Like many parts of east London, Bethnal Green has become a very different place over the last 20 years.
Once known for its gritty boozers and rather-less-than-wholesome clubs, this slice of the East End has recently seen an influx of bars and restaurants, changing its reputation among Londoners rather dramatically.
Much of the old guard remains — many of the best pubs and caffs have been there for decades — but there are a number of exciting new kids on the block, ripe for exploring.
This is the complete guide to going out in Bethnal Green.
Restaurants
Dealing in tapas and cocktails, Chiringuito is situated in a former public toilet — and you can leave your jokes about the quality of the food at the door, because this place is really rather good. It specialises in Galician-style small plates, with plenty of alcoholic delights on the side. A particular favourite is the pulpo a la Gallega, a paprika-spiced portion of octopus served with potatoes. Head up onto the rooftop during the summer.
Burmese cuisine might not have the same clout in London as many of its Asian counterparts, but Lahpet is going some way to change that. It’s named after it’s signature dish, a salad of pickled, naturally fermented lahpet tea leaves, which are tossed with tomato, garlic, dried shrimps and chili, before being mixed with a twice-fried mix of beans, sesame and peanuts. It’s a riot of flavour and wholly satisfying.
For a modern take on some good old fashioned pub grub, head to the Camel. The boozer describes itself as “Bethnal Green’s finest gourmet pie and mash pub”, and we’d be inclined to agree. There are nine options on the menu, ranging from the classic steak and kidney to more contemporary offerings such as feta, aubergine, pepper and kasha. They’re all served with a generous dollop of mash, mushy peas and red wine gravy. A pint of ale from the tap goes down a treat, too.
Ever tried arepas before? If not, then this restaurant on Paradise Row is the place to visit. Arepa & Co is named after the variety of cornbread that is a staple of Venezuelan cuisine. Crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, these pockets of bread come stuffed with various fillings, from reina chicken thighs with avocado to pabellon beef with black beans. This Bethnal Green site is relatively new, with the original restaurant over in Haggerston.
Sager + Wilde is probably best known for its wine bar over on Hackney Road, but its other spot on Paradise Row focuses more on the food side of things. The pasta is the star of the show here, cooked beautifully and expertly flavoured. It tastes even better when you realise you can get a bowl of the stuff along with either a glass of house wine or a negroni for only a tenner if you go at the right time (everyday between 12pm-3pm and 5pm-7pm, or after 9.30pm on Mondays to Wednesdays). The outdoor terrace is the place to be on sunny days.
Laxeiro is a family-run tapas bar that has bringing Spanish food to the good people of Bethnal Green since 1982, first as a deli and now as a restaurant. The huge paella sharing dish, a lovely muddle of rice, chicken, chorizo, mussels, squid and prawns, is the best place to start, but the costilla iberico con romero — rosemary iberico ribs with honey — makes a compelling case, too.
Chicken fanatics should go to Clutch, which serves up a delicious array of groundnut-fried birds. Take time choosing from the selection of glazings — the parmesan citrus is excellent, and the naga fire is one for those who like it hot — and be sure to add a side order of the gloriously crunchy twice-fried fries. The homemade apple pie works superbly as a dessert, if you’ve managed to leave space for it.
Over on Columbia Road sits Brawn. The menu changes daily and the dishes are seasonal, delivered a distinctly European flourish — expect the likes of pork and veal ragu, burrata, monkfish and more. The wine list is superb, with a good range of champagne on offer if the occasion calls for it.
It’s a bit further out towards Hoxton, but Marksman is worth making the journey for. On the ground floor is a cosy, homely boozer — named Michelin’s pub of the year in 2017 — and up above it is a dining room. The refined decor fuses mid-century charm and contemporary edge, and the food delves into the best of British produce. The understated menu changes regularly, but there are a couple classics you must try: first, the moist filled buns, and second, the pies, which are baked big enough for two and act as a worthy centrepiece to the meal. The Sunday roasts are hugely popular, too.
Pubs and bars
The Sun Tavern has, in some shape or form, been a fixture of the area since the mid-1800s. Its latest incarnation opened back in 2014 and, in the years since, it has become renowned for its superlative collection of Irish spirits. You can find an intriguing selection of whiskey behind the bar, coming from distilleries all over Ireland, while the poitin menu might just be the very best in London — if you don’t know too much about the clear-coloured, fiendishly strong drink, the bar can organise an introductory tasting session.
There’s always a lot going on at the Star of Bethnal Green. It’s sat on the main road through the area, meaning it quite often gets packed out, but there’s more to it than just geographical convenience. The drinks range is good, with plenty of interesting craft beers and further bottled options, alongside a good number of spirits. The DJ nights at the weekend are always lively, and there’s a karaoke room at the back which can host up to 20 bedroom pop stars at once.
The King’s Arms is something of an all-rounder. It’s got a good selection of beer on keg, from the lower strength IPAs right up to the heady 10-per-centers, as well as some excellent gin and an extensive wine list. It also serves up a buckfast negroni, which seems like a legal obligation seeing as this pub is located on Buckfast Street. Try one of the delicious scotch eggs, too, which come in at £5 a pop.
Birdcage, a Victorian building that is now part of the Draft House group, straddles the line between gastropub and classic boozer. It’s another one of the best places to get pie and mash in the area, meaning you’ll often see people settling in for an evening meal here. Still, the beer is good enough and the atmosphere lively enough to make this a fine place to head to for a drink or three.
From the outside, the Grade II-listed Royal Oak feels like a place steeped in history. The plaque that looms over its entrance harks back to its origins as a pub run by Truman’s Brewery, and even dates the building, proving that it’s been standing since 1923. Inside, it has undergone something of a facelift, but many of those period features remain, centred around the big centre bar. There’s a dining room upstairs, too, which is a popular spot for Sunday lunches.
One of east London’s best breweries, Redchurch, has its own taproom under the railway arches on Poyser Street. With rudimentary decor — think wooden crates for seats and barrels for tables — it draws a loyal following of craft beer fans who come to sample the brewery’s most popular creations, and also to enjoy the live music events it often puts on.
Further down the road and underneath those some railway lines lies another great taproom: Mother Kelly’s. It’s the place to be for the beer obsessives, with craft options sourced from all around the world and covering an impressive array of styles, from American pale ales to Belgian witbiers. Find a new favourite while you're there? Pick up a few bottles from the fridges and take them home with you for later.
Satan’s Whiskers might sound like the kind of pub that blares Motörhead out of the jukebox, but it is far less intimidating than the name suggests. Instead, the inside of this place is a trendy, dimly lit affair that bubbles with a laid-back, welcoming atmosphere, aided by the hip-hop played through the speakers. The cocktail list changes regularly, but the helpful staff are always willing to run you through the best ones.
Coffee shops and cafes
Coffee with a cause comes courtesy of Second Shot. It opened in the summer of 2016 and has since been using the power of caffeinated drinks to tackle the area’s homelessness issues. It employs people who have been living on the streets and then trains them as baristas, with a view to long-term employment elsewhere. The coffee here is excellent, especially the espressos, and if customers want to gift a drink to someone who might not be able to afford it, they can pre-pay for a cuppa that can later be claimed by someone else for free.
For a proper breakfast, head to E Pellicci. It’s one of the East End’s best loved greasy spoons, family-run since the turn of the 20th century and serving up hearty, slap-up meals for all those years. The full English breakfast comes complete with all the trimmings — sausage, egg, bacon, tomatoes and fried bread — for only £7.80. If you’re heading by for lunch, try one of the delightful home-made pies.
Croissants and donuts come together in delicious harmony at Rinkoff Bakery. The so-called crodough — its own take on the cronut hybrid — comes with various gooey fillings and sweet toppings, from salted caramel and pistachio to Oreo and cheesecake. If you can’t choose just one, go for the box of nine mini crodoughs and try them all.
The Hive is all about organic, natural produce. It serves locals from breakfast through to dinner, starting with cold-pressed juices and organic coffee, paired with healthy go-to dishes — think bircher muesli, avocado on toast and the like. Later on the natural wine comes out, as well as a few classic cocktails.
The Gallery Cafe, found within St Margaret’s House, is a popular spot among veggies and vegans, serving up a solid selection of meat-free, plant-based dishes. It’s a cosy, laidback place, with the feel of a real neighbourhood hang-out. All the proceeds from the cafe are reinvested into the running of St Margaret’s House, which puts on various events and workshops in aid of the local community.
Music and nightlife
Two venues dominate the area’s clubbing scene — and they’re right across the road from each other. Oval Space burst onto the scene back in 2012 and then, three-and-half-years later, opened a smaller sister site, the Pickle Factory. Both clubs are among the best in the city, with the elder venue providing warehouse-style parties with a great outdoor terrace, and the younger sibling going for a darker, more intense and intimate vibe. The musical output at both spots is varied, meaning you could expect techno on a Friday, disco on a Saturday and then something entirely different the following weekend.
Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club has been operating in the area for more than 130 years. These days, it’s something of a cult favourite on the nightlife scene, having earned itself a soft spot among Londoners for its wild, not-so-serious events. It’s particularly popular among the LGBTQ community, regularly hosting queer-friendly discos.
Sebright Arms is a popular boozer on the ground floor, but down within the basement of the building is one of the best independent music venues in east London. It puts on live gigs most nights of the week, acting as a showcase for some of the city’s most exciting up-and-comers, moving mostly within the world of indie rock. Go there to catch the next big thing before they move on to much bigger venues.
St John on Bethnal Green is one of the many churches in London that double up as music venues. It’s a superb place to experience a gig in — it’s big enough to create some incredible acoustics, but small enough to still retain its intimacy. The output here isn’t massive, with normally only a few gigs per month. Be sure to keep an eye on the listings, though, because it’s booked some impressive names in the past, including Jenny Hval and Mount Eerie.
Arts
The V&A Museum of Childhood is one of the most popular cultural spots in the area, just a short walk away from Bethnal Green tube station. It’s a place that will delight kids and adults alike, with nostalgic collections of toys, literature and memorabilia from times gone by to stoke the memories of the older generations, as well as a load of free activities and workshops to compel inquisitive young minds.
Most Instagrammable spots
Columbia Road Flower Market
Paradise Row
St John on Bethnal Green
Corner Room
And one more thing…
It’s not often that a museum admits, on its very own website, that “no attempt is made at classification and comprehensiveness”, but that’s exactly the case at Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities. However, even just peering through the window into its esoteric world of oddities and bemusing amusements, it very quickly becomes clear why. The exhibits are weird, creepy, hilarious, fascinating and wonderful — from the two-headed baby skeleton to the sequined suit worn by a Dandy who later died of a heroin overdose on the opening night of West End play written about him.
How to get there
Tube: Bethnal Green (Central line)
Overground: Bethnal Green, Cambridge Heath
