Last year Hackney Wick became home to Canalside at Here East, a new development showcasing new restaurants, and street food heroes who have settled into their first bricks and mortar site (read: Randy’s Wing Bar).

Whether you’re craving good food, just fancy a snack, or feel like treating yourself to some amazing flavours, Canalside has everything you need from comforting classics to exciting bites. Here’s what you need to know:

1. For Brunch: The Breakfast Club 

The Lowdown: The Breakfast Club have earned themselves a loyal following of brunchers. Stop by their central London branches, and you’ll be lucky to nab a table there and then; prepare to queue. However, the Canalside branch is one of their best kept secrets. Swing by for hearty brunch dishes, thick and creamy milkshakes and plenty of freshly squeezed OJ.

Eat and Drink: Obviously, there’s the classic avocado on toast with poached eggs, but if you’re in the mood for something on the sweeter side, the pancakes are fluffy and delicious. The all-America stack features an artery-clogging combination of eggs, sausage, home-style potatoes, streaky bacon and maple syrup.

2. For a Healthy Fix: Mother

The Lowdown: Mother is a plant-based café serving food and juices from natural ingredients. The focus here is food that not only tastes good, but is good for the planet too. They’re open from morning till night banging out healthy vegan fare that will send any turkey twizzler fan into a spin.

Eat and Drink: Their coffees. Oh baby, their coffees. We’re a fan of the dairy-free milk selection; take your pick from oat, coconut, almond and soy. We say, order the one of their acai bowls – a bowl filled with frozen smoothie topped with everything from coconut to banana and other fruity treats. And the peanut butter smoothie tastes like a healthy peanut butter cup. Win win.

3. For Craft Beer: Mason and Company

The Lowdown: The best of the craft beer world meets Italian-American fare at Mason & Company, a craft beer bar and kitchen. Behind Mason and Company is Ed Mason, founder of Hackney’s Five Points Brewing Company, and Rachel Jones, founder of street food stall, Capish?. Pints and meatball sarnies are a match made in heaven.

Eat and Drink: Mason & Company boasts a constantly changing selection of over 20 draught taps and a wide array of bottled and canned brews. From the Capish? kitchen, expect to find their signature Meatball Hero – pork and beef balls, marinara, rocket, provolone cheese on a polenta-crusted sub and Rachel’s famous Steak Braciole. The chickpea fritters with rosemary salt is a bar snack we can get on board with.

4. For Italian Bites: Gotto

The Lowdown: Gotto is the younger sibling to well-loved Italian restaurant Mele e Pere in Soho. This neighbourhood trattoria is one big carb fest. And if you’re coming, loosen your trousers, and prepare for a feast of epic proportions. Italy has finally made its way to Hackney Wick.

Eat and Drink: You’ll want to order everything from the antipasti menu, so let us help you out. The burrata with San Marzano tomato and basil is a creamy ball of pure delight, and the deep fried squid with lemon mayo, and sicilian vegetable arancini are absurdly tasty. For mains: potato gnocchi with basil pesto and green beans.

5. For Poultry: Randy’s Wing Bar

The Lowdown: Randy’s Wing Bar may have only just opened in the summer of 2016 but its owners, Richard and Andy, have been in the wing game for a long time. The pair set up Randy’s as a pop-up in 2013, and were so successful with it that they became the first ever international competitor invited to attend the National Buffalo Wing Festival. These guys know their chicken.

Eat and Drink: If you’ve never made the pilgrimage to Randy’s, go for the crowd pleasing buffalo wings lovingly coated in a truffle blue cheese sauce. There’s a discard bin and your own kitchen roll to help with your saucy coasted fingers. The Gangnam chicken wings are influenced by Korean flavours, and they’re sensational. Whoever said Mondays were the worst day has obviously never visited Randy’s. For £14 eat as many wings as your heart/stomach desires.

5. For Dinner: Shane’s on Canalside 

The Lowdown: Shane’s on Canalside is a contemporary restaurant that showcases seasonal Britain with foraging, freshness and quality leading the way. Founder Shane’s ethos is all about wild meats, line caught fish, and wild foraged seasonal produce, and small ethical producers.

Eat and Drink: The menu changes from week to week – but expect to find game and meat dishes like the rabbit burger with with beetroot, fried egg and lettuce, and slow cooked Duroc Cross pork belly, served with wild gooseberries, local spring veg and new potatoes. On Sunday, the kitchen pulls out all the stops with their roasted venison shoulder, enough to feed a party of four, and served with duck fat roast potatoes, carrots, red cabbage and gravy.

6. For Cocktails: Four Quarters  

 

The Lowdown: Four Quarters is Canalside’s newest resident, with the flagship outpost based in Peckham This speakeasy-style dive bar boasts Hackney’s finest cocktails, and old-school arcade games under one roof.

Eat and Drink: Relive the glory days when sealing a top score on Pac Man and Space Invaders were the only things you cared about. It’s a proper nostalgic kick with all the video game greats. Keep yourself well oiled with their fine collection of craft beers and real ales, alongside quirky and classic cocktails.

 

Here East, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London E20 3BS