My Manor, Isaac McHale from The Clove Club shares his favourite food and drink spots in Leytonstone

where to eat and drink in leytonstone by isaac mchale

Born in Orkney and growing up in Glasgow, Isaac’s fascination for cooking was cultivated from a young age. In his path to opening the two Michelin-starred The Clove Club in Shoreditch he worked for Tom Aikens, was part of the opening team at The Ledbury and was a founding member of the experimental Young Turks collective.

Isaac's now an active part of the international chef community, appearing around the world giving keynote speeches, cooking demonstrations and collaborating on special dinners and events. Here in London he's a longstanding resident of Leytonstone. "I've been here for seven years," he tells us, "and love the neighbourhood". He agreed to share his favourite places to eat, drink and shop in his neighbourhood.

Short Road Pizza

William the Fourth, 816 High Rd, London E10 6AE

My friend around the corner from me told me during lockdown that his neighbour started making pizzas and giving away to neighbours on their road. That grew and became Short Road Pizza, recently voted No. 1 pizza in the UK! They offer their crisp, thin, Roman-style pizzas in the William the Fourth in Leyton, and The Three Colts in Bethnal Green. Go Ugo!

The Continental Food Exchange

647-661 High Rd Leytonstone, London E11 4RD

The Continental Food Exchange (TFC) is our local independent supermarket, with loads of amazing vegetables, olives, interesting meats and funky biscuits and baked goods from Eastern Europe.

Filly Brook

392 Grove Green Rd, London E11 4AP

This is our local music-focused bar, with owner Simon putting on bands and DJs, in a former scouts headquarters hut, with fun food offerings like Fumio Tanaga's Shofoodoh- currently in residence with Japanese izakaya dishes and okinomiyaki.

Forno

47 Church Lane, Bushwood, London E11 1HE

My friend Mitshel Ibrahim runs Ombra in Hackney, and recently opened Forno, a bakery across the road. They have just recently opened a forno branch in Church Lane, with brilliant coffee, sandwiches and baked goods.

Dimsum & Noodles by APUS

10 Church Lane, London E11 1HG

Also on Church Lane is the new Apus, from a family recently relocated from Hong Kong. Superior cooking, real wok hei, handmade dim sum - they even made a special poon choi for the Lunar New Year.

And a hot tip to come....

Simon Purnell (Filly Brook) runs the brilliant Shake The High Road festival, which runs across a few venues in the area. He is about to reopen the old Luna Lounge site on 7 Church lane, and it will be a great place for live music in the area when it opens this summer.