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East & Southeast Asian Food Guide London: Street Food, Restaurants, Supperclubs & Pop-Ups
Updated: 4 days ago
Last updated: 15 Oct 2026
ESEA food in London — meaning East and Southeast Asian cuisines from communities including Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Japanese, Taiwanese, Thai, Malaysian, and Nepali — spans everything from street food markets to restaurants & intimate supperclubs. This guide covers 30+ ESEA-owned and ESEA-rooted food makers across London: the stalls at Southbank and Berwick Street, the roving supper clubs, and the café and deli spaces that have become quiet community hubs.
We'll keep adding to this list as we discover more.
If you're a food stall, restaurant, supperclub or pop-up that we should know about, let us know. Contact us at info@novaesea.com
Street Food Markets
From night markets to daytime street fairs, these ESEA food stalls serve up everything from karaage to Hong Kong noodles, momo to Pad Thai.
London's ESEA street food scene runs on weekends and market days, often pop-up and seasonal, always worth tracking down. Follow each maker on Instagram to see where they'll be.
Japanese | Karaage A mother-daughter operation, and that dynamic comes through in every bowl. Their karaage rice bowl is the thing to order — thighs fried crisp and juicy, served over rice with a sauce they won't fully disclose. There's a confidence to the cooking here that you don't get from a chain. Read the full story →
East Asian The recipe behind Sen Noods has been in the family for a long time — Vietnamese-Chinese in origin, refined over years of home cooking before it ever went near a market stall. Brothy, deeply seasoned, and generous with the toppings. Read the full story →
Taiwanese | Japanese Wheelcake Island sits at the crossover between Taiwanese street snacking and Japanese influence, and the result is a pancake that's fluffy, slightly crisp at the edges, and filled in ways you didn't know you needed. This is the kind of stall you circle back to at the end of the market. Read the full story →
Vietnamese Good pho is mostly broth — and the broth here has been looked after properly. Slow-cooked, clear, and fragrant with the spices that are supposed to be there. They've been doing this since 2019, a mother and daughter running it together, which tells you everything about where the recipe came from. Read the full story →
Vietnamese | Berwick Street Market, Soho A family-run stall at Berwick Street Market serving Vietnamese street food built on generations of home cooking. The pho broth simmers for hours and the banh mi are assembled fresh to order. Read the full story → 📍 Berwick Street Market, Soho
Japanese | Fusion The concept is Japanese-inspired — compressed rice patties standing in for bread — but the execution is its own thing. Rice Burger Zen appeared in Issue 02 of our print magazine and has been a reliable find at markets since. Read the full story →
Thai | Street Food — Southbank Freshly made pad thai at Southbank, and it shows: this isn't the pre-cooked version sitting in a tray. The noodles are cooked to order, the flavour has the right balance of sour, sweet and heat, and the portions are substantial. Read the full story →
Vietnamese — Southbank Crispy bánh mì, pan-fried bao, and the kind of generous portions that suggest they're not trying to minimise cost. A family-run Vietnamese stall at Southbank that doesn't cut corners — the bread is right, the filling is right, and it arrives hot. Read the full story →
Japanese | Shepherd's Bush Market Masami came to London at 23 for a short trip and never left. Thirteen years later, she runs a stall inside Shepherd's Bush Market making onigiri that are both deeply Japanese and entirely her own. Sosaku means creative, and the menu earns it: kombu with black truffle mushrooms, ume paired with miso, and seasonal specials like aubergine with miso and harissa. Read the full story → 📍 Shepherd's Bush Market, W12 8DF
Malaysian | Fusion Nigerian-born, London-based, cooking Malaysian rendang and coconut rice. The rendang is slow-cooked to the point where the fat has gone sticky and the meat is almost falling apart. It tastes like somewhere specific, which is the highest compliment you can give market food. Read the full story →
Filipino — Tabard Street Market Filipino silog plates — Beef Tapa, Chicken Inasal, BBQ prawns — run by a family who knows what these dishes are supposed to taste like. Silog is a Filipino breakfast format (garlic rice + egg + your chosen protein) that works at any hour. Pinoy Eat is one of very few places doing it at a London market. Read the full story →
Nepalese | Tibetan A family-run stall serving Tibetan-Nepalese street food. The Momo Rice Bowl is the one to order. They move between markets, so check @filili_eats for this week's pitch. Read the full story →
Japanese | Pop-ups & supper clubs across London Joe left a thirteen-year career in banking to cook full-time; his wife Christine runs the business side around her day job. SHOKUDŌ (canteen) is built around a small, deliberate menu anchored by oyakodon, the chicken and egg rice bowl Joe calls "the definition of comfort" and one of the most underrated dishes in Japan. Read the full story →
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Restaurants
These ESEA-owned and ESEA-rooted restaurants have a permanent home in the city — worth booking in advance.
Taiwanese | Soho, Fitzrovia, King's Cross, Borough, Marylebone A London institution since 2015. The braised pork bao — slow-cooked pork belly, peanut powder, fermented greens in a soft steamed bun — is one of the city's most-copied dishes. Founded by a trio of Taiwanese owners, BAO now runs five sites and holds the Michelin Bib Gourmand. 📍 53 Lexington Street, W1F 9AS
Thai | Shoreditch After years running its cult canteen in Leytonstone, Singburi relocated to Shoreditch in 2025. The larb, grilled fish, and house-made curry pastes are among the most deeply-flavoured Thai dishes in London. Michelin Bib Gourmand 2026. 📍 Unit 7, Montacute Yards, 185-186 Shoreditch High Street, E1 6HU
Malaysian | Harbord Square, Canary Wharf A Malaysian kopitiam, the traditional coffee house, planted in Canary Wharf. Kaya toast, Hainanese chicken rice, and teh tarik pulled tableside. Robert Ngo left ten years in architecture to build it, and his mum still wraps every wonton. Read the full story → 📍 Unit 10, 8 Harbord Square, Wood Wharf, E14 9TH
Indonesian | St James's Market, SW1 Opened in 2023 near Piccadilly, Toba is London's first serious standalone Indonesian restaurant. The menu ranges across the archipelago — beef rendang, soto betawi, and house-made sambals — all executed with real technique. 📍 1A St James's Market, SW1Y 4AH
Filipino | Poland Street, Soho Rowena Romulo's restaurant, bar and bakery in Soho, built on her grandmother's recipes from the family compound in Manila where she grew up. Kasa means home, and Kin is short for McKinley Road, the street she grew up on. Her uncle's kare-kare is one of the most ordered dishes, and the sisig arrives sizzling. Read the full story → 📍 52-53 Poland Street, W1F 7NQ
Taiwanese | Long Acre, Covent Garden Taiwanese noodles near Covent Garden, with broths built over many hours. The hand-pulled braised beef noodle soup is the thing to order — thick, rich, and the kind of bowl that makes the surrounding area feel very far away. 📍 80 Long Acre, WC2E 9NG. Also at 64 Jubilee Place, Canary Wharf, E14 5NY
Malaysian | Euston, Battersea, Waterloo Founded by Malaysian-born Sugar Gopal, Roti King spent years drawing queues outside its Euston canteen before expanding to three sites. The roti canai — layered, buttery, griddled to order with dhal — is the reason most people come. Exceptional value, consistently good. 📍 40 Doric Way, NW1 1LH
Thai | Spitalfields A decade-old East London staple with a menu drawn from Thailand's regional cuisines. The khao soi and dry-roasted salads have been there from the start. Communal, loud, and exactly what it has always been. 📍 43A Commercial Street, E1 6BD
Thai | Bermondsey A sibling-run Thai restaurant on Crucifix Lane, opened in 2018 by Bank, Roselyn, and Shakris Inngern. The menu is built on Bangkok home cooking: bold flavours, a minimal room, and service that feels like being hosted rather than served. Book ahead. 📍 2 Crucifix Lane, SE1 3JW
Vegan Thai | London Bridge Kin + Deum's plant-based sister on Tooley Street. The menu is fully vegan and still recognisably Thai: crispy mushrooms, aubergine gra pow, tofu curries and smoked sweetcorn cakes. 📍 102 Tooley Street, SE1 2TH
Vietnamese | Shoreditch Open since 2002, family-run, and still one of the best Vietnamese restaurants in London. The pho is slow-cooked and clear, the bun bo Hue carries real heat, and the menu covers regional dishes that most Vietnamese restaurants in London skip. On Kingsland Road — always the city's Vietnamese heartland. 📍 134 Kingsland Road, E2 8DY
Filipino | Soho The first Filipino restaurant in the UK to earn a Michelin Bib Gourmand. Donia sits inside Kingly Court in Carnaby and treats Filipino cuisine with the seriousness it deserves — adobo mushroom croquetas, chicken inasal, lechon with liver sauce. One of the most significant openings in London's ESEA food story. 📍 Top Floor, Kingly Court, Carnaby Street, W1B 5PW
Taiwanese | Peckham A Rye Lane neighbourhood restaurant steaming bao since 2016. Founder Frank Yeung based the pork belly bao on his father's recipe: slow-braised pork, house pickles and roasted peanut. The fried chicken bao with wasabi mayo and kimchi is the other one to try. Its sister, Daddy Bao, is in Tooting. 📍 293 Rye Lane, SE15 4UA
Cantonese | Tower Hill, London Wall, Canary Wharf Hong Kong-style roast meats from Catherine Hua and her mother, the Mama Li of the name. Pick from crispy pork, char siu, soy chicken and roast duck over rice, or have the roast duck with lai fun noodles. It began as a takeaway kitchen during the pandemic and now has three sites. 📍 22 Great Tower Street, EC3R 5AQ (the original)
Taiwanese | Bayswater Chef Yu spent nine years testing bottle after bottle, trying to get red wine to survive a long braise. The bowl he landed on is the centrepiece here: a French braising method built around Taiwanese ingredients, with tomato, soy sauce and hand-fried chilli paste. His partner Pei saw the concept working in London before he did. Read the full story → 📍 75 Bishop's Bridge Road, W2 6BG
Cafes, Delis & Hidden Gems
Thai — Borough Market RAYA runs a Thai grocery stall at Borough Market, selling fresh herbs, hand-pounded pastes, and the ingredients that make Thai cooking taste right at home. It's a grocery first, but if you've ever tried to find nam prik pao or galangal in a regular supermarket, you'll understand why it matters. Read the full story →
Hong Kong | Nutford Place, Marylebone Hong Kong-style French toast is thick-sliced, egg-drenched, and fried until it's golden and just a little bit wrong in all the right ways. Cantoast serves it properly — hot, with the right amount of syrup, made by a family that grew up eating it. Read the full story → 📍 21-23 Nutford Place, W1H 5YH
Japanese — Islington, Covent Garden, Brick Lane A Japanese tea room with three branches and a focused menu: matcha drinks, mochi cakes, Japanese sweets. Katsute100 earns its following through the quality of the tea and the calm of the room — both increasingly rare in London. Go to the Islington branch for more space, Brick Lane if you're already in East London. 📍 100 Islington High Street, N1 8EG
ESEA | Community — Loom Club, Islington, Taiwanese breakfast in the morning, community canteen lunches during the day. Zao An Collective runs out of Loom Club in Islington and feels different from most cafes — less transactional, more like somewhere that actually wants you to be there. Read the full story →
Japanese | Pop-up — Dalston, Southbank, Stratford & beyond London's long-running Japanese market and culture event, running since 2019 out of The Factory in Dalston. Each edition brings together Japanese artists, craft makers, food vendors, musicians, and performers — onigiri, wagashi, ceramics, vintage kimono. Venues rotate across the city, so follow their Instagram to catch the next one. Read the full story → 📍 The Factory, Dalston (plus pop-ups across London)
East Asian market | Canary Wharf, Canada Water and beyond A free-entry East Asian market started by Angie and Irene, two friends from Hong Kong. Traders come from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, China, Vietnam and Thailand, selling street food, drinks and handmade goods, with live music alongside. It moves around London, so follow @urban_garden_fair for the next date. Read the full story →
Supperclubs & Pop-Ups
Whether it’s hosted in a home, gallery or warehouse, these ESEA-led supper clubs offer intimate menus and creative storytelling through food.
Filipino | Swedish | Fusion Swedish and Filipino heritage on one plate. swilipino started as a personal project and grew into one of the more interesting dining experiences in the city — not because fusion is automatically interesting, but because the two cuisines here actually have something to say to each other. Follow @swilipino for the next date.
East Asian Roving, seasonal, and seriously considered. 135 Supperclub does East Asian-inspired menus with a focus on local sourcing and a level of plating that belongs in a proper restaurant. The communal table format means you'll end up talking to the people next to you, which is the point. Follow @135supperclub for the next date.
Singaporean Homi is Singaporean at its core but the project is really about home — family food, diaspora memory, the version of cooking that exists between cultures. The supperclub format suits it: small numbers, one menu, a lot of intention. Follow @homikitchen.uk for the next date.
Want to Get Featured?
Are you an ESEA food maker? Whether you're just starting out or already serving the community, we'd love to interview and feature your story.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is ESEA food?
ESEA stands for East and Southeast Asia. It covers a wide range of cuisines from across East Asia (China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan) and Southeast Asia (Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and more). In London, it's often used to describe food made by diaspora communities — people who grew up between cultures and bring both to their cooking.
Where can I find ESEA street food in London?
Southbank has a strong cluster of ESEA market stalls, particularly on weekends. East London markets in Hackney, Dalston, and Spitalfields also regularly host ESEA vendors. Borough Market has RAYA for Thai ingredients. The best way to track specific stalls is to follow them on Instagram — most post their upcoming market dates weekly.
What is a supperclub?
A supperclub is a ticketed, intimate dinner — usually hosted in a private space like a home, gallery, or studio rather than a restaurant. ESEA supperclubs in London often run on weekends, with 10–25 guests, a set menu, and a communal table. They tend to book out fast. Sign up for mailing lists and follow the hosts on Instagram to get early access.
How do I find out when ESEA pop-ups are happening in London?
Follow NOVA ESEA on Instagram (@nova.esea) and sign up for our newsletter — we post upcoming events weekly. The individual stalls and supperclubs listed above also announce dates on their own accounts.
Are these stalls suitable for vegetarians or vegans?
Several are — Sen Noods has vegan options, Zao An Collective caters to plant-based diets, and 135 Supperclub often runs seasonal menus with vegetable-focused dishes. Always check directly with the maker before attending, as menus change regularly.
What's on this month: East & Southeast Asian Events in London →
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