Things to do in Dalston: The best restaurants, bars, pubs and more
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Like many parts of east London, Dalston is an area in flux.
It has changed massively in the last decade or so, with scores of new bars and restaurants popping up all over the area, turning it from an afterthought for anyone who didn’t live there, into a real destination.
The main chunk of the action takes place within a stone’s throw of the main strip, comprised of Stoke Newington Road, Kingsland High Street and Kingsland Road, but there’s still plenty of great stuff to be found on the backstreets and quieter residential roads.
This is the complete guide to going out in Dalston.
Restaurants
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Dalston is fantastic place for Turkish food. Probably the best known is Mangal 2, partly because of its hilarious (and now sadly inactive) Twitter account, but also because it does superb food. It specialises in flame-grilled ocakbasi, but there are a few vegetarian options on the menu too, with the meat-free moussaka a particular standout. The man behind the restaurant, Ali Dirik, also helped to establish Mangal 1 back in the early 90s, although he is no longer involved with it. This original spot is another neighbourhood favourite, similarly serving lip-lickingly succulent grilled meats. Which one is best? The joy is in going to both and deciding for yourself.
Elsewhere, there’s Stone Cave, another Turkish spot with some pretty distinctive interiors — literally, it feels as if you’re inside a stone cave. The place is far from gimmicky though, with delicious, authentic food served by friendly staff. Still not satisfied? Try Umut 2000. It serves everything you’d expect a Turkish restaurant to serve, but the fish here is particularly great, chargrilled to perfection.
Chick ‘n’ Sours does exactly what it says on the tin: fried chicken and sour cocktails. London is hardly lacking when it comes to restaurants dedicated to our feathery friends, but the meat here is certainly among the very best. The chicken is tender, never too greasy and hugely flavoursome. The zingy cocktails are the ideal accompaniment, too.
Partial to a risotto ball or two? Arancini Brothers is dedicated to the stuff, starting out life on Brick Lane and now serving up its deep-fried delights at this permanent Dalston residence. While the humble pairing of arancini and some sauce is hard to beat, the wraps and burgers served here make a very good effort to do so.
Voodoo Ray’s does pizza the New York way: by the slice. That doesn’t mean you’ll get short-changed though, as the slices themselves are pretty humongous, and when they taste this good, you’ll be bound to go back for more. Try the Porky’s, topped with cumberland sausage, stilton, red onion, mozzarella and parsley, or the veggie-packed Queen Vegan slice. There’s a decent range of craft beer to wash it down with, too.
The best pizza in London
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The Standard’s restaurant critic Fay Maschler named the ginger ice cream from Jidori as her Dessert of the Year back in 2015 and, three years later, it is just as scrumptious. The whole meal is worth going along for, though, serving up yakitori goodness alongside a good selection of Japanese small plates.
The Duke of Richmond may sound like a traditional boozer, but it’s much more than that. It’s run by Tom Oldroyd, whose eponymous Islington outpost is one of the best restaurants in that area. Here, the food is largely inspired by French cuisine and has a focus on British ingredients, changing seasonally. The pub, separate to the dining room, is the ideal place to relax post-meal.
Mildreds is something of a vegetarian haven, attracting meat-free munchers from all across the city to its various restaurants. It has bases in Soho, Camden, King’s Cross and, as luck would have it, here in Dalston. The food is homely and wholesome but never skimps on flavour — the burgers, in particular, will make you wonder why you ever thought to put beef between those buns.
Pubs and bars
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With one of the quirkier pub names in London, Farr’s School of Dancing, is a boozer housed in a former dance school. Inside, it carries on very much in the same unorthodox vein, with old rotary telephones stuck to the wall and vintage furniture. There’s an ever-changing cask ale and craft beer offering and events are put on regularly, from pub quizzes to DJ nights.
Years ago, this pub was Old Henry’s Freehouse, but has since returned to its original name of the Railway Tavern. It has a great range of beers, both bottled and on tap, and is a great place to catch up with friends, thanks to the welcoming atmosphere and comfy surroundings. Keep an eye out for the live music nights it sometimes puts on.
There’s a lot of good craft beer to be drunk over at the Three Compasses, with a lot of it sourced from nearby breweries. Fridays and Saturdays host DJ nights after dark, while the big screens in the pub always show the big sports events. Suffice to say, it’s a lively, busy place, popular with the local crowd.
The Victoria is known for its live music gigs, which take place in a small room at the back of the pub, but it’s a stand-out boozer in its own right. With a small garden out front that is perfect during the warmer months, the pub stocks all the drinks you’d expect, with a particular focus on rum — if it’s not your usual drink, this may well be the place to try it out.
The Spurstowe Arms is over towards Hackney, but is worth making the trip for. It is, first and foremost, a pub, but offers much more than just pints — you’ll find a good list of wines (including one orange offering) alongside an extensive spirits and cocktail list. The food, although a little pricey, is very solid indeed.
The best cocktail bars in London
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When Ruby’s opened back in 2012, it was the only cocktail bar in the area. That certainly isn’t the case anymore, but this place is still one of the very best in Dalston. It’s a little formal, with table service setting it apart from a lot of local competitors, but there’s a livelier atmosphere to be found in the adjoining lounge, which runs DJ nights. The cocktails change with the seasons and all cost a reasonable £9.
With drinks from the hugely skilled mixologist Tony Conigliaro, Untitled offers up some of the most innovative cocktails in the area, such as Gonzo (dark caramel, buckwheat ambrette tequila) and Gipsy (cocoa butter vodka, white yoghurt, lemon and egg white). There’s food too, loosely inspired by Japanese cuisine, and the interiors are striking, with lots of sharp lines and brushed concrete.
Brilliant Corners is one for the musos. It’s quite a hard place to define — part Japanese restaurant, part bar, part music venue — but it’s the audiophile sound system that draws you in, playing tracks curated by guest DJs. In terms of drinks, there’s a short but delicious list of cocktails, with loads more beers, wines and spirits.
Servant Jazz Quarters — also featured in the Music and Nightlife section of this guide — is primarily known for its gigging credentials, but the bar that sits above the performance space is worth a visit in its own right. It’s got a feeling of relaxed elegance to it, and although there’s a good range of beers and wine here, it’s the cocktails that deserve your attention. Try the classic French 75 — gin, prosecco, lemon and sugar.
Offering sophisticated drinks in stylish surroundings is High Water. There’s plenty on the menu, from rare wines and champagne to craft IPAs, but the cocktails reign supreme — delicately made but never skimping on flavour. Feeling peckish? The sweet peppers stuffed with ricotta and feta are superb.
Finally, although it might not strictly be a bar, Sapling is well worth a visit for any wine enthusiasts. It describes itself as a “wine kitchen and larder” — what that means in practise is that the wine is uniformly excellent, and the food wholly complementary. The wine list is well annotated, but the staff are helpful in picking something out if you can’t decide. Be sure to indulge in the cured meats and cheeses, too.
Coffee shops and cafes
Tina, We Salute You is a Dalston favourite, loved for both its superb flat whites and its regular artists-in-residence. It gets busy at weekends, with locals crowded around the big communal table and perched on its window seats. If you do manage to grab a spot, order a coffee and a cake and settle in.
Allpress Espresso is one of our favourite spots to grab a small cup of caffeinated joy in Shoreditch, and it has a roastery over in E8 too. Here, you can actually see the coffee being roasted before you drink it, and there’s a good chance that you’ll be served by a barista who was trained on site. It’s a light, airy place, ideal for a morning pick-me-up.
Flat whites done the Australian way (read: very well) can be found at Brunswick East, an independently owned coffee shop. It’s got a friendly feel to it, thanks in part to the homemade goodies on offer, ranging from almond milk to cakes and cookies. There’s also a project space on site, which welcomes in local artists.
On the same square, you’ll find Kaffa. The speciality here is the Africano, a strong coffee that manages to balance to hit of the caffeine with a real depth of flavour. On Thursdays and Fridays, you can head in for a vegetarian lunch inspired by the food of Ethiopia.
Music and nightlife
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Dalston is blessed with some superb live music spots. Cafe Oto is a bastion of experimental music, with a line-up that is inconsistent in the genres of artists it books, but wholly consistent in terms of quality. Whether it’s psych-rock from Istanbul, ambient from Tokyo or electronic music from Hackney that you’re after, there’s a decent chance that you’ll find it here.
Vortex Jazz Club and Servant Jazz Quarters are the two best places in the area for — you guessed it — jazz. The former boasts wide-reaching gigs that often stretches beyond its core programming. The latter, meanwhile, is a similar prospect, often bagging the artists who, in a year or so’s time, will be some of the most talked about names on the scene. There’s a great bar upstairs here, too.
The Shacklewell Arms is one of the best pubs in London when it comes to live music. It’s one for the fan of rock in all its variations, which is especially good fun to experience when the small place is packed to the rafters — a regular occurrence.
For LGBTQ+ clubbing, there are two main options. Dalston Superstore is one of the best known spots in the city, a queer venue that gets the party going six nights a week, welcoming in a cast of different organisers. Feeling rather delicate after a big Saturday night out? Head right back to the venue for its Disco Brunch on Sunday. VFD, one of the basement venues that lines Stoke Newington Road, is always great fun, specialising in 80s bangers and disco anthems.
Arts
The Arcola Theatre is the place to go for an intriguingly broad mix of productions, devised by emerging playwrights from the local area as well far more established names. Its new plays are excellent but you can count on it for a forward-thinking revival too. The main auditorium might seem rather cramped, but makes the best of its small space for a thrillingly intimate theatre experience.
The Invisible Line Gallery is a great place to see the best work by local artists. Its exhibitions are not limited to any one style or theme, and instead simply focus on the work that excites the gallery’s curators — a formula that works.
Most Instagrammable spots
Dalston Eastern Curve Garden
Tina, We Salute You
Untitled Bar
Ridley Road Market
And one more thing...
The Rio Cinema on Kingsland High Street is an institution. First opened back in 1909, it's a real eye-catcher, thanks to its incongruous Art Deco facade, and consistently draws in film buffs with its mix of classic screenings and new releases. It's an independent cinema, which are few and far between in London. Be sure to grab a drink at the excellent cinema bar before settling in for your viewing.
How to get there
Overground: Dalston Junction, Dalston Kingsland
Bus: 30, 38, 56, 67, 76, 140, 242, 243, 277, 488