London Restaurants - Shoreditch, Clerkenwell

66 Cowcross St, London EC1M 6BP

Bouchon Racine saw the return of Henry Harris, who brought his classic French restaurant Racine back, this time above The Three Compasses pub in Farringdon. One of the best restaurants in the area, here you can expect an 'unashamedly French' menu that changes daily, written only on a blackboard. The pub dowsntairs features food from the same kitchen, so that's well worth a look too.

36-37 Greenhill Rents, Cowcross St, London EC1M 6BN

The late, great Russell Norman, who also created Polpo, founded this restaurant just off Smithfield Market. It takes its influences primarily from Northern Italy with a particular focus on Florence. So you'll find Italian snacks and pasta alongside huge T-Bone steaks. It's also part-bar, with an extensive list of cocktail classics, so very handy if you're looking for a decent bar in the area.

92–94 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3EA

The Quality Chop House, which has been open since 1869, has found more recent success as both a restaurant and wine bar featuring menus that are created in the morning based on what's been delivered. Come to the restaurant for the very best of British cooking and don't forget to have the legendary confit potatoes. Quality Wines is their corner cafe/restaurant with a separate but equally great menu.

88 St John Street, London EC1M 4EH

This Michelin-starred Clerkenwell restaurant is from the team behind World's 50 Best restaurant The Clove Club. An Italian restaurant using British produce it's split between a more casual cafe at the front and more formal dining in the restaurant at the back. It's also blessed with a beautiful courtyard.

26 St John Street, London EC1M 4AY

Fergus Henderson and Trevor Gulliver's renowned restaurant has for decades been many critics' favourite place in London. This is their flagship restaurant and its focus on "nose to tail" eating makes it a must-visit for anyone looking for the very best in modern British cooking. The bar here is also very good, so even if you're not dining, stopping by for a glass of one of the St John wines and a snack is highly recommended.

34 - 36 Exmouth Market, London EC1R 4QE

Back in 1997 when Moro first opened, Exmouth Market was still a scruffy Clerkenwell street and this restaurant with its implausibly good looking bar staff and open kitchen was the second most exciting thing to happen to the area food-wise since The Eagle threw open its doors. Run by the marvellously-monikered Sam and Sam Clark, it's still turning out great food in a room that's packed every day of the week.

24 Clerkenwell Green, Farringdon, London EC1R 0NA

This restaurant has taken over an old Grade II courthouse in Clerkenwell making it one of the most beautiful dining rooms in London, particularly in the evening with its gas-powered lighting. It originally featured Florence Knight in charge of the food. She's now moved on but the menu that is a mix of British, French and Italian cooking continues.

159 Farringdon Rd, Farringdon, London EC1R 3AL

The Eagle in Clerkenwell is often credited as the first modern gastropub - with restaurant-quality food being served inside a pub. Many years down the line, it's still a reliable spot for a good meal, serving up a seasonal menu in a faintly ramshackle pub. The steak sandwiches are some of the best in town.

32 Exmouth Market, London EC1R 4QL

Moro has long been one of London foodie's favourite restaurants - think of this as Sam and Sam Clark's sibling tapas bar to the original - serving up super small plates with ice-cold glasses of fino.

44 Commercial Street, London E1 6LT

Chef Tom Brown, best known for the Michelin-starred of Cornerstone, is behind this Shoreditch restaurant and oyster bar. It's a seafood-centric menu, featuring UK and Irish-sourced oysters, and you can even get crispy buffalo oysters here. A must-have dish is the cuttlefish lasagne and take note of the cocktails, which are created by Max Venning from Three Sheets.

9 Chance St, London E2 7JB

Cycene is the restaurant inside Blue Mountain School in Shoreditch, with chef Theo Clench in charge. Here you can expect a tasting menu-only experience, with its influences in Japan and Australasia, that takes place throughout the building - from the bar to the kitchen and the dining room.

4 Redchurch St, London E1 6JL

Chef Tomos Parry's restaurant remains one of the hottest in the area and still manages to attract a celeb or two to the upstairs room that's a little removed from the Shoreditch masses. Up here, you'll find a menu that features a mix of cooking on fire, Welsh and Basque cuisine, and a big focus on wine. It doesn't hurt that the dining room is quite lovely.

64 Shoreditch High St, London E1 6JJ

Sister restaurant to Kiln, this is the second version of Smoking Goat and a huge hit. Whether you're sitting up at the counter or enjoying a group meal with friends, enjoy a range of Thai dishes that change depending on produce and a lot of Thai BBQ as well.

Shoreditch Town Hall, 380 Old Street, London EC1V 9LT

One of the best restaurants in town and one of the few to make it into the World's 50 Best list, The Clove Club is now a London institution, on the must-try lists of all good gastro tourists. Head into the main restaurant for a regularly changing set menu which is at the heart of things here.

16 Playground Gardens, London E2 7FA

This is the original Rochelle Canteen, from chef Margot Henderson and business partner Melanie Arnold, and has been held up by almost every chef in London as one of the best places to eat at in town. Henderson serves up classic, seasonal cooking. It's a little on the hard side to find - but well worth searching out.

49-51 Curtain Rd, London EC2A 3PT

Originally big in Soho and now David Carter (Smokestak) and Chris Leach's Manteca moved to Shoreditch. Designed around an open kitchen with plenty of open-fire cooking. The food is described as a nose-to-tail "Italian with a British accent" with both seasonality and a whole-animal approach to cooking the name of the day (alongside some great pasta).

51 Exmouth Market, London EC1R 4QL

The team behind Dalston's Dan's wine bar is also behind Ken's in Exmouth Market, in a much a larger venue than its predecessor. here, there's a seasonal menu with Basque influences, featuring small plates and sharing dishes cooked on a Koro grill. As for drinks, the extensive wine selection focuses on smaller producers, offering both natural and classic wines.

74 Luke Street, Shoreditch, London EC2A 4PY

This is a French-style bistro in the heart of Shoreditch that comes from the same people behind Crispin and Bar Crispin. Here, they're serving up their own take on bistro-style dishes, backed up by an all-French wine list.

1 Willow St, London EC2A 4BH

Llama Inn originated in Brooklyn from chef Erik Ramirez (finalist in the James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef). The NYC twist on Peruvian cuisine has proven to be just as successful in London as in New York. Here, the restaurant is on the roof of the Hoxton Hotel in Shoreditch and in good weather, you definitely want to be on their terrace with a pisco sour.

71 Nile Street, London N1 7RD

This restaurant in Old Street comes from chef Joe Laker, previously at Fulham's Fenn. Here in East London, he's opened an all-counter dining restaurant which has just one dinner sitting a night, serving 16 guests. It's all ultra seasonal as well as making the most of bottling and preservation techniques to use some ingredients out of season. Downstairs, the cocktail bar Low Country is also well worth a visit.

70 Leonard St, London EC2A 4QX

Zapote is a modern Mexican restaurant in the heart of Shoreditch with an ex-Aqua Nueva chef in the kitchen. All their tortillas are made in-house daily and the menu features a mix of the traditional and modern, with tacos and quesadillas sitting alongside dishes like their coal-roasted sweet potato. There is a big bar here too, so it's very handy for some of their cocktails and snacks.

22 Charterhouse Square, London EC1M 6DX

If you're searching for old school French cuisine, then look no further than this longstanding restaurant. It's a great spot for a long, liquid lunch but even better for a romantic dinner with all that warm brick and candlelight.

27 - 31 Clerkenwell Close, Farringdon, London EC1R 0AT

This neighbourhood cafe in Clerkenwell is blessed with a hidden courtyard terrace which is a good-to-know alfresco option in this area. As for the food, they serve up ethically-sourced organic produce taking inspiration from both European and Californian cafes with a small regularly changing menu.

38-40 Exmouth Market, Farringdon, London EC1R 4QE

Macellaio RC have a few sites across London where the main event is the steak, and you'll see plenty of this hanging in the restaurant. It's all Italian-style steak from a female Fassona breed. There is some pasta available too - but you'll really need to be trying as much from the grill as possible to do the place justice.

46 Exmouth Market, Farringdon, London EC1R 4QE

This is an offshoot of Josh Katz's Berber & Q, and is something of a cut-down version of the main restaurant. Here you can find a combination of mezze, hummus and plenty from the grill - including the lamb shawarme of course - as well as rotisserie chicken. Make sure to stick around for their desserts.

29 Clerkenwell Green, Farringdon, London EC1R 0DU

In a quiet part of Clerkenwell, The Green comes from the same people who also run The Culpeper in Shoreditch. Either take it easy in the pub downstairs or head up to the first floor restaurant and you'll find the pub serving modern British food from an ever changing menu. Also look out for a Sunday lunch where they concentrate on Beef Wellington and one key roast dish.

82 Goswell Rd, London EC1V 7DB

This was street traders-turned restaurateurs Breddos first restaurant. It serves up excellent tacos, tostadas, tortilla-based Mexican pizza tlayudas and more. Don't forget to give their mezcal list a try as well.

30 St Cross Street, London EC1N 8UH

This fine dining restaurant in the heart of Farringdon serves up seasonal, inventive food from a pared-back dining room. As the name suggests, it focuses on British seasonal produce and dishes, created by chef Anthony Raffo. With a focus on low waste too, it deservedly won critic plaudits from the get-go.

12 Jerusalem Passage, London EC1V 4JP

The tiny Sushi Tetsu is both one of the best sushi restaurants in town and also one of the hardest to get into. With only half a dozen seats inside, each item served to you will be almost a work of art. This may well ruin other sushi restaurants for you. Note that bookings open on the first and third Monday of every month and go very fast.

Bleeding Heart Yard, 19 Greville Street, London EC1N 8SJ

Bleeding Heart is a London institution. Come here for classic French food with a modern touch and a vast amount of wine supplied by their wine cellar. There's also a wine bar and grill off this historic courtyard for more casual fare.