Address: 128 Gipsy Hill, London, SE19 1PL

Telephone: 020 8670 4030

Open For Dine in: Wednesday – Saturday 5pm – 10pm

Deliveries: Tuesday – Saturday 5pm – 10pm, Sunday: 4pm – 9pm

​website: https://www.rocksteadyrumlounge.com/

This is a restaurant next to Bull and Finch where you can get a pre-prandial beer or cocktail – even a good supply of no/low alcohol beer. But the small restaurant on Gypsy Hill is definitely good for a visit. With friendly staff and reasonable food. They have a thriving delivery service, but not many people in the dining room (in fact only the four of us and a couple who came in later). We will tell you now that we didn’t have any rum and, as we live in Brixton, we know how filling festivals are (sweet fried dumplings), so in the interest of trying several dishes we steered clear. We did share a starter but we now cannot remember what it was – the menu online was no help.

So what did we try – Brown Down chicken stew, Jerk Chicken and the fish Escovitch…….with sides of plantain and rice and peas. Totally too much so our advice is to ditch the extras unless you are only having the mains.

We liked the jerk chicken with its crispy skin (warning – it is fiery), and the Escovitch was delightful. We were a little disappointed in the Brown Down Stew as the chicken was a little dry, but the sauce was lovely. Despite not needing the plantain, it was very soft, slightly spiced and was definitely good next to the spicy sauces. The rice and peas was also really tasty.

We also ordered desserts but shared them – lemon tart and a chocolately thing. You don’t need them and they are not inspiring so we suggest going to town on the mains.

We drank beer and homemade lemonade for the designated driver (although you can catch the No. 3 or the 322).