Author: eatinbrixton

Brixton Village

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Brixton Village is the new food haven that was once a small market called Granville Arcade in the middle of Brixton. Gradually this market lost many of the shops and since the middle of last year it began growing with more and more pop-up restaurants. It is now a vibrant part of the local area attracting visitors on the way to the Ritzy or just out for the evening.

We decided to produce this introductory entry in order to help people plan a visit – although it is a place you can just wander into as it has something for everyone. The restaurants are a mixture of brand new and well established – mainly the South American ones. The new kids on the block are an eclectic mix of Japanese, Thai, Chinese, Italian, French, Caribbean, Pakistan, Middle Eastern, American, and British and we have already reviewed the majority in this blog. They are not only eclectic in their origin but also within their menus with most stretching across the country barriers.  They also specialise – so Italian food comes as pizzas (Agile Rabbit), pasta (Belantonis, Casa Sibilla) and ice cream (Lab G). They are all sizes too with some squeezing into impossibly small places where virtually everyone is eating outside and others which are more established stretching across the alleyways to other rooms to provide more inside eating space.

The Village grew exponentially last year during the late summer and early autumn when it was pleasant to sit out in the middle of the arcade but even with the cold days and nights is still attracting hungry visitors. Some restaurants now offer the odd heater and a blanket or too for those hardy enough or hungry enough to sit outside but the savvy diners now know that they need to book to get a table inside.

Brixton Village is not just restaurants there are cafes (WAG – wheat and gluten free), coffee shops (Federation Coffee) and tea shops as well as places that sell sweets, secondhand clothes (OK Vintage…) as well as delicatessens. There are also the remains of the original food stalls selling fish and meat. There are interesting greengrocers with displays of Caribbean fresh foods and African dried fish which I have rarely dared to buy and when I have were total disasters. There are also one or two stalls selling those household goods that we used to buy in Woolworths when it was in the High Street. These really add the colour with their displays of plastic bowls and flowers.

Brixton Village is still evolving and by the warmer months is likely to be much busier and may then be self-sustaining. This will depend on the rents which are going up for those who remain open in the evening. Below we have tried to give some seasonal information to provide readers with an idea of what to expect now that the village is so popular. We welcome any comments that can help smooth people’s visit to this vibrant culinary destination.

Vital information

We have tried to make this blog informative but it is very difficult to keep up with two aspects of the restaurants in Brixton Village – opening times and licenses to sell alcohol.

Alcohol – About half the restaurants have a  license and those that don’t are happy to provide glasses. If you arrive without any alcohol then your two best bets are (i) go to Sainsbury’s local near the tube station for wine or (ii) go to one the off licenses on Coldharbour Lane for beer –  either should only take ten minutes. Alternatively they all sell interesting mixed juices and soft drinks – although some of the ginger beers are anything but soft.

Opening times – As a general rule most restaurants are open during the evening later in the week – Thursday onwards. Nearly all are open for lunch from Wednesday to Sunday and a few open during the day on Monday and Tuesday but rarely in the evening. The websites are not that informative as things are moving swiftly so if you are making a long journey just to come here rather than any of the other great restaurants in Brixton then telephone beforehand.

Getting a seat – if you want to take pot luck and haven’t booked then choosing when to go is essential unless you are prepared to wait. There is a rush between 7.00pm and 8.15pm. We assume this is for those heading to the Ritzy. If you time your arrival before or after these times you will usually be in luck and get a seat really quickly. Don’t be put off by long queues such as at Honest Burger as they do turnover pretty quickly and most of the waiters will give you a pretty good idea of how long you will need to wait and often provide some seating. But if you are keen to try those restaurants that always seem to have a queue then just go for lunch at the time they open. If you want to try the best burger in London – and everyone should – then visit Honest Burger shortly after it opens (12.20) on Monday and it will be empty for at least 20 minutes after that. As a last resort some fo the restaurants also do takeaways of sandwiches and substantial wraps that you can take while you wander round.

What to wear – this is not the beginning of a fashion guide as this place is laid back and casual. But we want to remind people that it is cold outside and Brixton Village is like the outside despite the fact that it is under cover. The wind sweeps up the long corridors and most people keep their coats on when outside and if you intend to eat more comfortably then layers are essential.

O Cantinho de Portugal

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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.

Speedy Noodle – NOW CLOSED

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address:506 Brixton Rd,  Brixton, SW9 7AW

telephone number 020 7326 4888

We had thought we would not have to review Speedy Noodle as we thought it didn’t qualify under our no chains rule – but it isn’t one. This Chinese style restaurant has been in Brixton long before it was transformed into a foodie destination. But it is a restaurant and although we considered changing the rules to exclude it we tonight (Saturday) decided to make another visit. This is a restaurant which is easy to book (there isn’t any). If you want to go out to the Ritzy and then you don’t have to saunter in the cold or hang about in a queues  just go to Speedy Noodle and you can cut it very close and even see the trailers. It is also opens much later than most restaurants so you can have a starter and main before the film and dessert on the way home too.

It lives up to its name – we were in and out in 20 minutes. The longest time was spent in choosing from the long list of Chinese, Malaysian and Thai items. On another occasion we tried the Thai Green curry which is passable and cheap. This time it was Singapore Vermicelli and a Malaysian Chicken curry. The Singapore noodles looked good with appropriate ingredients but wasn’t as spicy as it could be – but it was a bargain. That was the best bit of our meal. The curry was ….well was.. It had few ingredients – chicken and onions  – but tasted less like  curry and more like chicken in gravy. Despite hunger half was left on the plate.

They have a license and sell beer and wine (by the glass and the bottle) but we washed all down with a pot of green tea. It was cheap – £10.20 for two.

There are nearly 100 items on the menu so we could go back and try more and I am tempted to discover what a fried ice ball is or test the spicy calamari . But I think those culinary delicacies can wait for another decade. If I want cheap and fast food we’ll go to Gyoza down Coldharbour Lane unless we are starving at midnight.

French & Grace

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address: Unit 19, First Avenue, Brixton Village

telephone

email:ellie@saladclub.co.uk or rosie@saladclub.co.uk

http://www.frenchandgrace.co.uk

French and Grace is a duo who used to run a supper club and now run a small restaurant in Brixton Village serving wraps. And when we say small we mean small – there are only three tables inside which have the maximum number of seats with many stools, so you feel a bit like a sardine. There are tables outside in the arcade but even during the day these are only for the hardy in the cold months. The smallness doesn’t make this restaurant cosy. When we visited  on a Friday lunchtime it was full inside and we sat in a corner table squeezing in beside the coats. Water arrived very quickly but after we had given our order it was very difficult to attract anyone’s attention – even to get a napkin – this is despite the cramped nature of the place where you can almost touch all walls at the same time.

The cuisine has a middle eastern feel to it. Mezze of hummus (their spelling) made of butter beans and rosemary, baba ghanoush (an aubergine pate)  salted labneh (a kind of cheese) and tabbouleh. There are also wraps including “uber wraps” of flatbread lamb merguez and chargrilled halloumi and these were clearly popular as several people came for takeaways in the short time we were there.  There were also “specials” and on the day we visited it was lamb meatballs in a spicy pumpkin soup. So we ordered the small mezze and the lamb meatballs.

The soupy meatballs was not really soupy at all – it was more like a thick slightly sweet sauce. It was also piping hot – so hot I decided to pour some of my water into it which made it much more pleaasant  in temperature and much more like a soup. It allowed me to taste the meatballs which were a good consistency but perhaps in the hot soup lost a little of their flavour. The mezze was pleasant but tabbouleh in the middle east is usually very green whereas this was beige so it really did need more parsley and mint. Neither the hummus or salted labneh were interesting enough but the baba ghanoush was as good as we have eaten in Damascus.

They do not have a licence yet so they charge £1 for corkage per person. But they do have soft drinks, tea and complimentary cold water. The service on a slow lunchtime was inattentive – in fact we were astonished how hard it was to attract attention. But we have watched the restaurant on a Saturday night and we have seen better attention than we received. Price per person is about £8 per person which is reasonable.

Lounge

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address: 56-58 Atlantic Road, Brixton,SW9 8PZ

telephone:  020 7733 5299

http://www.loungebrixton.com/

Lounge is one of those places that isn’t clear what it is – is it a bar, a cafe or a restaurant. Well it is all three. Orange walls and art with small tables and asorted chairs so the decor is as confused as its mission. The art changes regularly and the pictures on the website are more attractive than those currently on display. Oil paintings of faces that look like they are made of carpet …… well we didn’t like it.  But back to its mission – even though it is confused this adds to the charm as you can drink a cocktail, eat scrambled egg (before 5.30pm) or a hamburger later in the evening.

We chose Lounge as a quick eat before the Ritzy. We ordered a beer and a lounge martini. This was nothing like a martini except in the shape of the glass. The recipe includes: grand marnier, bourbon and fresh lime – promising but much too sweet. We ordered a jerk chicken burger and slow cooked lamb – both passable and reasonably quick but we were a bit twitchy about missing the trailers.

Prices ….. cocktails about £6.50, main courses £6 to £9 so a meal with a drink can cost about £15 per person.

Bellantoni’s

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address: Unit 81, Brixton Village Market, SW9

telephone: 078 7294 5675

For information see http://www.bellantonis.co.uk/Welcome.html

After a Christmas break the chef proprietor Dario Bellantoni has returned.  Easy to detect how the name of this Italian restaurant came about. But it is difficult to understand where some of the additional comments below their name come from but more in a minute. It is spread across two sides of an alleyway in Brixton Village with one side an open kitchen and a few tables and on the other a small dining room – in between the windswept alleyway with tables which is where we ended up – only daring to remove our gloves to eat.

Choosing is easy – the menu is blessedly short with seasonal dishes – antipasta, homemade vegetarian pasta dishes (I mean everything including the pasta) and some more substantial fish dishes and stews. We ordered antipasta between the three of us and as it is meant for two sharing we raced for our favourites but luckily there was enough for everyone to try all the separate pieces …. dried tomato, rocket, chorizo, olives which look the colour of pecans and mozarella and burrata. Burrata is made from mozarella and cream and is a smooth texture and was served at the right temperature so it was creamy or, as Dario told u,s buttery from the Italian “burrata” . It goes well with the bread and oil that comes with the whole antipasta dish.

For mains we chose the lasagne with ricotta and spinach, spicy tomato and chorizo stew and monkfish in a saffron sauce. The lasagne was definitely enough but for a balanced meal I should have chosen a salad as well. The chorizo stew was stupendous – soft and slightly spicy with the tomatoes not too acidic. The only weak point was the monkfish, with a remarkably small portion of fish for what was described on the menu as a main course, hardly any vegetables and very little sauce that simply didn’t have enough flavour anyway.

The choice of desserts is even more limited and we ended the meal with two tarts (one apple and cinnamon, one banana) although they were in fact pieces of pie rather than a tart. Both came accompanied by a dollop of mascarpone. The banana was our  favourite.

We drank a bottle of the red Sardinian wine that was on the specials list. It was fruity and not to heavy and kept us warm until the main courses arrived. There were cheaper bottles and glasses on the menu – all as we remember Italian.

The price for the whole of our meal was about £25.00 per person but we did have more wine and the expensive main dishes. As a sideline this restaurant offers cooking classes for anyone who has now run out of ideas fop birthday surprises. Our own piece of advice (apart from do try this restaurant) is to book early and get a seat inside during the winter months.

Agile Rabbit

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Address: Unit 24, Brixton Village Market, Coldharbour Lane SW9 8PR

telephone: 020 3940 2700

email: info.theagilerabbit@gmail.com

The Lapin Agile is a famous cabaret in Monmartre, Paris and was a favourite spot for poor but up and coming artists like Picasso and Modigliani. Now it has set up home as the Agile Rabbit in Brixton Village, together with its own nightly cabaret for the poor artists of Brixton. It is a small pizza house in Brixton Village sited near a couple of good fishmongers, so the smell pervades but only while you are waiting with a beer. As soon as the food arrives or the music starts you are in Naples (except for the cold). That is something they have thought about at Agile Rabbit. There is a heater and blankets for those who, on a Saturday night and indoors, can’t bear to remove their scarf let alone their jacket to eat their meal. It is small with tables and benches inside and as with all the Brixton Village eateries one’s spilling out into the alleyway outside.

Menus are limited to what they do best – pizza and calzone. Pizzas come large, very thin and crispy and with a choice of toppings including the usual – pepperoni, anchovies, olives and capers. The extras are very cheap (40 or 60 p each) so that you are tempted to add more and more. Calzone are more varied with several items in one lovely italian cornish pasty. The main difference between the pizza and calzone is not just the price and the fact you can’t see the toppings – the main difference is that the calzone comes with a plate and a knife and fork whereas the  pizza is pre-cut and on a piece of grease proof paper. We got the a mixed vegetable one which was good but they need to learn that the temperature inside a calzone is not as hot as for a pizza so the vegetables need to be cut up smaller – the couple of halved button mushrooms I found were edible but only after I had worked out what they were. We also had a pizza which was delightful. For dessert we had a piece of their famous tart between the two of us. This tart has won prizes and we could see why. It was a sort of buttery, nutty frangipan with pecans – but neither of us can remember what it was called… However there’s a big sign advertising it so we don’t think you’ll forget to order it.

Drinks are soft (fresh juice or the usual fizzy drinks), warm (good coffee) or alcoholic (beer, wine and cider as well as rum). It was a very cold Saturday night so we had beer which was equally cold but we thought after a while we wouldn’t care. Service is swift, friendly and accommodating and the music – yes live music – was not so loud we couldn’t speak and wasn’t too much like the jazz I dislike. It appears that music is on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

The turnover is relatively high with people moving on and food served quickly so it is relatively easy to get a seat even on a Saturday night. This is also not an expensive meal about £12.00 per person including a drink. The calzone were a definite bargain at only £4.00-5.00 each. We can’t vouch for the wine but plenty of people were drinking it.  That together with good food and a congenial atmosphere means we will return.

Bamboula

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BamboulaAddress: 12 Acre Lane SW2 5SG

Telephone number: (020) 7737 6633

http://www.bamboulas.net/

You would have thought that Brixton was full of Caribbean restaurants but it isn’t and they only really began appearing as real restaurants rather than jerk chicken take-aways about ten years ago and only relatively recently have they been well used and not on a knife-edge of bankruptcy. Bamboula is someone’s Caribbean dream with its green and yellow bamboo and grass hut decor. Unfortunately it was raining and not the warm shower but the relentless stuff that wets all the way through. However, the restaurant made up for that by being cheerful and with welcoming staff. It was a Friday evening and reasonably full – not difficult as it is small with about 8 tables and a bar. The clientel were couples and groups of young women with  high proportion of people from the Caribean which gave us the confidence that this was the real thing. The menu was short enough to be interesting but not overwhelming and it has an unusual list of soft and mixed, mostly rum based, drinks that the Friday nighters were quaffing.

There is the usual Caribean fare of jerk chicken and ackee and saltfish. We chose goat curry and chicken but there are vegetarian options too. The curry was tasty and was accompanied by callaloo rice (like spinach) but the chicken was a bit dry. The portions were large, so large we could only manage a main course. Not particularly expensive – about £12 for a main course and a soft drink (soursop juice). So if you are intending to go to the Ritzy stop in for a quick and filling meal. If you are around for lunch they offer an all you can eat  – I don’t know if that would not be much of a bargain as only a little goes a long way!

This is a quick addition to the review – we do not want to change any of our views on the food in this restaurant but on our last visit we saw a change in the service so thought it should be noted. We visited just before Christmas with a group of six people early in the evening before going to the theatre for the festive outing. We wanted something quick before hopping on the tube. The food was fine and we got to try more chicken and lamb options but the service was definitely not with a smile. Given the time of year we would have hoped for some facial expression and all we got was surly which was enough to put you off your meal. Restaurants are a service industry and they rely on   return custom. Good service doesn’t overcome bad food but if there are two restaurants which are equally good then service may make all the difference. We want you to thrive so please make sure that this improves.

Boqueria

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address: 192 Acre Lane, Brixton, London, SW2 5UL

telephone: 020  7733 4408

info@boqeriatapas.com

A new restaurant on Acre Lane this is the last in a trio of eating places just past Lidl that we would definitely recommend. The restaurant consists of a bar which can be seen from the street and a restaurant area at the back which spans two shopfronts. The decor is minimalist and we really mean minimalist. This is not like the pop-ups in Brixton Village with their borrowed furniture. This restaurant has modern wooden tables for two people, pale wooden floors and few pictures.

Boqeria opened just before Christmas so we went for a family outing for six and this was only a couple of days past the opening. We usually give restaurants a little time to settle down first but in their case the food was good and we thought we should alert people to the opportunity as it is easy to miss among the empty shops in that stretch of the road.

As this was part of our Christmas celebrations we started with cocktails – not our best decision. The martini was mostly vermouth, the special mojito had too much sugar in it and the other drinks were even less like what we expected. However, the beer and the wine are fine – we had a reasonably priced Rioja.

As we cook a lot of Spanish food and visit Spain regularly – particularly Andalusia which is the home of the tapas, we feel we know a lot about the cuisine. The food at this restaurant compared well. You choose from a menu of tapas, specials (on the board), rice dishes, like paella and arroz negro, and salads. As there were six of us we chose two dishes each and a few extras so had lots to try. The croquetas were a hit although we preferred the ones with ham rather than cheese, but the patatas bravas needed a little extra spice. The Fabada (beans and bacon), tortilla and calamare were also very delicious. We were delighted to see the inclusion of Iberico ham, a family favourite and hard to come by in South London. Unusually for any tapas restaurant we were not provided with bread as part of the meal, particularly with the ham. Pudding was complimentary with traditional Spanish sweets such as turron, a most enjoyable touch.  Overall we would rate this restaurant highly for the food but here is the but ……

Tapas can be a slow meal – its really a discussion interspersed with food and that’s what makes it enjoyable. If there are only two of you in the party then having the food come two dishes at a time is fine. If there are six of you then the two dishes are emptied almost immediately and everyone is still famished and getting drunker. So our advice for the restaurant is to consider the size of the party and provide the dishes a few more at a time so. If this had happened then we would have probably ordered a few more but no-one was in the mood given the time each one took to appear and we did wait some time for an interesting pork belly dish that came alone about 20 minutes after all the other food had disappeared. An explanation of each dish would also have been helpful so we didn’t have to guess.

Meal came to about £25 a head, but we were over indulging in the lead up to Christmas so that may have upped the price.

The service was not as attentive as it should have been, however the staff were extremely friendly when they appeared. But we know they will improve and we still think it is well worth the effort of walking a little further from Brixton to  experience this Spanish home cooking and I am looking forward to our next visit with my fingers crossed that they would have ironed out the kinks by then. Another culinary delight added to Brixton

YUM-D

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YUM-D

14d Market Row

Brixton

SW9

YUM-D calls itself a Thai deli and cafe and, for my money, is now serving the best Thai food in Brixton. Positioned next to Rosie’s cafe in Market Row it’s in the space that was briefly Good Bench Coffee House. It’s an intimate space but it looks and feels authentic, with the emphasis on the food and the flavours. It also sells a few Thai foodstuffs including some spicy prawn crackers and, rather randomly, t-shirts and hats that I presume come from Thailand. I feel that this review should have been done a few visits back but as Kaosarn is lauded as the best Thai in South London we felt that a few visits could only justify the fact that we believe YUM-D is both more interesting and enjoyable than the former.

On my first visit I had the special, Soo-Ki-Ya-Ki, which is glass noodles with vegetables in a spicy sauce with a choice of chicken, beef, prawns and tofu. The spicy sauce is really a soup and is apparently made from chilli sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, minced garlic, a few hot chilli, lime juice and chopped fresh coriander. There was even more chilli if required but it was hot and tasty enough for me without. I chose the prawn version and was rewarded by a good portion. I returned a couple a days letter and checked out the pad Thai just to make sure the place was as good as my first impressions had suggested and the answer was, yes, it was. We also tried the chicken satay and the green Thai curry with coconut rice. The curry was creamy, spicy and tangy, everything a Thai curry should be. After spending some time in Thailand myself I am always trying to find the same quality of green curries thatI enjoyed during my visit and I think I may have struck gold. It is also excellent value for money, particularly given the quality of the food and the good size of the portions.

The menu includes all the Thai standards as well as starters and the interesting additions of Thai salads. The staff are friendly and the atmosphere is cosy. Meal came to about £20 for two of us with one starter, two mains and tea, great value considering the quality of the food. Tables were available at lunch time, not sure about the evenings but please head down here if the queues at Kaosarn are ridiculously long and you want a traditional and delicious Thai meal.