Hungry Llama

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Brixton Station Road

Despite recent surveys that most workers in the U.K. fail to take a lunch break or have the same thing every day. We do take a break and would like others to do the same not only at the weekends. Ours is a low brow and cheap version with variety being the key. So we encourage everyone to try Station Road Brixton as it is now a lunch destination that changes daily. Different styles and countries sit side by side and there is always a choice, even on Monday. You can have a takeout or eat alfresco on the chairs and tables scattered around in the street. This Peruvian stall is a new addition to the food outlets and we tried it on Saturday after the gym.

The menu is simple – only two things, one veggie, one meat. Veggie was Quinoa stew and salad, the meat was chicken and rice. But the chefs thought the rice was “too strong” and they were not prepared to serve it. So, on this occasion, I had a mixture – chicken, quinoa and the salad. A large enough portion and plenty of reward for a couple of hours in the gym (well maybe it was only 45 minutes but I was counting every one).

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Quinoa tends to divide our family, a bit like marmite. This version was served in a tomato sauce with extra potato and was more than palatable. I turned down the chilli sauce but that was probably a mistake – I’ll know next time. The salad was a mixture of beetroot, tomato, potato and red onion. So it was mainly sweet with an occasional bite of onion – not unpleasant and definitely a foil for the quinoa. The chicken was cooked on a griddle and covered with a subtle but tasty marinade. It was delicious and I would definitely order it again but perhaps without quinoa.

The best part is the cost – £5 for one of the usual combinations and because I had a mixture, it was a bargain at £6.

 

 

Home Delivery Pizza

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Agile Rabbit – Brixton Village – SW9 8PR Link for our full review and details

Mamma Dough – 354 Coldharbour Lane, SW9 8QH – Link for our full review and details

Made of Dough – Pop Brixton – SW9 8PQ  Link for our full review and details

Franco Manca – Market Row – SW9 8LD Link for our full review and details

Pizza Oregano – 15 Tulse Hill, SW2 2TH – Link to Pizza Oregano’s website

Domino’s – 114-116 Streatham Hill, SW2 4RS – Link to Domino’s website

Tesco – 13 Acre Lane, SW2 5RS – Link to Tesco’s pizzas

How do you feed 13 people you invite round on a Saturday evening without breaking a sweat. Simple – just order a takeaway. But what takeaway? Brixton is full of Deliveroo and Just Eat partner restaurants but we wanted to focus on pizza. Everyone likes it, except vegans, and we didn’t have one of those. But we also wanted an opportunity for a trial. So we chose six outlets that deliver in Brixton, ranging from local favourites, which we have previously reviewed, to a national chain. We also went to a supermarket, just for comparison. Continue reading →

SW9 bar and restaurant

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sw9_01Address, 11 Dorrell Place, Brixton SW9 8EG

telephone: 020 7738 3116

Opening times:

Monday – Friday: 10:30am to 11:30pm

Saturday – Sunday: 10:00 am to 1:30 am

This is not to be confused with the sushi bar on Brixton Road, which is from the same stable. This is the restaurant and bar behind M&S, at the end of the alley way just off Brixton Road. It has been here for years (we even went in an earlier incarnation, when it was the Brixtonian) and has evolved into a bar with food. See a previous review from more than five years ago, here. Happy hour (when we visited) has cheap cocktails but they still serve food to slow down feeling tipsy.

Decor is bar style with more low level seating and a few chairs that allow eating easily at the tables which are round and square and scattered. So choose a sofa or a table for the more substantial meals. Most people were drinking with snacks but we opted for the standard menu as the special board was unavailable on Monday.

So after ordering a margarita and a vodka martini, we had fried squid with chili sauce and steak and chips with grilled tomatoes. Both come with a bit of salad, so you can feel a little bit healthy. The squid was crisp and appropriately starter sized. sw9_03

The steak came on a wooden board making it even higher on the table, so the low seating was definitely not a good choice. But it was suitably “medium”, as requested, and had great seasoning. The tomatoes were also well cooked, so they were sweet, tart and easy to eat. Just as well, as it you have to juggle to keep everything on the board. The potatoes in the chips had the skins on them and were a bit soggy, perhaps because they came in a metal dish. sw9_02

After two vodka martinis and a margarita (£5.00 each at happy hour) we had a bill of £35.50. Our view – well the menu was limited but we enjoyed the food and drink. It is not a place for a quiet drink but it is open on Mondays, which is a bonus for us.sw9_04

 

Nando’s

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234-244 Stockwell Rd, Brixton, London SW9 9SP

https://www.nandos.co.uk/eat/restaurants/brixton

Opening times

Monday 11.30am – 11pm
Tuesday 11.30am – 11pm
Wednesday 11.30am – 11pm
Thursday 11.30am – 11pm
Friday 11.30am – 12am
Saturday 11.30am – 12am
Sunday 11.30am – 11pm

First a disclaimer. Nando’s for me has always been a place of comfort and consistency. A visit to Nando’s as a teenager in South London was a rite of passage. Where you would go after the cinema, swimming, or even your first date. I Love Nando’s.

When we started this blog we said that we wouldn’t review chains. But our blog, our rules, and over time they have slowly crept in. After finding out that Nando’s in Brixton is one of the least well known, out of its 339 UK branches, we decided this was reason enough to pay it a visit.

Continue reading →

Duck Duck Goose

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Address: Pop Brixton (left avenue) 49 Brixton Station Road, , London, SW9 8PQ

http://www.duckduckgooselondon.com/

Opening times:
Tues-Thurs + Sun: 12-3.30 6.30-10.30
Fri-Sat: 12-4 6.30-11
Mon: Closed
No Reservations

We have been trying to be at least vegetarian in “Vegan January” but this place was too tempting. We thought of posting it in February but that would be cheating, so we are having to own up to a lack of willpower. Duck, Duck, Goose is a small Chinese restaurant in the middle of Pop Brixton that, according to its website, is “inspired by the old school Hong Kong cafes and roast meat shops” and will be “informal, affordable and buzzy.” Housed in a single shipping container it’s certainly cosy. Overall our reaction is favourable, although this is still work in progress. Continue reading →

Brixton Market and Minestrone

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mkt01Location: Electric Avenue and Pope’s Road, SW9

Brixton Market Traders Association: http://brixtonmarket.net/

This is another post in our occasional series about food shopping in Brixton. By Brixton Market I mean the more traditional street market; the actual stalls in Electric Avenue and Popes Road (Brixton Station Road deserves it’s own entry). It’s just enjoyed/suffered a makeover but the six or so food stalls, mostly selling fresh produce, amid the others with a mix of hats, hardware and other stuff, are still there. It might even still be recognised as a traditional street market by your genuine costermonger, keeping up the ancient tradition of closing down by 5:30 pm or earlier, as well as observing early closing day on Wednesdays. Continue reading →

Paramount Lebanese Kitchen (formerly Ya Hala)

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yahala01address: 432 Coldharbour Ln, Brixton SW9 8LG

telephone: 020 7733 3098

No website but Deliveroo have the menu here – https://deliveroo.co.uk/menu/london/brixton/ya-hala-brixton

We were searching for vegetarian or vegan food for “Vegan January”, while wishing it was February, when we came across the latest restaurant in Brixton. And hurrah, it isn’t a burger joint but fills a gap in Brixton, a decent Lebanese restaurant with a charcoal grill. Our first visit was positive and as it’s right opposite the Ritzy in Coldharbour Lane, it should prove useful for a before or after meal, particularly when you are short of time.

Continue reading →

Vegbar

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Address: 45 Tulse Hill, Brixton, London,  SW2 2TJ

Telephone: 020 8678 0697

email: info@vegbar.co.uk

http://www.vegbar.co.uk

So who knew that Vegan January was a thing. For those hoping to cleanse their system after a hearty meat eating festive season, a January of vegetarian food might be a good idea. But it seems rather unfair to dump vegan food on the unsuspecting, so we have gone out of our way to investigate potential restaurants. Vegbar serves only Vegan food, so the choice was easy. We reviewed this restaurant before so look for our positive review here. It is out of the way on the road to Tulse Hill but if you know where Brixton Social is ,then just keep on walking. The unprepossessing exterior is not at all inviting and the decor is also aiming for minimal going on Spartan. Gone are the small but inviting dashes of colour. Wrap up warm if you are going early as the temperature inside early in the evening is definitely cool even though we sat next to the radiator. Continue reading →

Silk Road (a short bus ride away)

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49 Camberwell Church St.,  SE5 8TR

Telephone: 020 7703 4832

Open:
Monday to Friday – 5pm to 11pm
Saturday & Sunday – 2pm to 11pm

The food scene in Camberwell is now, in some ways, more interesting than that in Brixton. There are a number of top class eating places, rather than  a food court with an increasing number of burger joints. This place, serves food from north-west China and Sichuan, is recognised as one of the best.

This isn’t fine dining. Just a single shop front in Camberwell Church Street, furnished with simple tables and benches, with the cooking all done in full view behind the counter. The simply cooked food comes quickly and without ceremony. The two of us weren’t looking for a big meal and were in and out in less than 45 minutes. But people pack-in to enjoy the authentic flavours. The Time-Out review says the dishes are “fiery, but  also balanced with a plethora of spices” and recommends sticking to the Xinjiang specialities.

This is not your standard Chinese food. The menu is relatively short, concentrating on the regional specialities, many of which are new to us. We ordered the cabbage with lamb noodle, plus portions of home-style aubergine, and shredded kelp. We also had a portion of the egg, leek and shrimp filled dumplings.

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The choice of dumplings was a mistake, as they lacked any clear flavours and, perhaps, were under-cooked. The rest delivered the excitement that we were looking for, even though our waiter advised against the stir-fried lamb shish noodle, when one of us said they didn’t want anything that was too hot. What we ordered, all rated as one chilli on the menu, was hot enough for most. The aubergine dish, one of a number of interesting vegetarian options, was my favourite.

For drinking the choice is simple – House Red Wine, House White Wine, and TsingTao beer. We can’t report on the quality of the wine as we stuck to jasmine tea.

Despite the disappointment with the dumplings, we enjoyed the meal and will certainly be back. The service was brisk and efficient, offering helpful advice when looking at an unusual menu. And the cost was most reasonable, coming in at around £25, including service.

 

 

Kata Kata

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kk02address: 134 Brixton Hill, Brixton, London SW2

Opening times – 10am to 10pm everyday

You may have overeaten during the Christmas break and/or are now suffering from a lack of cash so we thought that we would help with a few recommendations that will not break the bank. This one resulted from a lack of planning after seeing the early Saturday showing of Fantastic Beasts in Streatham. We headed back to Brixton with one thing on our mind – food. Our original destination, Negril, was full to bursting but next door there is this restaurant/cafe. At any other time we might have ignored it – now very glad we didn’t. This cafe serves coffee and pancakes (savoury galettes and sweet crepes) and was totally empty when we visited. We assume this is fare for lunch or a late afternoon snack but now we know it hits the spot for dinner too.

There are a few tables and chairs on two levels and it is all very Zen. In the back there is a library of worthy philosophy and self help books and in addition to the welcome fan heater there is a perfumed mist pumped into the air. Galettes can be cooked in front of your eyes but we preferred the locality of the fan heater.

The food is all worthily vegetarian or vegan. Their galette is a buckwheat pancake and we think cheese is essential so opted for vegetarian options. We chose a Farmer which has free range egg, cheese and spinach and a Red Goat (spinach, beetroot, goat cheese and sweet potato. Both came with an interesting salad (carrot, bean shoots, beetroot and more spinach). Flavours were subtle but interesting and both were slightly sweet with dressing and herbs. They were also huge and definitely hit that empty spot leaving us no room for more. As they cool the galette does become a little tough so we gave up with the knife and fork, got rid of some crusty bits and picked them up.kk01

We washed them down with jasmine tea and an apple and ginger juice.

This is definitely comfort food and we will not be rushing back just yet although great to know it is likely to have an empty seat on a cold, damp night. It is also relatively cheap with the total bill being only £16.20 and it could be cheaper if we had chosen differently.