It's the biggest retail therapy opening in London this year, but what does the shopping city on the Olympic Park's doorstep in Stratford have to offer Londoners in the way of decent places to eat? Hot Dinners has the lowdown...
Chestnut Plaza
The Cow - the latest gastropub from Geronimo Inns will serve up real ales from Tottenham, Greenwich and East Anglia and will have Cow Night on Monday with special steak dishes on the menu. It'll have three floors including a private dining room.
Great Eastern market
Pasta Remoli - chef Simone Remoli learned his stuff at Bocca di Lupo and Quo Vadis and is now turning out frankly amazing sounding fresh pasta including oxtail agnolotti in its own juice and spider crab ravioli.
Hotel du Chocolat Cocoa Grower - as well as selling great chocolates, the Stratford store will have a special Tasting Bar where you can sit down and enjoy a self-guided tasting of interesting grades of chocolate with expert tasting notes.
L’orchidée is the brainchild of chef David Garcia and this patisserie is their first. They have foie gras and fig macaroons and chocolate truffle lollies - what else could you possibly need to know?
Cafe Court
Franca Manca - the first East London venue (they'll be opening in Brick Lane soon) from the chaps who turned their Brixton pizzeria into a London-wide brand famed for the fabulosity (yes it is a word) of their pizzas.
Coffee/Impulse
Pinkberry - upmarket frozen yoghurt store from the States, much beloved by Hollywood stars, opens its second London spot (the first was in Selfridges). They also serve up fruit parfaits and original and green tea smoothies.
Four Dials
Bumpkin is a very British restaurant serving seasonal British dishes from salads to the hearty charter pie, Bumpkin burger and roast dinners with all the trimmings. If you're into celebrities, it's where Robert Pattison and Kristen Stewart from those Twilight movies were seen having lunch in London the other day.
Coming soon
Brazilian restaurant Cabana is the latest offering from the chaps behind Mayfair's Hush, Sake No Hana and Villandry. They'll be serving up cheese dough balls known as Pao de Queijo as well as Palm Heart Pastels and Chicken Coxinhas while ‘Cabanistas’ will circulate the room with colour-coded barbecue skewers offering choices of meat such as Malagueta marinated chicken thighs, Baby Back Sticky Ribs and Chimichurri Butterflied Rump Steak. There'll also be a frozen yoghurt bar and an outside terrace. (Chestnut Plaza)
Also worth trying: Jamie's Italian (Four Dials), Wahaca (Chestnut Plaza), Searcy's champagne bar (Third floor), Pho (Cafe Court), Comptoir Libanais (Cafe Court) and Busaba (Chesnut Plaza).
