Author: eatinbrixton

Wing Tai Supermarket

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Wing_Tai0413 Electric Avenue

SW9 8JY

Tel:  020 7738 5898

This is the second in our reviews where we have set ourselves the task of buying all the ingredients (or at least the majority) for a meal from one local shop. We lay out the prices, what they have and hopefully promote buying from local shops in Brixton. This time the dish is Pad Thai and the place to go for all the ingredients is the Wing Tai supermarket in Electric Avenue. Pad Thai is one of those dishes where everyone has their favourite recipe – I’ve used the one on the BBC food website http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/padthai_67953 I’m not an expert but the end result is reasonably similar to the sort of thing I got at cheap local restaurants years ago when in Thailand.

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L’Express

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Express01Address: 15-17 Market Row,  London SW9 8LB

Telephone number: 07448831937 text for bookings

email: johanna.anselmo@gmail.com

for up-to-date menu –  https://en-gb.facebook.com/lExpresscafe

You have passed by the Express Cafe in Market Row during the day and you may even have popped in for a bacon sandwich, a mug of Nescafe or one of the cheapest espressos in Brixton. But each evening from Thursday to  Saturday and Sunday (9.00 – 4.00pm) this basic cafe metamorphoses into a French Vegetarian restaurant “L’Express”. The interior is from another era with 1950s cream decor and a bit of half timbering. The tables and chairs from the formica 1960s and, rather startlingly, there is a ceiling fan reminiscent of a Magritte painting as it is stuck up against a wall so cannot turn – presumably a leftover from an early renovation. Lighting is muted with table and standard lamps, flowers adorn each formica top and the pictures are eclectic. An old gramophone and a fruit machine provide further colour although we were not sure either worked. The music when we visited was rock and roll but it depends, we thought, on who brought the CDs or whether their live musician turns up.

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Bombay Kitchen

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Bombay_Kitchenaddress: 384 Coldharbour Lane SW9, SW9 8LF

telephone: 020 3417 7309 & 020 7733 2727

http://www.bombay-kitchen.co.uk/

We cannot now remember what this shop was before it was a restaurant. It is next door to the popular Asmara but is completely the opposite. Asmara is dark and Bombay Kitchen has all lights blazing with a glass frontage. This is not the traditional Indian in terms of décor  There is no flock wallpaper for one thing. It describes itself as contemporary and has a clean design with a small open bar and chairs and table that match – unlike many places in the heart of Brixton. There is piped music and it is Indian again unlike the musak that most of the flock wallpaper brigade provide for its clientèle.

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Nour Cash & Carry

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23 Market Row, Brixton, SW9 8LD

IMG_0244_3743

Although everyone at EatinBrixton greatly appreciates the culinary delights that Brixton now has to offer, it is hard to ignore that these additions to Brixton have come with both perks and downfalls. The rent hikes in the market are beginning to push out those businesses that have been serving the residents of Brixton for years, this fact was even mentioned in a  4 page spread in the Evening Standard magazine a couple of weeks ago – click here to view. Therefore we are starting a new venture for the blog. We are giving ourselves the task of trying buy everything (perhaps the majority) for one meal from one local shop. We will lay out the prices, what they had and hopefully promote buying from local independent shops in our beloved Brixton.

To begin we start with the one shop that has been spoken about a great deal in the debate of the gentrification of Brixton, Nour Cash and Carry. It’s currently getting coverage on Urban 75 and the Brixton Blog, because it’s facing a significant increase in its rent and service charges, with a petition being promoted in its defence. Basically it sells fruit and vegetables at low prices and a wide range of Caribbean/African/Middle Eastern /Asian foodstuffs. From salted lassi, through to pomegranate molasses, a range of marinades for jerk chicken and palm oil to an impressive range of herbs and spices. If you are into cooking food with powerful flavours, this is the place for you. It’s also a family-run business.

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Salon – Upstairs at Cannon and Cannon

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address   – 18 Market Row, Brixton, SW98LD

telephone: 0207 5019152

email:  info@salonbrixton.co.uk

http://www.cannonandcannon.com/restaurant/

Salon at Cannon and Cannon has little changed in decor from its previous incarnation as just upstairs at Cannon and Cannon. There are odd tables from sewing machines and large tables for sixteen, the arrangement allowing for squeezing past with balanced plates. What has changed is there is now a kitchen upstairs for preparation and the menu.

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Wishbone

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Wishbone

Address: Unit 12, Market Row, Brixton Market SW9 8PR

0207 274 0939

http://www.wishbonebrixton.co.uk/

Twitter: @wishbonebrixton

Wishbone’s reputation precedes it. With the hype surrounding its opening, there were mixed reviews. Time Out for instance loved it, but the feedback from Brixton Blog was slightly less favourable.  After attempting to grab a table during opening week, we finally made it back on a Wednesday before Christmas.

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The Lido Café

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The Lido Café

Address: Dulwich Road, Brockwell Lido SE24 0PA

Phone: 0207 737 8183

Email: info@thelidocafe.co.uk

http://www.thelidocafe.co.uk

Having wanted to visit this place for some time, we took a whim and headed down on a Wednesday evening to check the place out. As a child I frequented Brockwell Park and the Lido many times, although back then the food was usually a cheap and cheerful burger, chips and a coke. Therefore the idea of going back there to fill out stomachs has never been particularly appealing. However after hearing so many good things about this place we knew we had to check it out.

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Cannon and Cannon

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address   – 18 Market Row, Brixton, SW98LD

telephone: 0207 5019152

email:  info@cannonandcannon.com

http://www.cannonandcannon.com/say-hello/

Cannon and Cannon is in the less fashionable part of Market Row and is mainly a shop selling bread, cold meat and cheese with pickles and other mainly English goodies. The shop is on the ground floor and above is a large room with the usual odd mix of large and small tables and chairs and even a couple of vinyl covered bar stools next to a raised bar against the wall. The room is very light as it has windows on two sides with views on the busy market below.

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Crown and Anchor

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Address: 246 Brixton Road, SW9 6AQ

Telephone: 0207 737  0060

Opening Hours: Mon – Thurs: 4.30 – 12, Fri: 4.30 – 1, Sat: 12 – 1, Sun: 12 – 11

After having meant to visit this pub since it reopened many months ago we headed down on Thursday evening to finally check the place out. The reason it probably took a bit longer for us to pay a visit is mainly because of its location. About a 10 minute walk from Brixton station, if you are hungry and don’t fancy a walk you probably won’t make it down there as there are plenty of options much closer to (our) home. Located opposite the infamous ‘after party’ location for Brixton Academy gigs, Jamm, this isn’t a part of town that has experienced the surge in restaurants and bars that central Brixton has. That’s why it is quite nice to get out of the main hub. Located on the corner of Brixton road, just by the entrance to Slade Gardens, the Crown and Anchors front is a welcome and shiny addition to the run down and very empty shops that line that end of Brixton Road. The pub is long and thin with high ceilings with plenty of tables, although I don’t see where a big group could really sit together without some manoeuvring.

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Brixton – Washington DC

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address: 901 U St. NW,  WASHINGTON, DC 20009
telephone: 202-560-5045

http://www.brixtondc.com/

Is imitation the sincerest form of flattery? We decided to see if it was after noting a post on Urban75 (here) that there was a Brixton bar and restaurant in Washington. We were also interested in the ‘gentrification’ issues that the bars in this area had generated, as they seemed similar to those being discussed in Brixton blogs.

The Brixton is a “concept” bar with food. It was opened by a company called Brixton that herald from San Francisco and they make clothes. We believe (the barman told us) that they were originally from South London. But this is not any part of South London that we have been in. The surrounding streets were part of a mainly black community (so that’s the same). In fact Obama chose Ben’s Chili Bowl which is just along the street from the Brixton to emphasise his black credentials and there is a monument to Afro-americans who fought in the War of Independence. The area is now being “gentrified” with new businesses mainly being run by white entrepreneurs – hence the discussion thread on Urban75.

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