Brick Lane restaurants

You can always judge a restaurant by its loo – which is why I was pleased to see the tapestry of frolicking nudes at Blanchette East. This toilet said: naughty but nice, fun with a certain je ne sais quoi. There’s another naked babe above the bar; clearly, this Shoreditch spin-off of popular Soho hangout Blanchette doesn’t take itself too seriously. Foodwise, think decent bistro fare with a few twists – North African-inflected, with Provençal and Basque overtones – rejigged into small plates you’ll want to share. I could’ve left happy after the snack alone, a merguez sausage roll with harissa mayo for dunking – spicy, flaky and ever-so-slightly sweetened by the onion confit. Ooh la la. A divisive-sounding escargot surf n’ turf of seared hanger steak topped with (shell-less) snails, parsley, garlic and a velvety onion purée was a highlight. Lamb tagine was no less gorgeous, speckled with almonds, its richness cut by whipped labheh. Green bean and comté salad and pomegranate couscous were also exquisite. My rose-tinted specs did have to come off when dessert arrived; a chilled peach and saffron ‘soup’ was redolent of shop-bought smoothie and a coconut macaroon was inedibly brittle. Zingy basil sorbet fared better, but I’d stick to post-prandial cocktails instead. Because hey, not everything can be perfect. Blanchette East is a solid-gold date night option; or, if you want to romp in a group, request the lovely back table, secluded by frosted glass and velvet drapes. Like I said

What do we love most about this institution? Perhaps the brilliant moist salt beef, carved as you wait from a slab kept warm in the front window, or the classic smoked salmon and cream cheese, or the bagels (boiled before being baked) these fillings go into. Or could it be the 24-hour opening with hot bread pulled fresh from the ovens all night, or a Brick Lane location that makes this the snack stop of choice for clubbers, imbibers and taxi drivers? Indulge in a piece of New York-style cheesecake or a super-sweet almond slice if you wish (ignore the pastry-heavy sausage rolls), but remember that the bagels are what have kept punters coming back since 1977. A narrow counter caters for eaters-in. And if there’s too long a queue, try the Beigel Shop two doors down – there isn’t really, truth be told, all that much difference between these longstanding Brick Lane rivals. Discover more great places to visit in Shoreditch

 The ‘DF’, in case you were wondering, stands for ‘Distrito Federal’ – what Mexicans call the conurbation of Mexico City, a vast sprawl bigger than Greater London. Not that you’ll find many Mexicans in this Whitechapel namesake. Plenty of attentive graphic designers and off-duty DJs, maybe, but not many Spanish-speaking North Americans raised on corn, beans and chili. For DF is very ‘London’. It’s a fashionable and affordable modern Mexican diner created by the Wahaca chain. They are dabbling in something even more mass-market and affordable than Wahaca’s cool Mexican cantina format. DF still bears a lot of Wahaca signatures –  strikingly modern design, cheery staff, reservations not taken – and will be a long-running popup (until 2015 at least). It feels and looks like a pilot for a new chain in the making.  How can DF be cheaper than Wahaca? No table ordering keeps staffing costs low. You sit down, leave your bag and jacket behind for opportunistic thieves to eye up, then queue at the counter to use the supermarket-style touchscreen. There are real humans working behind the tills too though, and they can take your order if the touchscreen drives you loco. But this part of the experience is about as much fun as being told you have an unidentified item in the bagging area. Then a human brings you your booze, you collect your soft drinks from the self-service coolers, and wend your way back through the forest of awkwardly-placed chair legs – the bag snatchers don’t have a chan

There's much debate over which of the Brick Lane bagel shops is better: The Yellow One (this one) or The White One (Beigel Bake). And you'll find patrons fiercely defending their choices with arguments including: The Yellow One has been here longer (over a century longer, in fact), but it sells bacon, which White One fans will dub un-Jewish and blasphemous on a bagel. The truth is, they're both as good as each other, especially when those hunger pangs surface in the early hours and can only be satiated by a salt beef bagel. We suggest simply joining the shorter queue.

A Brick Lane stalwart, Sheba has been knocking out dishes from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan for more than 40 years. It's been in the same family all that time. The menu is typical curry house fare – think samosas, onion bhajis and tandoori lamb chops to start followed by mains of chicken tikka masala, lamb bhuna, prawn vindaloo and a number of biryani dishes. Signature dishes such as shorisha chicken, lamb noorani and king prawn malabar look interesting.  Drinks include a short selection of wines, pints of Cobra and Kingfisher and lassi. John Smith's is conspicuous by its absence - Sheba was the setting for one of their TV adverts, starring Peter Kay. 

Occupying what was once a derelict train cabin, Caboose is parked up at the Old Truman Brewery where it peddles its smoky BBQ meats, burgers, ‘dirty rice’ and Fairtrade coffee to crowds of Shoreditch hipsters. However, the most interesting thing about this set-up is its offer of private parties with BYOB (plus nominal £5 corkage). Here’s the deal: the owners cook at three-course menu (£35) in front of up to 13 guests who are welcome to bring their own booze – there’s a big ice chest by the door and extra fridge space if you need it. They’ll even decorate the space free of charge if it’s a special occasion. A typical menu might kick off with smoky nibbles and dips ahead of a hunk of pulled pork or hickory-smoked brisket with buttermilk jalapeño slaw and roast garlic mash – plus apple crumble to finish. The cabin is yours for the evening, although there’s a strict curfew at 11.15pm.  

Bowling, booze and bites combine at this popular Brick Lane spot.

Papadoms is a Brick Lane-based Indian restaurant that has won the Best Curry Chef award at the Brick Lane Curry Festival three times. The kitchen here has made a name for itself by mixing traditional curry favourites with unusual specialities, such as the roopchanda and king prawn malaai.  

Plush gourmet pub The Buxton channels the vibes of a Brooklyn bar: perfectly pitched jazz music, countertop library-lamp-style sepia lighting, and all sorts of arty-looking people. And the cooking? Mostly brilliant. We sat at the bar counter, overlooking the neat mini-kitchen, while head chef Jamie Evans, plucked straight from sister venue The Culpeper, handed us our amuse-bouches: two dinky espresso cups filled with soothing pumpkin soup. Homemade gnocchi was another winner. Braised, hand-cut nuggets with tender pieces of skin-on squash and pretty purple kale, all coated in a lush sage butter sauce and liberally doused with parmesan. Comforting, addictive and, even, a bit dirty.     Elsewhere, an expertly cooked main of sea bass with mussels came in a light fregola-filled broth, while the pork chop was as juicy as it gets. And to finish, my favourite: two freshly fried and sugar-dusted doughnuts in a small brown paper bag, one pumped full of homemade raspberry and fig jam, the other with lemon curd. Like food critic Anton Ego in Pixar’s ‘Ratatouille’, I was carried back to my childhood, when my mum would return from Tesco with a five-pack of the doughy gems. Emotional stuff. And, obviously, far better than the bog-standard sweet treats of my memories (sorry, Tesco). There were niggles, though. The celeriac remoulade with the chop was drowned in mayo, making it sickeningly rich. And, the panna cotta wasn’t set. So, room for improvement, but I’d happily go back. I keep welli

A hipster-style café on Brick Lane which sells bowls of sugary breakfast cereals all day long.