Eclectic

Pangea

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Address: corner of Brixton Station Road and Pope‘s Road – along from the Recreation centre

www.pangeastreet.co.uk

Street_food-01If you had ever wondered what happens to people who appear on Masterchef then wonder no more….. they graduate to the now well established food destination of Brixton! Ollie (one of the brothers in the last series) and Hayden are serving food as part of the new food corner on Station Road. There are about 9 or 10 street vendors that add to the jerk chicken and falafel stalls which are an everyday occurrence outside the Brixton Recreation Centre. We are trying to review them all so will hopefully manage to get round them all by the end of the summer.

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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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London French Dip – Market Stall – No longer attends the market

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With absolutely no idea what a French Dip consisted of, but hearing plenty of buzz about it on Twitter we headed down to the Station Road Saturday market yesterday to find out for ourselves. The stall was about half way down the road; just by Hive Bar and had a couple of chairs dotted around the stall meaning you can enjoy your sandwich in the buzzy atmosphere of the market.

Apparently originating from restaurants in Los Angeles, a French Dip consists of a roast beef sandwich with the bread dipped in gravy or jus. Served alongside a gherkin this is pretty simple, but incredibly delicious. The beef was thinly cut, with just the right amount of fat and perfectly cooked – meaning there is no tug of war with the beef in your sandwich when you bite into it. The gherkin on the side was very appreciated, especially when I made the mistake of putting far too much mustard on my sandwich, causing my nose to feel like it might explode. Tip: less is more!  However I do think they may have creating a new French Dip enthusiast!

Another plus was that all the ingredients appear to be local with M Moens and Son in Clapham providing the beef and Kindred Bakery in Herne Hill providing the baguettes, which had a lovely shiny glaze to them. I was informed that the next one will be on the 19th May so would really recommend making a visit to the stall that weekend.

Congrats London French Dip we think you make a brilliant addition to the interesting and diverse foods available in Brixton!

The Duck Egg Cafe

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address: 424 Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, London, SW9 8LF

telephone:

This small cafe on Coldharbour Lane is a favourite throughout the day for those wanting a fix of a Full English. We have had breakfast and lunch at the Duck Egg Cafe and so thought it was about time for a review.

For breakfast we arrived at about 10.30 and it was already pretty busy (there was even a queue for tables at one point). It is so small that sharing tables is almost essential and you are so close to the other diners that it is very hard not to eavesdrop. However I’ve noticed this is a theme throughout restaurants in Brixton so I say embrace it. The service was very friendly and the seating comfortable.

We ordered a bacon and egg sandwich (boring choice I must confess) and the Full English (obviously had to try this!). You get a choice between hen or duck eggs and of course we went for the duck eggs as it seemed silly not to. Service was quick, big plus as my stomach rumbles were getting louder and louder. The full English came with all the trimmings, sausage, bacon, mushrooms, toast, egg (poached) and baked beans. The egg was cooked to perfection with the yolk breaking to reveal the golden runny centre which all poached eggs should have. Sausages were also a plus point, not sure if they were local or not, but they were a stand out part of the meal.

Tea, coffees and juices are the drinks of choice with the juice coming fresh. Other breakfast options include eggs Benedict, which is most definitely on the list to try on our next visit.

Breakfast was £8 for the full english and a cup of tea, while the egg and bacon sandwich was about a fiver with a coffee. Great choice for a lazy weekend brunch.

For lunch again it was a sharing experience and crowded. We had the special soup of the day but we noticed that other plates were heaving with pasta and chips. Again not a cheap meal but it was hearty and filling.  You can also choose breakfast options throughout in the day  as well as the pasta options.

We will be returning when we are very hungry to make the most of it.

SW9 bar

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address: 11 Dorrell Place, Brixton, London SW9 8EG

telephone: 020 7738 3116

email: info@sw9bar.co.uk

website: http://sw9bar.co.uk/

This bar has had many incarnations and is usually full to the brim of people who are going to Brixton Academy. But on a cold and blustery Monday evening it is almost empty and by 10.30 it is empty. The bar is small inside and they have increased the space with a temporary canopy outside with tables, chairs and heaters – although it must have been pretty nippy for even the most desperate smoker on the evening we visited. The decor looks like a throwback to the 80s – shiny walls and low lamps. The toilets are communal and they looked like they were in the middle of a refurbishment. The music is loudish and I suspect when there are a lot of people crammed in, you just have to expect a sore throat if you want a conversation.

But on to the food …. starters, main courses and desserts are available as well as a breakfast menu (served until 2.00pm) but we went for main courses. There is a variety and I chose sea bass which arrived on top of some sautéed potatoes with asparagus and another green vegetable. The fish was cooked well and the vegetables were crisp although there was a bit too much oil on the plate from the potatoes. My companion fared less well on an order of fish and chips. When it arrived it was rather darker than usual for fish and chips – not twice but thrice cooked! We were hungry so cleared the plate together with several glasses of good wine.

The service was jolly and helpful but I don’t think we will be venturing back there soon. The bill came to £20 per person including a lot of wine so I guess it is about £10-15 if you are hungry for more than one course.

Brixton Space – NOW CLOSED

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Brixton Spaceaddress: 30 Brixton Water Lane, Brixton, London SW2 1PE

telephone 020 7501 8606

email: brixtonspace@gmail.com

www.brixtonspace.co.uk

The menu describes this neighbourhood restaurant/bar as a late 60s post Mad Men designed interior with lots of red lights and wallpaper. The lighting is really interesting as they have 20 long tentacle-like flexes ending in lightbulbs across the ceiling. This is really a feature rather providing light as even with the candle on the table I realised that I should have brought the stronger reading glasses. Tables are small and for two with a bench on one side and a stool on the other but from the bench side were really comfortable but the stools perhaps not so much for longer lounging. It is a small restaurant and there is probably only room for about 20 people in a small but cosy atmosphere. There are lots of suggestions of how to book and I guess that is important over the weekend.

The menu says it is tapas fusion and that is certainly true. The small plates are a bit bigger than most tapas and some are definitely not the sort you would find in Spain. There are the usuals  – patatas bravas, serano and manchego as well as bread, olives etc. but then it stretches into goats cheese and fig tart and finally to the more creative with polenta and mozzarella (Italy) followed by the ultimate in creativity quesadilla and humous (Mexican and Greek??).

It was a Thursday and we were feeling boring so we plumped for three tapas – patatas bravas, lentils, chorizo and roast vegetables and goats cheese with marinated olives to start and it was a good start. The various types of olives really complemented each other – some salty, some juicy and others just … well just lovely. A freezing glass of manzanilla would have been a good accompaniment but it was a bit on the rough side although very cheap (£4.00). The goats cheese and fig tart with salad was a great success and so was the lentils with spicy chorizo. We weren’t as happy with the patatas bravas as we were expecting something a little more firey but it had just a little salsa on top which was cold and so cooled the rest of the potatoes.

We noticed that others in the restaurant were picking up takeaways and others were just having coffee and a croissant so it is really a local place for meeting people and chilling out with the bar menu of cocktails including One Love made of Gin, Blackberry Jam & Lemon, topped with soda and Josephine Avenue which is a blend of Scotch Whiskey, Lemon, Framboise & Rose. Sounds like the sort of thing to drink early and retire for the evening.

We were full  after sharing only three tapas and the bill came to just £22.00 which we thought was reasonable value.

Satay Gallery

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Satay GalleryAddress 447 Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, London SW9 8LP

Telephone: 0844 474 6080

http://www.sataybar.co.uk/

You do not go to the Satay Gallery for a quite dinner for two. The pounding music deters conversation and if you do try then you end up with a sore throat by the next day. What you do go to the Satay Gallery for is the cocktails with something to keep you from being too drunk. The food isn’t expensive but it isn’t that good either.

The menu is eclectic… the web site say Brixton meets Bali but it also has chinese noodles, japanese gyoza and thai fishcakes. This is not expensive although the portions are not that generous but who cares after a couple of cosmopolitans and a mai tai.

The interior is dark in the evening with the clientele either just drinking in the bar area or drinking and eating frugally in the restaurant area. They have built some further spill-out for the summer on ColdharbourLane which looks fun for hanging out.  But if you are hungry cross the road to Gyoza.