3 Atlantic Road, SW9 8HX
020 7773 3766
A&C Continental Delicatessen is the best food shop in Brixton. It’s also, incidentally, the friendliest. It’s been around for twenty years or more and runs the risk of being taken for granted. But it’s a gem of a place and can easily withstand any competition from the newcomers now coming to Brixton. I’ve always assumed the people who run the shop are from Portugal but the stuff they stock ranges across the whole of southern Europe.
With a week off work, a love of coffee and the need to just get out of the house I embarked on a coffee tour of Brixton at the beginning of December. I was to visit four different coffee shops over four days, reviewing the places on the quality of the coffee, the atmosphere, price and service. I chose Rosie’s, Federation (obvs), Kaff and Lounge. The reason for choosing these places is down to just wanting somewhere that I could settle down, read my book and drink my coffee in peace. Before we begin I like my coffee strong and black with no sugar please.
http://www.sorry-no-vacancies.com/
378 Brixton Road, SW9 7AW
Set up amongst a stretch of road in central Brixton that mainly consist of questionable money lending shops and fried chicken take-aways, this is a surprisingly impressive pop-up cocktail bar. With a very uninviting front, the only thing that gives away its existence is the bouncers outside and a tiny luminescent sign welcoming you to “Sorry, No Vacancies”. Not gonna lie, I hate the name, but I think I can forgive them for that.
Address: Unit 46 Brixton, Village, Coldharbour Lane, London SW9
Contact: sheryldon1@yahoo.co.uk
We have visited Etta’s several time now. We first visited when it had just opened and things were a bit chaotic, the second time was more orderly but the service was slow. Has time made a difference? The tables and chairs are the same (beware of some chairs as they are a bit rickety). But it is brighter and but the flowers on the tables have seen better days – in fact ours were completely dead. But the staff were as happy, helpful and as laid back as before but now they seem to know what they are doing.
59 Atlantic Road, Brixton, SW9 8PU
020 7737 2210 (but surprisingly, no email address)
http://www.brixtonwholefoods.com/
OPEN:
Mon 09.30-19.00
Tue, Wed, Thu 09.30-17.30
Fri 09.30-18.00
Sat 09.30-17.30
We all love Brixton Wholefoods. It’s a touchstone for long-term Brixtonites and, while we might not shop there all that often, we are glad it’s still there like a 1970’s time capsule. Which is a bit surprising as it didn’t open until 1982. It even stayed the same when moving across Atlantic Road from what was the site of the first David Greig’s grocery store and where the Lounge can now be found – hence the “Transatlantic” on the shop front.
Address: 15 First Avenue, Brixton Village
http://www.frenchbubbles.co.uk/
Yesterday your plucky researchers from EatinBrixton ran the gauntlet of the demonstration against Champagne and Fromage to be its very first customers. The demonstrators were asking for Yuppie’s to leave Brixton but we felt quite justified in moving on as we failed at the first letter – Y and we definitely think we are not now upwardly-mobile but stuck in a groove. The self-styled anarchist group were protesting about the opening as a “signifier” of the changes taking place in Brixton. But as long-term Brixton residents we can see that even without the new eating places, there are actually more shops open and thriving in Granville Arcade than in the not so distant past, when it was half-empty and moribund. Some of the shopkeepers are happy with the changes, including the guy who runs the Faiz foodstore. He told us that his trade was up, even though he gave up the two units opposite his main foodstore, where Champagne and Fromage has moved in.
Brixton and jerk chicken go together. Despite all the changes that are taking place in what’s available to eat in Brixton, it still has more places serving West Indian food that any other type. For almost all of them, the signature dish is jerk chicken. But which one serves the most authentic and the best?
Answering the question is bound to be controversial; everyone who is into jerk chicken has their favourite. So we decided that we had to try them all, or at least those that specialise in takeaways. There are, of course, a few proper sit down places that also serve jerk chicken – see, for example our reviews of: Bamboula; Fish, Wings and Tings; Negril; and Veranda – but in our mind it is more enjoyable as a takeaway. One of the eatinbrixton team has lunch in Brixton most days and, over the last couple of years, he has been enjoying himself giving all the jerk chicken joints in central Brixton a try.
This research led to a shortlist of six and then, to ensure an independent view of which was the best, we invited friends and family to a blind tasting. There were nine of us round the table, with ages ranging from 24 to 81, and, it worked surprisingly well, although pedants might argue that the amount of Red Stripe that was consumed will have affected the results as the evening wore on.
Address: 140 Acre Lane, Brixton, London, SW2 5UT
Telephone: (020) 7733 3150
This return visit was in the early evening and we managed to get a seat – so be warned you need to book for any later than 7.00pm. You can do that online and at the time of this post it was not open at all on Monday or Sunday evening.
We are impressed that the place is still open but perhaps the rising house prices in the local area are actually supporting the local economy.
Khamsa resides in a little oasis of shops and restaurants in the middle of Acre Lane opposite Upstairs (french) and a coffee shop. It still looks like a corner shop but inside it has turned into a warm dining area with wooden floor, ceiling and Algerian knick knacks over the walls. The tables have a large metal plat on them and the meal is served on this – a bit of a struggle to get the cutlery, glasses and plat (well more of a bowl really) so they might consider whether this is the easiest arrangement for eating even if it does contribute to an ethnic atmosphere.
North African food is pretty easy to get hold of in London but it is mainly from Morocco so it was a treat to visit something rarer and so close to home. All the food is made on site and include as starters selections of Algerian salads. The names are definitely confusing but consist of vegetables e.g. carrots with lots of cumin and coriander. There is the usual merguez (spicy sausages) and more familiar things such as houmus. The main courses you may think you have seen in a Moroccan restaurant such as tajines and couscous but there are definitely some differences with more roast vegetables and unusual ingredients such as salmon or with sauces thickened with ground almonds. The choice is limited but there are specials on the chalk board which differ each day. We chose the salmon and a modern couscous. Both were delicately flavoured although the vegetables with the salmon were a bit boring.
The speciality is Algerian pastries and we took these away with us as we were definitely full after just a main course. The cakes are definitely the stars of the show – delicate and flavoured with rosewater and filled with nuts (almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts) – we had six to take home and they really are delicious but perhaps not as dessert. The chef originally trained as a pastry chef and so you really shouldn’t leave without trying something.
It still doesn’t have a drink license and so there were lots of plastic bags with beer or wine and they are happy to provide glasses and there was no corkage fee. They offer the ubiquitous mint tea but also make their own juices – I had apple and mint which went down all too easily.
The reason that we thought it would fail early is that the nearest thing pulling in likely passing trade customers was Lidl on the other side of the street. That went with our view of pricing at the time – competition mainly being with the greasy spoon, Chinese takeaway and chip shop down the road. Our main courses, bread, cakes and drinks came to £42.30 with a service charge. So not unreasonable and clearly they have customers so there is a local market. We will go back again but perhaps not for a little while for dinner but will certainly bear it in mind for the pastries.
392-394 Brixton Road, SW9 7AW
Sunday-Thursday 11am-11pm
Friday-Saturday 11am-midnight
Telephone 020 7738 4002
http://www.creamscafe.com/locations/brixton/
Creams is one of a growing chain, so strictly speaking, outside our terms of reference. But it’s an interesting new addition to places to eat in Brixton, so worth a mention. First, it’s a place to go and hangout, as much as place to eat. And secondly, it’s unlikely to appeal to your typical visitor to Brixton Village. While they say they source the ice cream from Italy the place itself is more North American in inspiration.
There’s an extensive menu (see here on their website) but it’s almost all variations on the theme of ice cream. My companion had the Oreo Sundae while I went for the Coffee Bean Sundae. The latter came without the chocolate shavings and chocolate syrup promised by the menu but the cappuccino, dolce latte and vanilla ice cream layered with chocolate coffee beans and caramel sauce was sufficient for all but the most dedicated sweet tooth. The ice cream, while nothing special, is authentic enough.
We started this blog to stop arguments about where we had been and what we had thought about the few restaurants there were in Brixton. Now choosing favourites is very difficult in the extensive gourmet landscape which is now Brixton. Our only rule was not to visit chain restaurants like KFC or Macdonald’s but then there was an explosion of pop-ups which encouraged other more permanent eateries to set up.
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