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Not only was London recently named the world’s best city for food in 2026, but a newly-announced restaurant festival in Hackney next month means you’ll be able to try out some of the Big Smoke’s finest culinary offerings for a fraction of their usual price.
The aptly-named The Restaurant Festival, Hackney will feature restaurants across the borough. Stretching from Stamford Hill in the north through family-friendly Stoke Newington, trendy Dalston, Haggerston and Hoxton and over to Clapton via Homerton, it will show off the full breadth of Hackney’s diverse and delectable culinary scene.
The event is the result of a collab between local favourite Acme Fire Cult and dining app EatClub. The aim is to celebrate the best of the borough’s food spots and encourage food lovers to explore new restaurants during February – often one of the quieter months of the year for restos.
Foodie favourites like Mangal 2 and My Neighbours the Dumplings are among the names on the 14-strong list of participating venues, which also includes Corrochio’s, Big Night, Papi, Tom’s Pasta, Alber’s, Sune, Oren, Marksman Public House, Mambow, Lucia’s and Berber & Q. Even more participating restaurants are yet to be announced.
If that wasn’t enough, the winter food fezzie is also offering some properly enticing discounts. You’ll be able to get a not-too-shabby 40 percent off meals at participating restaurants during selected times throughout the month.
So what do you need to do to secure your seat at the table? Running throughout February, the festival isn’t ticketed and anyone can participate by joining EatClub’s app for free. No vouchers or bookings are required – you can just walk in and pay via the app.
It’s fitting that Acme Fire Cult is the restaurant leading the charge. The live-fire institution has been one of Hackney’s biggest foodie draws since its early days as a backstreet barbeque spot in a disused local carpark. Chef Andrew Clarke has continued to draw crowds since moving to a permanent residence at Dalston’s 40FT Brewery in 2022.
Acme Fire Cult has launched a special winter menu as part of the festival, transforming its Dalston restaurant into a curry house, offering Indian-inspired dishes – including lamb chop railway curry, pigs head vindaloo, vadouvan monkfish skewers and venison sheekh kebab – alongside some of its best-loved classics (think coal-roasted leeks with pistachio romesco, mutton merguez and Tamworth pork chops).
Hackney Restaurant Festival 2026 participating restaurants
The current list of eateries participating in The Restaurant Festival, Hackney includes:
- Acme Fire Cult
- Corrochio’s
- Big Night
- Mangal 2
- Papi
- Tom's Pasta
- Alber's
- My Neighbours the Dumplings
- Sune
- Oren
- Marksman Public House
- Mambow
- Lucia's
- Berber & Q
The best restaurants in Hackney, according to Time Out.
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