful characters. Many people are also drawn to Spitalfields for the wide variety of eateries found around the markets, not least the new fine food market open in the traders market three days a week.
Brick Lane, E1
Brick Lane also known as Banglatown is vibrant and colourful, the heart of London's Bangladeshi community. Fast changing, increasingly trendy but still great value and offering plenty of choice.
Curries are no longer something to be eaten after too many drinks on a Friday night. Connoisseurs know that not all curries are the same, and it's better to come earlier in the evening when you can still appreciate the different flavours! From Thursday to Sunday evening many of the restaurants are quite busy so either book ahead or try some of the restaurants in the streets off Brick Lane.
India is a vast continent so it would be unrealistic to think all Indian food is the same. There are quite considerable regional differences. In Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal and Kerala favourite dishes include rice, fish, pulses, and vegetables. Naan bread and chapatis are more common in North India and Pakistan.
Did you know? Chicken Tikka Masala is an Anglo- Bangla creation, made for English palates by some of the first curry house owners who came to England! Now it is the best-selling "Indian" dish in the UK.
Les Trois Garçons
1 Club Row, London E1 6JX
T:
020 7613 1924
W: www.lestroisgarcons.com
Old Street and Liverpool Street
If you have had enough of minimalist décor then why not try something a little different and head east for a more fin de siècle opulent experience. From the gas-lit exterior to the theatrical interior, this really is dining with a difference. The French menu complements the decadence and glamour of this pub conversion on the corner of Bethnal Green Road, with chandeliers, stuffed animals and costume jewellery in every corner. After finishing your sumptuous, you're in the mood for more fun then head to Lounge Lover, the stylish bar next door also owned and run by the three boys, in order to end a rather exotic night. Les Trois Garcons is more than the sum of its fab décor, it’s a serious foodie restaurant that delivers a full on evening.
Watch Video Clip about Les Trois Garçons here.
Café Naz
46 - 48 Brick Lane, London E1 6RF
T: 020 7247 0234
W: www.cafenaz.co.uk
Aldgate East and Liverpool Street
Resolutely modern from its shiny black facade and chilli-patterned glass and crome bar, Café Naz is sufficiently confident to allow itself the odd slash of kitsch such as the splendid, smoking fountain by the door. After all, this is Banglatown's buzzing Bangladeshi brasserie, and a beacon for pan Asian culinary modernity and amid the variable phantasmagoria that is Brick Lane.
Café Spice Namaste
16 Prescot Street, London E1 8AZ
T: 020 7488 9242
W: www.cafespice.co.uk
Tower Hill and Tower Gateway DLR
Café Spice's elaborate and extensive menu incorporates the best of Indian cuisine with specialities and influences from all over the Asia, often, with a European twist. Rare, unusual meats feature on the menu and Cyrus’ Speciality Menu changes fortnightly to take advantage of the best the British seasons have to offer. All dishes use only the freshest of ingredients, cooked with natural herbs and Cyrus’s own spice blends. Café Spice Namaste has earned its reputation as being a restaurant presenting not only high-class cuisine but also offering brilliant service in a vibrant and colourful setting.
Canteen
2 Crispin Place,
Spitalfields Market,
London E1 6DW
T: +44 (0)845 686 1122
W: www.canteen.co.uk
Liverpool Street
Designed by an award-winning team of architects, the interior of Canteen offers a great sense of intimacy and warmth and once inside, diners can enjoy hearty, simple, locally-sourced food cooked to brilliance. Canteen offers an extensive breakfast menu which is nothing short of exemplary. The fish of the day is superb and gourmets will truly find the best of British at this award-winning restaurant in the new traders market.
E. Pellicci
332 Bethnal Green Road, London E2 0AG
T:
020 7739 4873
Bethnal Green
An East End institution since 1900 that has fed gangsters and civilians, poor and posh. Pelllicci’s is the greatest greasy spoon of all time; warm, worn, ancient and modern, and very friendly, with great food and a wonderful interior. E Pellicci is a proper caff, serving fry-ups (including some unusual ones – you might have ham off the bone instead of bacon, say), salads, grills, chops and sarnies. A much-loved institution, and long may it remain so.
S & M Café
48 Brushfield Street,
London E1 6AG
T: 020 7247 2252
W: www.sandmcafe.co.uk
Liverpool Street
The surroundings are pure 1950s retro with old school, traditional dishes on offer including Cumberland bangers, toad in the hole, shepherd's pie and gammon steak with pineapple as well as a tasty range of vegetarian sausages. Hailed as ‘the best hangover cure found yet’, this is definitely the place to go if you like your comfort food!
Brick Lane Beigel Bake
159 Brick Lane, London E1 6SB
T: 020 7729 0616
Liverpool Street and Aldgate East
This charismatic, 24-hour Jewish East End institution – all human life is here – offers perfect bagels both plain and filled (egg, cream cheese, herring, mountains of salt beef), superb breads and magnificently moreish cakes. When the bars and clubs in the area begin to close, the queue for bagels curves round the shop and trails out the door. Even at 3am, fresh baked goods are being pulled from the ovens at the back of the tight interior; as you'd imagine, the smell is wonderful.
St John Bread and Wine
94-96 Commercial Street, London E1 6LZ
T: 020 7251 0848
W: www.stjohnrestaurant.co.uk
Liverpool Street
A slightly altered drinking and eating experience, where the key feature for the food being freshly made bread. With bread made all morning and with different menus each day, until lunch, when the bread ovens are used to make braises. This restaurant is also in the running for the “Best of British Fayre” award by the Tio Pepe Carlton of London Restaurant awards.
Giraffe
Unit 1, Crispin Place, Spitalfields, London E1 6DW
T: 020 3116 2000
W:
www.giraffe.net
Liverpool Street
Giraffe's successful formula of familiar global menu favourites and world music in relaxed surroundings has been embraced by Londoners. This family-friendly chain offers the likes of pancakes with banana and blueberries, fry-ups and French toast which is popular with weekend brunchers, mains include Vietnamese curries, Tex-Mex burritos, salads, steaks and burgers (the veggie falafel with grilled pepper, rocket, halloumi and harissa is recommended).