London Fields is a hotspot for new restaurant openings right now. Of course, the leafy Hackney neighbourhood’s food and drink credentials have been established for some time now – think Max Rocha’s rustic Irish-inflected Cafe Cecilia, Japanese udon haven Koya, and the petite pita bar Pockets, as well as Broadway Market drawing crowds every weekend – but with four new recent openings and one soon to come, it’s really hit its stride. They run the gamut from super-casual to fine dining, and all are worth hopping on the Overground for. Add these to your hit list for spring.
Field Notes
It’s all about experimental, sustainable cooking at the latest project by Ivan Tisdall-Downes, who is best known as the co-founder of Native, which closed in March 2025 just after receiving a Michelin Green Star. At Native, he made headlines for serving squirrel ragu and woodpigeon kebabs; at Field Notes (which opened late last year), he’s held onto the same ethos of nose-to-tail cooking, zero-waste cooking and foraging. This time, he’s championing sustainable producers from beyond the UK – including regenerative Greek olive oils – with an ever-changing, globetrotting menu. He’s brought some Native dishes back, including the beloved Marrowmel: a white chocolate and bone marrow caramel, set inside the bone.
Wonton Charlie’s
Hong Kong has hit London Fields. In December last year, the restaurant group 6 of 1 – behind south London’s Mr Bao and Daddy Bao – transformed a former ticket office in London Fields Overground Station into an 18-seat, lunch-only noodle bar. Echoing the energetic pace of Hong Kong’s old-school noodle bars, Wonton Charlie’s focal point is its central counter, from which diners can watch the open kitchen. Here, chefs turn out bowls of steaming wonton noodle soup, the dumplings filled with either pork, prawn or fish skin. The broths (either chicken or fish) simmer for hours before service, and noodles are hand-made daily.
Cafe Kowloon
It wasn’t long before Wonton Charlie’s sister venue opened out the back, bringing London Fields a slice of contemporary Hong Kong dining. Named after the city’s bustling Kowloon district, this buzzy space with pumping tunes is designed for a fun night out with friends. Meals (by chef Ferdinand “Budgie” Montoya, formerly of Sarap) come family-style, with lazy susans on the tables. There’s prawn toast on a loaf from neighbouring E5 Bakehouse, a chilli- and garlic-rich typhoon shelter tofu with salted egg yolk, and Hong Kong-style French toast filled with peanut butter crème and drizzled with condensed milk.
Bambi
This London Fields favourite took over the former Bright space in Netil House in late 2023, but quickly outgrew the room. After knocking through its back walls, it’s back at double the size – which means more room for dancing to DJs into the small hours. Bambi’s founder James Dye (One Club Row, The Knave of Clubs) was inspired by European restaurants where the distinction between bars, restaurants and clubs gets blurred. With the venue’s new incarnation, he can fully realise the dream, with fire-cooked large plates with a Mediterranean influence, low-intervention wines and cocktails like the hibiscus Martini, and DJs spinning vinyl every night it’s open. On Fridays and Saturdays, the tables get pushed back and the space becomes a dancefloor until 1am.
Teal by Sally Abé
Set to open on Thursday March 26, Teal by Sally Abé is the first standalone restaurant by the acclaimed chef. Teal is set to be the purest expression of Abé’s passion for British cuisine, dishes and seasonality. Having honed her skills heading up the kitchens at venues like Cotswolds pub The Bull, The Pem and The Harwood Arms, Abé will serve dishes that she’s crafted from delving into the history of British food. There’ll be deep cuts like “lockets savoury” (which traditionally includes pears, stilton and watercress on bread), as well as Dorset crab royale with English peas and a haunch of deer with pickled walnuts.
Additional reporting by Peter Dreyer, Angela Hui, Isabel Hoggard and Lisa Wright.
