The 20 best things to do in Dalston

If there’s one thing Dalston is known for, it’s excellent Turkish food. The area has been home to a thriving community of Turkish expats since the 1980s, and these days you’ll find at least a dozen traditional charcoal grill restaurants – or ocakbasis – around Kingsland High Street.

The oldest (and to many the best) of the bunch is the locally renowned Mangal Okacbasi, better known as Mangal 1; a lively, no-frills BYOB spot serving up some of the most succulent cop sis (lamb shish) you’ll find in the city. Then there’s Umut 2000, where you’ll get killer lamb chops and tuvuk sis (chicken shish). Or visit the unusually-decorated Stone Cave for Turkish-influenced brunch, cheerful canteen Sömine for hearty daily-changing stews, and countless other spots stretching up towards Stoke Newington High Street for all manner of classic mezze dishes and chargrilled goodness.

You’ve not truly gotten to know Dalston until you’ve visited a bunch of them and formed a strong attachment to your favourite.

This Kingsland High Street hangout is one of London’s most important (and funnest) clubs, having been a key part of east London’s party scene since it opened in 2009. 

Its sweaty basement dancefloor has seen appearances from countless world-renowned selectors over the years, with Bicep, Andrew Weatherall, Honey Dijon, Robyn, Octo Octa and the Blessed Madonna all having played here. In the last year alone, it’s hosted surprise appearances from La Roux, Arca and Charli XCX, who caused a stampede by turning up to the listening party for her zeitgeist-defining album ‘brat’ on the night that it dropped. 

On weekends, it also stages one of London’s longest-running (and least commercialised) drag brunches, where you can nurse the hangover you acquired the night before with breakfast waffles and loaded fries while being entertained by stars of the wonderfully offbeat local drag scene.

First opened in 1915, this legendary cinema on Kingsland High Street is one of London’s best-loved and last genuinely independent movie theatres.

Run as a not-for-profit venue for over 40 years, it schedules an unparalleled programme of independent cinema that brilliantly caters to the local community, from screenings during London Short Film Festival, Doc’n’Roll and Fringe! Queer Film Festival to the latest blockbusters, hotly anticipated indie releases and a great selection of classics and foreign flicks.

Tickets are very reasonably priced (particularly if you buy an equally reasonably-priced membership) and you get to watch screenings in the plush surroundings of its multi-storied Art Deco auditorium, designed by cult architect F. E. Bromige in the 1930s and largely unchanged since. 

When it first opened in 2016, this small and simple but quality-focused cocktail bar was briefly called Between the Sheets. Apparently they thought that sounded too much like an racy EL James novel, because they swiftly revamped the place and pivoted to its more refined current name. Whatever they call it, you can’t argue with the basic premise of a bijoux, uncluttered bar that serves up sensational mixes with minimum fuss.

Helmed by brothers Max and Noel Venning, who are also behind Crouch End’s Little Mercies and Higbury’s Top Cuvée, its menu is divided into three tiers: One Sheet, Two Sheet and Three Sheet, with each iteration becoming punchier. There’s also a small cider, beer and wine section, while food is limited to olives and nuts. Obviously, though, the focus is on the world-class cocktails, which have earned numerous accolades over the years. We’re big fans of their take on the French 75, a low ABV zinger from the One Sheet menu that’s carbonated in-house. 

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Launched in September 2018, this self-styled ‘multi-arts space for the 21st century’ is an ambitious restoration of the formerly derelict Savoy Cinema originally built in the 1930s. Its slightly ungainly name is short for ‘Evolutionary Arts Hackney’, but the programming is trendy and accessible rather than too highfalutin. 

The likes of Deptford Northern Soul Club, Butch Please! and Dimitri From Paris regularly stage nights here, while recent events have also included day parties by Dialled in, Skepta’s travelling club night Más Tiempo and gigs during Pitchfork’s annual city-wide music festival. It’s an atmospheric venue for mid-level tours, so be sure to check out who is playing across its two spaces here.

First opened in 2014 – when it operated out of a 40ft shipping container that now serves as a base for its Baking School – the Dusty Knuckle has earned a reputation as one of London’s best bakeries, while also functioning as a social enterprise training up ‘at-risk’ youngsters to work in its kitchens.

The Dalston site serves up hefty loaves of potato sourdough, inventive pastries and some of the best pizzas in the area, but is probably best known for its ginormous focaccia sandwiches. A mainstay is the life-changing good egg, chilli and cheese breakfast sandwich, while the lunchtime menu features an ever-changing line-up of seasonal fillings packed with flavour.

Queueing for sandwiches is the done thing in London these days, but you can avoid the line that snakes around the block on weekends by pre-ordering online, before scoffing your delicious wares in its tranquil little outdoor seating area. 

If you’re into jazz and improvised music, Dalston is a great place to hear some. Chin-stroking crate-diggers have long frequented this part of town, which boasts a cluster jazz venues within walking distance of Dalston Kingsland Station.

Visit Dalston Jazz Bar to hear the house band play while you scoff seafood dishes from a pay-what-you-want menu before the ramshackle venue transforms into a popular nightlife spot after dinner service. Head to Servant Jazz Quarters for cocktails and up-and-coming artists ranging from rising indie bands to soul, blues, funk, country and jazz. Drop by the renowned Vortex Jazz Club to check out excellent programming that straddles the accessible and avant-garde ends of the jazz spectrum and includes the UK’s longest-running improv night, Mopomoso. Or go to the legendary Cafe Oto to hear screeching saxophonists, maniacal white noise merchants and practitioners of musique concrète play to an intimate audience that may well include Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore and Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor. 

For the majority of its three decades in business, this ocakbasi founded by Anatolian chef Ali Dirik was known for four things; its brilliantly snarky Twitter feed (run by the owner’s eldest son Ferhat), its mouthwatering charcoal-grilled meats, budget-friendly BYOB policy, and the fact that artists Gilbert and George dined here six nights a week.

That all changed in 2021, when Ali handed control of the struggling restaurant over to Ferhat and younger brother Sertaç, who was persuaded to return to London amid the pandemic after two years working in some of Copenhagen’s most prestigious kitchens. Together, the brothers set about transforming the restaurant; the dining room got a makeover, Ferhat introduced a drinks list featuring natural wines and local beers, and Sertaç crafted a new menu blending quality British ingredients with traditional Turkish techniques; think cull yaw kofte, sourdough pide and mushroom manti filled with roasted chanterelles and trompettes.

The result is an altogether more polished experience that retains the charm – and deliciousness – of this true Dalston institution.

After more than 20 years in the bean-roasting biz, Antipodean coffee maestros Allpress moved their operations to this old joiners’ factory on Dalston Lane in 2015. With a ground-floor cafe where you can sit and work in full view of the ginormous roaster, which sits just behind a glass partition, the expansive temple of caffeine remains one of the best places around to get an oat flat white, and a bustling weekend hangout for the coffee cognoscenti. Bag an outside table if you can, and come hungry: the Green Goddess sandwich with poached egg, prosciutto and green herb sauce is a winner at any time of the day (though they often sell out by lunch at weekends). Naturally, the coffee is also stellar.

Located opposite Dalston Kingsland station, Ridley Road Market has been serving the local community since the 1880s, and has remained comfortingly ungentrified amid the small plates spots and boutique homeware shops arriving in this neighbourhood. 

Taking place six days a week, the market features 150 stalls offering a fantastic array of Afro-Caribbean, Asian and European food products, plus household items, electrical goods, children’s toys, fabrics, crockery and pottery, and loads of clothes. It’s open from early to 5pm Monday through Thursday, then early to 6pm Friday and Saturday. Be sure to also check out Turkish Food Centre, a fabulous supermarket at the end of the road, which stocks all manner of interesting produce imported from Greece, Cyprus and Turkey. And one you’ve had a good old pootle about, head to Ridley Road Market Bar for cheap cocktails soundtracked by disco, reggae and ‘80s pop hits.

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Wondering where the Hackney hipsters hang out now that Birthdays and Passing Clouds are no more? Take a stroll down the backstreets around Wilton Way and you’ll spot them spilling out onto the street outside the Spurstowe Arms, or perched on the benches in front of the Prince George smoking imported Vogues.

Both pubs used to be fairly quiet backstreet boozers, but the solid foodie credentials, rakish decor and proximity to London Fields that the pair boast have resulted in an influx of achingly fashionable creative types who look like they’ve strolled straight out of a Socks House Meeting meme. The drink of choice? A semi-ironic Guinness, of course.

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Home to Dalston Culture House, NTS Radio’s OG studios and a whole bunch of creative businesses based inside Stamford Works, this lively square behind Dalston Kingsland High Street is a hub of activity on all but the coldest days of the year.

On any given afternoon you might find groups of Jamaican men playing dominoes and blasting reggae outside of its ramshackle jerk trucks, kids whizzing around on scooters, buskers playing to people lounging about on benches and skateboarders setting up their own ramps. And in the summer months it hosts a sporadic variety of free community events ranging from play areas and street markets during Hackney Carnival and open-air film screenings to festivals like NTS Square Party and Dalston Supersquare. In short, it’s a vibrant little corner of east London that’s always worth stopping by to see what’s occurring. 

Ah, The Glory. Many an east London hipster enjoyed a debaucherous night out Haggerston’s beloved pint-sized queer boozer during its decade in business, and we have plenty of fond memories of Johnny Woo and John Sizzle’s firstborn child. But last year, the iconic local drag queens moved on to bigger and better things, opening The Divine just a short sashay down the road on the site of long-lost Dalston bar Birthdays (gosh, remember that place?)

Their new venue retains much of what we loved about The Glory – outré cabaret, free drag competitions, a fun-loving crowd of arty queers cackling in the smoking area – but in a bigger space that’s closer to the rest of the local nightlife and, crucially, has way more loos. Pop down to catch a show in the downstairs room and then stay until the small hours to watch the place transform into a sequin-studded, drag-fuelled, pop-tastic disco.

‘It’s not just a restaurant, it’s a cult!’ reads the slogan on the wall of this ‘live-fire’ restaurant. And after a meal here, you may well be inclined to join.

Chef duo Andrew Clarke and Daniel Watkins have achieved the improbable in creating a vibey hangout out of the former car park their restaurant shares with the Dusty Knuckle and 40FT Brewery, with hip young things sitting around drinking natural wine on the covered outdoor terrace, warmed by the heat coming off the grill by the entrance to the restaurant. If you enjoy open kitchens, you’ll love Acme, where you can sit and watch as the flames lick at delica pumpkins, golden beetroots and whole celeriac roasted just metres from your table.

‘But what about the meat?’ you might be thinking. Well, yes, there’s plenty of immaculately flame-grilled flesh on the menu, but non-carnivores are equally welcome in this cult. Vegetables star in the majority of dishes on a creative, seasonal and sustainably-minded menu that offers something for everyone. 

These days you tend to see fewer flamboyantly-attired fashion students strutting around Kingsland High Street as you might have done ten years ago, but Dalston remains a very stylish part of town. Thrifty fashion has always been a thing round here, and with a string of great charity shops including Traid and Crisis and a huge branch of vintage chain Beyond Retro, it’s a great part of town for picking up pre-loved gems.

Tired of Depop disputes? Be sure to check out the Princess May Car Boot, which takes over the playgrounds of Princess May Primary School most Saturdays and Sundays year-round, and is the marketplace of choice for fashionable locals when it’s time for a wardrobe clearout.

The gig room out back still smells bizarrely of mould, while the decor in its courtyard smoking area amounts to a broken fountain and several fading, crudely-painted murals, yet this down-at-heels gem is still one of London’s most beloved live music institutions, having played host to a plethora of big names during its indie heyday. Usually crowded, but generally convivial, the Shacklewell welcomes a hipster-ish crowd to gigs seven nights a week, plus club nights, magazine launches and after-show parties, all benefitting from a late licence. The studio next door ensures the patronage of a stream of local musicians and industry bods.

Are you gaga for agave? Then a night out in Dalston is an absolute must, because if any neighbourhood in London has a higher concentration of bars specialising in London’s spirit du jour, then we’re yet to find it. Dalston’s main drag is to agave what the Bermondsey beer mile is to hop-forward IPAs, so much so that we’re inclined to start calling it the Mezcal Mile.

Start your night off at buzzy Mexican joint Corrochio’s, where you can sample a range of different tequila cocktails for just £7 before 7pm. Then head up to Kingsland High Street to taqueria Del74 and Mexican tapas bar Viva, two super fun venues serving up a variety of tequila- and mezcal-based concoctions including margarita pitchers. And if you’re still standing after that, stumble over to Hacha on Kingsland Road to try its award-winning signature drink, the Mirror Margarita, a crystal clear take on the classic that looks like a glass of water. Which, let’s be honest, you probably should be. One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor!

Opened in 2000 on Dalston’s Arcola Street, east London’s new writing stronghold was here before the hipsters and – despite one enforced change from its original venue on Arcola Street to its present former paint factory site – remains a bastion of interesting work in a part of town that’s pretty light on theatre.

In recent years the programme has included revivals of ‘serious dramas’, new plays from fresh voices, and plenty of work with a political, international outlook. Tickets are a lot cheaper than central London’s playhouses, while the ramshackle bar is a cosy place to sink a pint before or after the show and fills up with artsy types on Friday and Saturday nights.

Planted in 2010 on an empty patch of land that was once occupied by railway tracks from the old Eastern Curve line, this volunteer-run community garden has been a social enterprise since 2012 and remains one of Dalston’s best-kept secrets (I’d lived in the area for about three years before I found out it existed!). Step past the unassuming wooden front gates that open out onto Dalston’s hectic junction and you’ll find a tranquil patch of land filled with colourful flowers and greenery maintained by volunteer gardeners, where locals perch on tables and benches dotted around the luscious space, sipping coffees and wines from the on-site café.

Open year-round, it’s particularly special in the summer, when you can sit and enjoy a warm evening with a few beers and a pizza cooked to order in the wood-fired oven using fresh produce grown metres away. In one of the most built-up areas in the city, this is a real haven for the many locals without gardens (myself included!)

Named after a 1977 track by NYC rockers Television, the Marquee Moon is the latest opening from the team behind mega east London nightclub The Cause, Hackney Wick hangout All My Friends and Peckham pub The Greyhound. Dalston nightlife might have suffered a bit in recent years, but the Marquee’s opening in summer 2024, right opposite The Divine, felt like a significant moment in heralding a new era for what remains east London’s most party-ready high street.

As you’d expect given its owners’ credentials, this is another music-forward venue, with a 3am licence and a roster of The Cause regulars like Grace Sands and Jaye Ward playing from a prominent ground-floor booth most days. Head down one weekend for a few cocktails or a bottle of natty wine, and you may find yourself boogying in the sexily low-lit basement til the early hours.