Brick Lane: the market, the bagels and the day to go

Brick Lane, E1, runs north from Whitechapel up to Bethnal Green Road, and it is really three streets in one: a curry strip at the south end, a market and vintage quarter in the middle, and the Truman Brewery complex holding most of the interesting things.

Go on a Sunday

This is the whole answer. The Sunday market is what Brick Lane is, and the difference between Sunday and any other day is enormous. Several separate markets run at once through the Truman Brewery and the surrounding yards: the Sunday UpMarket, the Backyard Market and the vintage halls, plus street food and the stalls along the lane itself.

It runs roughly from mid-morning to late afternoon. Get there before eleven if you want to move, or accept that from noon it is shoulder to shoulder.

Saturday is a quieter, smaller version with some of the markets open, and is the compromise for people who cannot face Sunday. Midweek the lane is largely shops, restaurants and street art with no market at all.

The bagels, which are the actual landmark

Two bagel shops sit next to each other at the north end and both are survivors of the Jewish East End that preceded the Bangladeshi community here. Beigel Bake at 159 is open twenty-four hours a day, every day, which makes it the most reliably open food in London.

Order the salt beef. The queue looks worse than it is and moves fast, and it is at its best at about three in the morning after a night out, which is a serious recommendation rather than a joke.

The street art

The lanes off Brick Lane, particularly around Hanbury Street and the Truman Brewery yards, carry some of the best street art in Europe, and it changes constantly. There is no permanent collection to see, which is the point; what is there this month will not be there next year.

The curry houses, honestly

The south end of Brick Lane has been a curry destination for decades, and the trade has thinned. Some restaurants are very good and some rely on touts on the pavement offering discounts, which is a reliable sign to keep walking.

The rule that works: a restaurant that needs somebody outside to persuade you in does not need to be good. Pick on the room and the menu, not on the offer.

Practical

Free to walk around. Nearest stations are Shoreditch High Street on the Overground, Aldgate East, and Liverpool Street, all roughly five to ten minutes.

It is busy, crowded and pickpocketed like any dense market, so carry accordingly. Cash still helps at the smaller stalls.

What is around it

You are in the middle of the best part of east London for an evening. Shoreditch is immediately north, the late bars run past most licensing hours here, and the late night listings cover what is still going after eleven.