The 20 best things to do in Hackney

Instantly recognisable thanks to the gold tinsel curtain shimmering along the back of the stage, this retro working men’s club has something fun happening most nights of the week. It’s best known as a sparky little gig venue that punches above its weight, attracting the likes of Christine and the Queens, Caroline Polachek and Willie Mason – even her highness Lady Gaga once did an intimate surprise show here. There are also exciting comedy nights with a mix of biggies and newbies gracing the stage. Once the weekend rolls round, so do club nights aplenty featuring ’80s bangers, Northern Soul, poptastic tunes and ’70s disco classics.

During the week, sleepy Broadway Market is frequented by Hackney locals popping into the post office, pharmacy and grocery shops, and catching up with pals in the many coffee spots. But once the weekend hits, the stalls appear and people come from all over London to saunter through the market, browse the (three!) bookshops and grab a sunny pint outside the pubs. On Saturday, stalls sell amenities like organic fruit and veg, good meat, olives and bread as well as great street food – Gurarati veggie thalis, salt beef bagels, Vietnamese coffee, posh scotch eggs… There’s also lots of gift-inspo including Japanese stationery, screen-printed posters, second-hand clothes for kids and adults, and vintage books. On Sunday, it’s mostly street food – a great spot for lunch after braving the crowds at nearby Columbia Road Flower Market.

One of the few heated outdoor pools in London, London Fields Lido is a joyful place for a swim any time of the year. The 50-metre (that’s olympic-sized) pool attracts serious swimmers who fill the fast lanes, locals doing a slow steady breaststroke and parents taking their sprogs for their first brief dips. In winter, steam rises off the pool and the hardcore swimmers run bravely from the changing rooms before sliding happily into the balmy water. Once the warm weather hits, it becomes more of a beach vibe: sunbathers lie on every inch of free concrete, friends sit on the side dangling their legs into the water and kids splash each other in the shallow end.

If you’re under the impression that falafel is a boring lunch option, you clearly haven’t tried Pockets. The London Fields ‘pita bar’ started as a stall in Netil Market, before the foodies of Instagram soon discovered its pillowy steamed pitas stuffed with herby, crispy falafel balls, fragrant sauces, fried potato and eye-watering chilli. Overnight, there was a whopping great queue whenever you turned up. Pockets has since moved to bigger premises around the corner, but the queue just keeps on growing too. Want to beat the crowds? Turn up before 11am on a gloomy rainy day and you’ll be one of the first served. But no matter how long you have to wait, it’s always worth it.

If you’re into crystals, tarot and astrology (and who isn’t these days?), you need to pay a visit to She’s Lost Control on Broadway Market. Aesthetically pleasing sets of tarot cards sit next to books about waking your inner witch, as well as stylish jewellery, natural skincare and gifty bits and bobs for the horoscope obsessive in your life. But if you’re considering a visit, plan ahead and book in to have your aura photographed. At the back of the shop, you and your aura get snapped and then you’re guided through what the different colours could mean. Once you’re happy with the interpretation, you get a nice printed out polaroid of yourself surrounded by a cloud of colour, which is a pretty cool souvenir even for non-believers.

Tiny London Fields bakery Violet shot to fame in 2018 when founder Claire Ptak was the fabulous baker behind Meghan and Harry’s wedding cake. But although that definitely put it on the map, the bakery itself hasn’t got too big headed. It still makes the sweet-but-not-sickly American-style cupcakes it was originally known for, as well as arguably one of the finest banana breads in London. There’s outdoor seating (with some gazebos and awnings for rainy days) and just a small counter to order those mouthwatering treats from. Whatever you choose, it’s guaranteed to be a memorable cake-eating experience.

What’s better than having a delicious sauna to sweat out all those city toxins? Having that delicious sauna with awesome views across that very city, of course. It’s a badly kept Hackney secret that perched on top of Netil House there are a series of private sauna cabins, showers and cold water plunge barrels which you can book for 30, 60 or 90 minutes. Prices start at £11 per person and it’s a great innovative date idea or way to catch up with a sauna-loving pal. And once you’re all sweated-out, head across the roof to Netil360 for pizza, drinks and a chill out.

If you’ve heard of Popham’s Bakery, chances are it will be thanks to their incredible selection of pastries and pasta. By day, it’s all perfect buttery croissants, maple bacon danishes and wondrous cheese, spring onion and Marmite swirls. Once night falls, they switch to wildly delicious pasta dishes. And as if that wasn’t enough, they now have their own homeware shop next door that’ll make you want to burn everything in your house and start again. Stylish ceramics and glassware, linen napkins, candles, cookbooks: it’s all beautiful. Plus there are workshops teaching everything from quilting to leather work. Disclaimer: we can’t be held responsible for how much money you might spend here.

Originally from Margate, natural skincare brand Haeckels has its only London shop on Broadway Market, selling cult-status skin and body care products and intoxicatingly fragranced candles. Upstairs is a colourful treatment space offering unique facials, massages and body treatments. The magic not-so-secret ingredient is Margate-grown seaweed (and it’s the hero in many of Haeckels’ products) so for the full experience, go for the invigorating seaweed and walnut scrub, which also comes with a dreamy massage. You’ll gain a whole new respect for kelp.

Previously Time Out’s pick as the best restaurant in London (and still in our top twenty), neighbourhood gem Cafe Cecilia is worth a visit any time of the day. Chef Max Rocha (son of fashion designer John Rocha and brother to Simone) serves up simple seasonal sharing plates with an Irish twist. Lunch and dinner services can get packed, but locals in the know head here between 9 and 10.45 for the special breakfast menu: superior bacon and sausage sandwiches, marinated tomatoes on toast with goat’s curd, kippers, and our fave: Guinness bread with boiled eggs and creamy coolea cheese.

On a sunny weekend, London Fields becomes a sea of picnics, pints and parties. If you’d rather have a table, some salty snacks and perhaps a large TV screen showing some kind of sport, then Pub on the Park – with its big terrace overlooking the fields – is the place to be. However, if you’d like a slightly more sedate game than the ones shown inside, there’s a relatively undiscovered pétanque area just around the back. It’s first come, first served as the pub don’t take bookings, but they can lend you a set of boules for a deposit of £20.

You could easily walk past Bad Manners as you were strolling through the St John at Hackney Churchyard just off the Narrow Way. But you’d be missing out on some spicy delight: this unassuming hut is serving up big attitude and big flavours. The Mexican- inspired menu features some seriously delicious delicacies, with specials such as crispy pork belly taco with crying tiger sauce and chilorio pork burrito stuffed with Doritos for a special extra crunch. On weekends, the few tables outside quickly fill up so go early before it all sells out.

It’s not often you get to sip a cocktail with a taxidermy lion in a top hat but anything goes at this weird and wonderful museum. Run by overtly kooky character Viktor Wynd from the Last Tuesday Society, this small museum of curiosities is home to everything from dodo bones and a mermaid skeleton to artworks made from human hair and a magic tea cup. And in the midst of this, there’s an atmospheric absinthe bar which is a truly unusual and memorable place for a tipple. Book a table reservation and you can get a supplementary £6 ticket to head downstairs to explore the wonders in the basement – if you dare.

Wilton Way is one of the cutest streets in Hackney, with a row of charming shops that have a nostalgic feel to them. One of the most lively hangouts is Wilton Way Deli which has two shops: one a coffee and lunch hotspot, the other a wine shop and deli that’s also a bar and pop-up restaurant. There’s an ample amount of outdoor seating spread between the two, which fills up with a post-work crowd who know that it catches the last of the rays in the summer months, making it the ideal spot for an aperitivo.

The only National Trust property you’ll find in Hackney, this well-preserved Tudor house is a truly immersive experience. Built in 1535 by Sir Ralph Sadleir (a fixer for Thomas Cromwell who went on to be Secretary of State to Henry VIII), this place has lived many lives: it was a Victorian school, a church institute in WW1, a 1960/70s Trades Union office and a punk squat in the 1980s. There’s no advance booking required for a self-led visit but we’d recommend booking onto the guided tour to get all the historical goss. If the weather allows, there’s also a fab garden space called the Breaker’s Yard which is fun for a poke-around with kids.

Once a hub of nightlife, Hackney may have lost some of its venues in the last few years but Oslo is thankfully still going strong. Set in a listed Victorian railway building that was once part of Hackney Central station, there are many different ways to have a good night out here. You can just turn up for a drink and bite in the ground-floor bar, where it’s two spritzes for a tenner until midnight. You can get tickets to a gig: previous acts include Sam Smith, Dua Lipa, Marina and the Diamonds, Sky Ferreira and Jessie J. Or if you want a proper late night dance, there are club nights every weekend which go on until 3.30am.

It might be a bit of stretch to call this spot a market as it’s housed inside what was once a Job Centre. Rather, the refurbished building, which is just a stone’s throw from London Fields, Netil Market and Broadway Market, operates more as a shopping hall. In this 10,000 sq ft space you’ll find a deli selling charcuterie and cheese, an off-licence selling local beers and organic wines, a florist and a record stall. If you’re after hot food, there’s the Open Kitchen restaurant and The Dining Room, which also operates as a furniture shop. What’s more, the whole place is cashless and there’s no plastic packaging to be found anywhere. 

RECOMMENDED: London’s best markets

Every time I go to this seriously delicious restaurant in a back street just off London Fields, I scan the scrawled blackboard menu for the whole turbot: chunky, juicy, smoky and oh so moreish. But to be honest, whatever they’re serving up is going to be excellent. The anchovy flatbreads, the chicken rice, the scorched leeks with soft cheese – it all comes fresh from the huge grill and always tastes smoky and exciting. Whether you’re settling in for a long lunch or an intimate dinner, there will be a good vibe. And their only dessert, burnt Basque cheesecake? Don’t leave without a slice.

Talk about an east London institution: Mare Street’s Hackney Empire has been entertaining the crowds of the East End since 1901, with interludes as a bingo hall and television studio (it was even once at risk of being flattened into a car park.) Its gilded stage has been graced by Charlie Chaplin, Stan Laurel, Houdini, Marie Lloyd, Julie Andrews, Louis Armstrong and countless more superstars from recent times. Stellar comedians and one-off special gigs are the big draws here, along with the legendary yearly panto, which books up far in advance. Also popular are the tours of its Grade II-listed auditorium, which take place during Open House London weekend in September.

Not only does Five Points Brewery make great beer, it also has an excellent place to drink it. There’s a cosy tap room for colder days, and a courtyard for sunny evenings, where you can get well-acquainted with their beers and sample some BBQ treats. And if that wasn’t enough, on Thursday and Friday between 5pm and 7pm, you can get a pint of their freshest tank-beer for this bargainous price of £3.99. Good luck finding one that cheap anywhere else in Hackney that isn’t a ’spoons. Keep an eye on their Instagram for pop-up events, talks and festivals.