Sprawling over a sometimes sparse section of East London, Stratford (or ‘Stratford City’, as they’re attempting to rebrand it) has transformed remarkably over the past decade. Once overshadowed by the pull of neighbouring boroughs, the area has undergone a significant metamorphosis of late, emerging as a location increasingly convinced by its own culinary conviction and cultural identity, with events including the much lauded ABBA Voyage and West Ham’s run to the UEFA Europa Conference League win both happening here.
The catalyst for Stratford’s change was undeniably the 2012 Olympics. The games not only presented London on a global stage, but also breathed new life into Stratford in particular. The Olympic legacy left an indelible mark on the district, sparking a dynamic period of investment, construction, and development.
Post-Olympics, Stratford City is now proud to have Westfield Stratford, one of Europe’s largest shopping and leisure destinations, and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, a clutch of world-class sporting venues that includes West Ham’s London Stadium, right in its backyard. Just last year, the groundbreaking ABBA Voyage opened here, and is still going strong as 2023 begins to wind down. All of this has led to Stratford train station being named the 5th busiest in London, a sign of its growing influence as an area.
As a pleasing byproduct of this rising footfall, the area’s restaurant scene has begun getting noticed, with shiny new openings and old Stratford stalwarts both receiving increased attention.
Whether you’re here to retread scenes from Top Boy, blow some Bubbles, go on a virtual voyage with ABBA, or just do a little shopping in Westfield, you’ll no doubt be looking for a decent feed in this corner of London.
We’re here to help with that; here are the best restaurants in Stratford, and our thoughts on where to eat before ABBA voyage.
Mr Ribs Restaurant
Ideal for generous portions of Brazilian home cooking…
Back on ground level and onwards to a more humble – but no less delicious – eating experience…
At Mr Ribs, just a short walk from Stratford Underground Station and standing proud long before the Olympics came to town, the proposition is straightforward; nourishing, generous portions of Brazilian home cooking with an emphasis on the country’s cherished meat dishes – the restaurant is attached to a butchers of the same name next door.
Visit at lunch, as the more popular dishes here, such as the carne de panela and bife acebolado, sell out fast. We’re especially enamoured with the feijoada – Brazil’s beloved stew of black beans and various pork bits – here, the smoked sausage supercharging the thing with umami, the namesake pork ribs as giving and generous as the restaurant itself.
Before you satiate yourself with that stew and your appetite is done until dinner, don’t miss out on a couple of the fried-to-order coxinha. These little croquette-like numbers are filled with an enthusiastically seasoned mixture of chicken and stretchy, sticky cheese, and pair perfectly with a guava juice. Delicious.
Finish it all with a smooth, but bracing Bica, the Brazilian version of espresso – Mr Ribs’ version is excellent – and you’re good to go.
Address: 70-73 The Mall, London E15 1XQ
Tonkotsu Stratford
Ideal for reliably good ramen…
Tonkotsu has become one of the UK’s most ubiquitous Japanese restaurant brands in recent years, with more than a dozen outposts of the premier ramen slingers now operating in London alone, with more in Birmingham and Brighton for good measure.
The Stratford branch, which opened its doors in the newly developed International Quarter at the end of July 2018, is the largest site of the Tonkotsu chain to date.
Conveniently located just outside Westfield Stratford (and the closest restaurant on our list to ABBA Voyage, incidentally), if you’re braving the enormous shopping centre then a bowl of ramen here is the perfect precursor – after wolfing one down you’ll be in enough of a groaning fog to largely ignore the crowds.
Though the word ‘tonkotsu’ translates to ‘pig bone’ in Japanese – and the milky rich broth is without doubt the headlining act – you don’t have to pray purely at the altar of porcine to enjoy a meal here. The katsu curries, gyoza, and pickles are fantastic, too, for those seeking a lighter meal.
That ramen, though; it’s one that promises sensory overload, of properly lip-smacking umami flavour, alkaline noodles with just the right bite, fatty slices of pork belly, jammy eggs… the works. Add a ‘shot’ of scotch bonnet paste if you really want to feel something.
A word on those noodles. Handmade every day (the restaurant’s strapline reads “If you don’t make your own noodles, you’re just a soup shop”), and boiled for a precise 32 seconds, they’re meticulously formed, holding up confidently to the dialled-up-to-eleven broth. It’s the only way it should be.
Keep an eye out for the restaurant’s guest chef collaborations, usually released to celebrate Tonkotsu’s birthday in the capital. Recent highlights have included chef John Chantarasak’s ramen/khao soi mash-up, Kricket’s Southern Indian-inspired bowl and Jose Pizzaro’s Iberico pork ramen with piquillo peppers, served with a shot of sherry.
Website: tonkotsu.co.uk
Address: International Quarter, 1 Endeavour Square, London E20 1JN
HERA
A slice of Mediterranean refinement in Stratford Cross…
Named after the Greek goddess of hearth and home, HERA (we’re not stuck on caps lock; that’s just how it’s rather shoutily stylised) opened in November 2024 in the space between Westfield and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
In a prime spot in Stratford Cross’s new cultural quarter, where the V&A East Museum will eventually be its neighbour, the restaurant occupies a dramatic double-height space where winter sunlight streams through floor-to-ceiling windows. Evenings see the room transformed by the glow of surrounding towers and the shimmer of copper and gold details against deep aubergine walls – it reminds you that you’re in an area with designs on a weird kind of gaudy glamour, and also that you’ll probably eat some aubergine during your meal, which is useful.
The menu is divided into logical, prosaic sections – ‘Garden’, ‘Farm’, and ‘Sea’ – that somewhat bely the gentle complexity of these refined takes on Greek standards. Standout dishes include a delicate seabass carpaccio dressed with yuzu and dill oil, and a vegetarian moussaka that layers a marmite-rich mushroom ragu with flamboyantly risen graviera cheese bechamel (it’s all in the addition of egg yolk, we’re told). And if you’re looking to bridge the gap between your mains and dessert in some style, then go for the feta saganaki, which arrives cloaked in delicate kataifi pastry and doused in a house lemon honey that’s got floral notes of (we think) lavender running through it – a dish that exemplifies the kitchen’s approach of refining traditional recipes without losing their essential character.
A carefully curated wine list champions Greek varieties, while the cocktail menu plays with global flavours – the Helen of Spice adds mango and agave to a spicy margarita base, and Dates in Crete reworks an old fashioned with banana and coffee notes. For those heading to ABBA Voyage, the £60 set menu offers good value and a comprehensive taste of the kitchen’s range all within a curt and concise timeframe. Right now, it features a smoky melitzano salata, grilled octopus with fava beans, and much more besides.
Website: herarestaurant.co.uk
Address: 4 Arber Way, Stratford Cross, London E20 1JS
Santi
Ideal for decent Neapolitan-adjacent pizzas…
Located in the heart of the burgeoning/bland East Village, Santi has been serving up self-proclaimed simplicity since the summer of 2016, when the Olympian focus had long left London in search of sunnier climes, but the folk of Stratford still needed a decent feed.
Another gaff just a short hop from Westfield Shopping Centre, Stratford Station and other central sites, Santi fills the brief for a swift, serviceable bite before the football or ABBA Voyage, with the central pizza oven churning out capable Neapolitan-adjacent pizza and calzone quickly and efficiently.
Whilst these aren’t quite the best pizzas in London, Santi is the ideal Stratford pit stop if your show is starting soon.
Website: santirestaurant.com
Address: 42-45 Victory Parade, East Village, London E20 1FS
Sichuan Grand
Ideal for some of the best Sichuan hotpot in the city…
London’s love affair with the numbing complexity of Sichuan food shows no signs of abating, and Stratford’s Sichuan Grand, part of the strangely scant-feeling Gerry Raffles Square and sitting opposite the Theatre Royal Stratford East, is one of East London’s most enjoyable purveyors of the good stuff.
In a vast, grandiose dining room defined by carved wooden screens and lighting that’s reminiscent of when the first sun peeks through the curtains at the afters, the name of the game here is bubbling, chilli oil slicked hotpot.
It arrives with accompanying solo induction, already spitting out white-shirt endangering broth and far, far too hot to slurp hastily (a burnt tongue tells the tale). Exercise patience and restraint, if you can, and you’ll be resoundingly rewarded.
Go for the tripe, its honeycomb-crevices clinging on to the increasingly rich and assertive broth and delivering a chewiness that rewards perseverance. Slide in a few slabs of silken tofu as the bubbling mellows, another nourishing, sauce-soaking vehicle that is pretty much obligatory in a Sichuan hotpot.
As the broth condenses, we love to plunge in a bitesize piece of the restaurant’s prawn mash – essentially the filling for a prawn toast. Only needing a moment submerged in the chilli-forward soup, it’s bouncy and supple within seconds, and an absolute treat. A pot of jasmine tea is all you need to send this one on its way.
Website: sichuangrand.com
Address: Unit 1 Gerry Raffles Square, London E15 1BG
Sawmill Café and Bakery
Ideal for a wholesome brunch…
For a delightful breakfast or brunch in this part of town, Stratford’s Sawmill Café, on West Ham Lane, is the place to go. This quaint café prides itself on freshly baked bread, homemade pastries, and locally sourced ingredients. The eggs Benedict with smoked salmon is a must-try, as is their selection of artisanal sourdough bread.
A winner of the Time Out Love London award five years in a row, there are plenty of gluten free options here to enjoy in or take away. If you’re doing the latter, then Stratford Park is just a minute’s walk away and ideal for a picnic. The freshly squeezed juices here are not to be missed!
Website: sawmillcafe.co.uk
Address: 51-53 W Ham Ln, London E15 4PH
Rhythm Kitchen
We end, somewhat resignedly, inside Westfield Shopping Centre and in the massive mall’s World Food Court. In our humble opinion, the best place to eat here is Rhythm Kitchen, whose traditional jerk dishes, curry goat, and a variety of sides never fail to hit the spot.
Run by the self-styled ‘Jerkfather’, the quarter jerk chicken served over rice and peas and fried plantain is a snip at £12.50, the chuck blistered and burnished in all the right places, its piquant marinade having caught the flames and caramelised just right.
If you’re in a hurry, the jerk chicken and roti wrap is a hugely popular lunch time order – the house rum punch an almost-mandatory chaser. Cheers!
Website: rhythymkitchen.co
Address: 1st Floor World Food Court, Westfield Stratford City, Montfichet Rd, London E20 1ES
