Places to eat in Ilford

If it needs to be fast, big and calorific, Loaded Gourmet Burger & Fries is a cool and classy burger joint big on style and taste on Cranbrook Lane. If you’re watching what you eat, you might want to steer away from the skyscraper-esque Fully Loaded burger, with other options including a range of wings, fries and over a dozen different burgers.

From one of the best fast-food joints to one of the best restaurants in Ilford full stop: Capricho Portuguese Kitchen is the top-ranked TripAdvisor restaurant, known for its modern approach to Portuguese classics with plenty of Mediterranean influences.

A short way down Cranbrook Lane from Loaded Gourmet Burger is Sahara Grill, a smart chain restaurant near Gants Hill covering everything from flame-grilled steaks to seafood and Middle-Eastern mezze.

If that’s whetted your appetite, Sultan Restaurant – also on Cranbrook Lane, a hotbed for restaurants – spans Turkish, Middle East and Mediterranean flavours, with highlights including their Turkish pizza, oversized mixed grill and garlic-loaded dips.

Further Mediterranean flavours can be found at Luigi’s Italian Restaurant, a local favourite for nearly 30 years, specialising in southern-Italian flavours including a popular Sunday lunch.

We’ll close our roundup out with two very contrasting outlets. Mr Singh’s near Gants Hill is an excellent vegetarian and vegan outlet best-known for its superb pizzas. At the other end of the food chain is Mirage Steak Restaurant, a carnivorous delight just north of Ilford near Newbury Park. As well as sizzling steaks and Turkish-inspired dishes, they do a range of set menus offering excellent value.

The Moral Cafe has almost anything you’d want from a traditional English cafe. The High Road outlet offers everything from a whipped cream cappuccino to three-egg omelettes and even a full English halal breakfast. Affordable, tasty and diverse, it’s a winning all-rounder right in the heart of Ilford.

Snax Cafe nearby is another classic English cafe with a broad menu taking in breakfast and lunch options alongside fresh smoothies and milkshakes.

One of the closest recommended cafes to our London Stratford hotel is Belgique, a continental cafe close to the Wanstead tube station. Grab a coffee and cake (or two, they’re seriously good) and a seat on their terrace, and you might swear you’re in Bruges.

As with our restaurant guide, Cranbrook Road is an excellent place to go restaurant- and cafe-hopping, with Wayne’s Coffee a must-visit for caffeine fiends. The Swedish coffee chain uses organic beans for their brews, creating a lip-smacking range of coffees as well as alternative hot drinks like their beetroot & cinnamon Supercino.