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Brick Box

24 Mar

address: Brixton Village, Brixton SW9 8PS

telephone: 020 727-4221

email: hello@thebrickbox.co.uk

http://www.thebrickbox.co.uk/brixton.html

Brick Box, in the heart of Brixton Village, describes itself with some hyperbole as a place for art, love and magic. We were not totally convinced; however, it does serve food, so of course we had to review it. With the usual wooden tables and mismatched chairs, it squeezes in tables at angles in the small internal space and outside in the alleyway so it has much seating. It is extremely popular so at 6.45 on a Friday the outside tables were full and we were lucky to even get an inside table. This was in comparison to other restaurants which were relatively empty at that time. One explanation fir this might be the happy hour which starts at 5pm.

The venue says it provides for a number of events including screenings, live art (?) and theatre which will be a bit of a coup given the size of the place. Most events seem actually to happen in their Tooting site although the walls are covered with art.

This community arts group have partnered with Senzala in Brixton to provide the food- a  range of sweet and savoury crepes and galettes – and of course a fully licensed bar which seemed to be attracting the most custom. We ordered a Caprinha and a lemon daiquiri to get us into the spirit  and, sorry but they were both a bit of a disappointment. They were more like alcopops rather than cocktails so we wished we had chosen the wine.

The menu comes in two section – the savoury and the sweet crepes. There is some allergy advice on the menu and you can get a wheat, gluten, lactose and egg free gallette which is what we chose. We ordered the Senzala and the Caramelised goat. These were very similar – rocket and cheese (gorgonzola or goat’s cheese), caramelised red onions and mixed herbs with the addition of sun dried tomatoes in the Senzala. They were plump and the gallette was thin and crispy but stuck together enough to allow you to get all the bits into your mouth at the same time. We enjoyed them but we want to point out that if you highlight the caramelised red onions on the menu then they do need to be caramelised and not just a bit sweet and limp.

Service was fast for ordering and helpful  - pointing out that we should try the homemade chili sauce as we would never have noticed it in the sugar container. A little of it went a long way – but it does add spice to the cheesy mix. We were surprised at how much better the galettes were on this occasion from a previous visit when we had the Spaniard which was a bit limp with too little filling. We didn’t repeat the choice so we can’t verify a change in this one.

We didn’t have a sweet crepe but they looked more variable with mixtures of the following ingredients – bananas, nuts, Belgian chocolate (white, milk or dark), rum, coconut, nutella and maple syrup. We just went to Lab G for an ice cream – two pancakes in the same meal definitely seemed one too many.

Our bill was £21.00 for two including the drinks and they do provide tap water on the table. Wine is about £15.00 and cocktails around £6.00

We might go back next time for a cup of tea and a sweet pancake which would make a change from the cupcake offerings in most of the other tea shops in Brixton Village.

O Cantinho de Portugal

3 Feb

Address: 137 Stockwell Road SW9 9TN

telephone: 020 7924 0218
The largest Portuguese community in London is near Brixton so it is obvious that some of the best Portuguese and Madeiran food  would be right here – it is  - but not in the new pop-ups in Brixton Village. The best Portuguese food is found in a well established restaurant on Stockwell Road. It is also genuine – the main language is Portuguese, the TV is switched to Portuguese game shows and news channels (we assume there was no football that evening) and the tables in the restaurant are covered in clean white cloth with the ubiquitous wooden chairs with turned tops.

 You enter the restaurant through the bar which has finger food and salads. The ambience is friendly as well as formal enough to make it a special occasion. Our only complaint is that the mobile phone connections are not good enough to quickly search for the Portuguese words on the TV News. But we did in the end learn about the movement of parish boundaries currently being discussed in parliament!

The food is divided into the usual starters, mains and desserts with a long list of meat dishes (mainly pork), half a page of bacalau dishes and then other fish. We chose “porco Alentejana” – pork cubes, fried potatoes and clams with a sprinkling of chilli and pepper which was unusual, enormous and delicious – and “bacalau con natas” which is dried salted cod, potatoes and onions in a cream sauce which was also enormous and delicate with none of the over saltiness that usually comes with such dishes. We liked it although we could understan
We washed it all down with water and half a bottle of red wine – Casa de Santar which was very dry but grew on us. We finished off (despite our tight waists and in the spirit of curiosity) with two of their desserts that are on display just beneath one of the two TVs. We had “molotov” a caramel souffle  with a caramel sauce – again huge -which was an Italian meringue which had been lightly cooked. It was probably a mistake and certainly is not something I would choose again unless I hankered after burnt sugar. We also ordered “leite creme” which was a pleasant creme brulee.d if people complained about the undifferentiated flavour. Did we mention they were enormous portions? Even after we had stopped eating we easily had enough for another meal or two or three.

As we sat down we were presented with basket of bread and butter and a bowl of olives. We were charged for the bread (very Portuguese) but not the olives which was a good thing as we certainly would have complained. The olives were not at all interesting and, as we have said several times in this blog, there is a very good delicatessen in Brixton under the arches which sells very good and well flavoured olives.

Per person price is about “20 per person including the most expensive wine on the menu – so clearly a bargain.

Brixton Village Grill

19 Nov

Brixton Village Grilladdress: 43-44 Brixton Market; Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, London SW9 8PR

telephone: 07894353561

www.brixtonvillagegrill.co.uk

This is a fusion of Portuguese and English cuisine – so says the trendy website which also has funky music. We decided to write this review after our second visit as the first was early on when they were just learning the ropes. It was a Saturday and we were worried that we wouldn’t find a table anywhere in Brixton Village but on this Saturday we got lucky with an inside table at BVG. This allowed us to investigate the banksyesque pictures- Winston Churchill with a mohican hairstyle, Thomas the Tank Engine being grafittied and a cute take off of Bart Simpson (but we’ll let you see for yourself). The decor is plain (I’ve given up on the word minimalist) apart from the pictures and the two extra large black chandeliers.  On our first visit we missed all this because we decided to sit outside as the atmosphere inside the restaurant caught at the back of your throat –  burnt fat. But we are glad to report that they seem to have sorted out their kitchen extractor and it was absolutely fine inside this time.

The service was very helpful and pleasant from all the waiters and waitresses as they seem to share responsibilities. This meant we never had to try to attract someone’s attention as someone was always on hand. When we arrived they checked whether we wanted a leisurely meal or to cut and run to our next appointment and then chose a place for us – that made us feel they were taking an interest but also means they can turn over tables quickly.

The food – a short menu which is always a blessing –  is a fish and meat paradise but not much except olives and one main course for vegetarian.It is after all a grill and exactly what you would expect from a Portuguese/English restaurant. There’s steaks, chicken, ribs, and fish – relatively plain but there is peri peri chicken as a starter which may be spicy but we didn’t try it on either of our visits. So for starters we had the rock salt sardines which were good but perhaps could have done with a bit more salt. For main courses we had the ribs,and the fish of he day which was whole sea bream both with chips and salad. The bream was delicious and worth negotiating the bones. The ribs were tasty but a bit chewy. They were washed down with Sagres beer. We asked another table for their views of the red wine and they were in favour of the middle one on the menu – Casa Antiga. For dessert we shared a dime bar cheesecake – a good decision as they don’t go in for meager portions.

Overall we would visit again despite the wealth of choices in Brixton Village. It offers simple well cooked food which they can turn out quickly to a good standard and the relaxed ambiance where you can talk without shouting but still feel a buzz means we will take more friends next time. Later reports suggest that the vegetarian dish was very disappointing so perhaps they need to work on extending their menu to attract all types of customers.

The price per person is probably around £15 – 20 without too much alcohol but a welcome addition is their loyalty card which means that your 6th meal will have a 50%  discount –  so you can save yourself for the future blowout.

Brazas

21 Aug

Address: 45 Tulse Hill, Brixton, London,  SW2 2TJ
Telephone: 020 8678 0697

http://www.brazas.co.uk/

This is a SouthAmerican restaurant with a very unprepossessing exterior and the interior at first glance looks like a local cafe. But venture further inside and there is a restaurant at the back which is such a surprise. similar to the Tardis it is much bigger than at first glance as the restaurant area runs across two buildings. Argentina is about meat, chargrilled. We chose piri piri chicken and a speciality of Argentina – a stew that had ingredients that no-one now remembers but they did sound exotic.

Booking is necessary unless you are there early as it gets very full. We had a main course and then took advantage of the fantasic range of cakes as a takeaway for later. There is a really good selection of cheesecake with imaginative toppings and no-one should pass without taking something home for later.

Wine list looked ok – we were on a no alcohol until the weekend so didn’t try it. The menu isn’t cheap but it isn’t outrageous either.

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