Brixton Village

Danclair’s Kitchen

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Address: Brixton Village, SW9 8PR

Phone: 020 7737 4888

Web: Danclairs Kitchen

This is a very new addition to Brixton Village and a very welcome one. They serve a variety of tapas-style Caribbean food which means you can try a few to share. They also have a good drinks menu involving Jamaican-style concoctions like Pink Ting and White Duppy Share as well as wine and beer – not just Red Stripe but some from Trinidad along with the Brixton variety.

We chose barbecue wings with Guava glaze, Marinated King Prawns with tamarind sauce, Fish, Wings and Tings famous cod fish fritters with garlic and lime aioli and sides of potato fries (we decided against the cassava ones) and, for our health, a salad.

Nothing was too hot but the chili or the pepper added a lovely warmth. The wings were just right, meat falling off the bone and the guava adding a foil for the barbecue sauce. We were delighted to find that we didn’t have to pick our way over the prawns as someone had thoughtfully removed the middle part of the shell. The tamarind sauce was spicy so only a little was needed to prevent the prawn being overwhelming but it was good to dip the chips into.

Cod balls straight from the fryer are a delight with the garlicky sauce. I am not sure what the difference is between aoli and may is so i looked it up. The difference is that aioli is made from garlic and olive oil while mayo is made with egg yolks and oil. The chips were good and not soggy to the last one and we could use all the sauces as well as the ketchup I ordered. The salad was ok but we only ordered it so that we had some vegetables on the table.

We didn’t go thirsty and as it wasn’t a school night we ordered a Pink Tingaling (pink ting which has grapefruit in it and duppy Share rum) and a Mojito – both were refreshing and not too sweet.

The bill came to £60.50 without the tip but including £20.50 of drink so not cheap but a good evening as the service was at just the right pace. Reducing the bill means switching to water. We will definitely go again as we saw the tempura prawns and the fried pepper calamari on another table and they looked really appetizing.

Whipped

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65 Brixton Village, SW9 8PS

https://whippedlondon.com/

Whipped is a new addition to Brixton Village. It is on a corner opposite Le Brixton Deli on the way to Lost in Brixton. There is another shop in Covent Garden. They focus on four things – baked cheesecake, cookie dough (never understood this), blondies, and brownies. The choice is tough, even though we decided to only look at the cheesecake, but there is a really helpful person who can help you meander to a choice.

The decision is fruit or not (blueberry, apple crumble etc) or nuts (peanut butter) or caramel (on most of them but there is Dulce de Leche as well) or chocolate (comes in most of them but there is red velvet, cookies and cream with white chocolate)……. and these are the ones I can remember. Lots of choice, so an excuse to go back for more.

We chose apple crumble and peanut butter. The slices are as American as the choice – very large. We got them to takeaway and we advise on more sustainable packaging especially as it was really hard to open the plastic containers without getting your hands all creamy.

The apple crumble had a good dose of apple and was delicious.

The peanut butter was a tower of delicious flavours – crunchy bottom, a dark chocolate brownie then baked cheesecake and topped with a fluffy cream with peanut butter oozing – a very good idea as peanut butter can be very cloying. It was topped with colourful mini Reece’s pieces for crunch and an extra burst of peanut butter.

We have commented on the size – we ate them for a delicious, but totally unhealthy dinner. We advise that you buy two and share over two dinners if only to save on the waistline and avoid leaving any on the plate. They cost £10.00 for two.

The Tapas Room Brixton

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Address: Unit 52/53, Brixton Village SW9 8PS

Opening times:

Tuesday to Thursday – 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm

Friday & Saturday – 1:00 pm to 10:00 pm

Sunday & Monday – closed

Website: https://www.thetapasroom.co.uk/

Email: info@tapasroom.co.uk

This new restaurant and wine bar in Brixton Village is at the back, along the alley with the African shops. It is a relation of the Donostia Social Club, which was a winner of the eatinbrixton public vote, when it was originally in Pop Brixton. It has now moved into multiple sites so clearly our public spotted the potential. Continue reading →

Mamalan – takeaway

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Unit 18, Brixton Village, SW9 8PR

https://mamalan.co.uk/brixton/

Opening times: Monday 11:30am – 4pm, Tuesday to Sunday 11:30am to 10pm

You can Click and Collect or go through Deliveroo.

I usually save the punchline for the end of the review but I have to say – this is the best Chinese takeaway I have had in many years. We are long-term fans and have reviewed the restaurant before (see here, here and here). It is currently possible to eat outside, but for our Friday night treat we ordered through Deliveroo and ate in the confines of our house.

The menu is just the right length – long enough for variety, but not overwhelming with the suspicion that they are over-extended. It has everything you might expect from its Beijing roots – stir fry, noodle soups, bao buns, salads and posh sides (Dumplings, Hot wings, prawn toast, spring rolls etc.). The list is different on the website and Deliveroo. But they do now have meals for two and cater for vegans. We chose the miso wings, Sesame oil Chicken noodle salad, the miso, tofu rice and some prawn crackers.It comes in paper boxes or bags and is clearly marked – a blessing if some look similar to each other so preventing a few mouthfuls before you swap boxes. First the wings – bottom centre in the picture.They were delicious, hot, soft and the meat falls off the bone. Sticky, so you either need the chopsticks or just get messy.

The miso, tofu rice comes with some vegetables – bottom left in the picture. Even though it didn’t have far to travel, we were amazed that the rice still has separate grains and didn’t go into a mush with all the steam. The tofu was a little soft, but the whole meal a delight.

The noodle salad – bottom right – was also great.  It was really a whole meal in itself with vegetables and spicy sauce with a reasonable amount of chilli.

Finally the prawn crackers. They come with a sweet chili dipping sauce and are not the normal airy white one but were more like crackers. After adjusting our expectations, we decided we enjoyed them, particularly as they were not at all oily.

The bill came to £26.80 – a bargain even though, unlike other times, we ate it all. We will return soon.

Station 26

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Address: Unit 26, Brixton Village Market, SW9 8PR

Tel: +44 20 3689 7124

E-mail: station26brixton@gmail.com

Website: https://www.station26.co.uk/

Opening Times:
Sunday 11:00 – 17:00
Monday Closed
Tuesday Closed
Wednesday 11:30 – 17:00
Thursday 11:30 – 22:00
Friday 11:00 – 22:00
Saturday 11:00 – 22:00

Restaurants come and go but this gluten free cosy restaurant seems here to stay. Not a lot has changed since our last review (link) in June 2018. Everything is gluten free, even the beer, with vegan and veggie options too. Our daughter who should be gluten free, but finds it tough, said, “…it was such a relief not to have to closely read each dish’s ingredients”. It is on a corner plot, and when we say it is cosy we really mean it. It has closely packed tables inside and even then they give you a blanket. It is a good idea to book. Continue reading →

Mamalan

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https://eatinbrixton.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/mama_lan.jpg

Unit 18, Brixton Village, SW9 8PR

https://www.mamalan.co.uk/

OPENING TIMES

Monday 12:00 noon – 4:00pm

Tuesday – Sunday 12:00 noon – 10:00pm

We haven’t reviewed this restaurant for four years (see here and here), so  a revisit was essential. Mamalan is named after the chef’s mother and serves Beijing street food. They have developed a thriving takeaway and delivery service and spread its wings from Brixton to a couple of other venues. We needed to give up people watching to concentrate on other things so we chose to eat inside. Although there are tables for two or four they are really squeezed in, so you need to do a bit of mountain climbing to settle into place.

The Village fills up at 1.00 pm and so to make sure we had a table we arrived at opening time, 12.00. The menu isn’t taxing – four soups, three rice dishes, a salad and side dishes which all warn you about the level of chilli. Side dishes include hot chicken wings (“some say the best in London” – a bold comment in the heart of jerk chicken land). We ordered the Wonton Noodle soup and the Sweet Chili Chicken rice which were easily enough for lunch.

The Chicken lived up to its name, crispy chicken pieces with sticky sauce on rice with a little side salad.

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The Wonton soup was also pronounced delicious, but the broth didn’t have much depth of flavour. The menu described it as “light” so was definitely not oversold. There were plenty of pork and prawn wantons.

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Both bowls were demolished and were washed down with a ginger ale and a can of diet coke. My only complaint – plastic straws. The bill came to  £27.50 for a very satisfying meal.

 

And our winner of Favourite Restaurant 2018 is …

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It’s finally time to reveal the results! After a few weeks of voting, narrowing down of the list, and the big push in the last week for our shortlist, we are happy to announce that Agile Rabbit has been voted the favourite restaurant in Brixton 2018 by our followers. Here’s a link to its website.

Well congratulations are due, although it’s many years since we last wrote about Agile Rabbit – it was actually 2012 – but you can still check out our review of the place here. Surprisingly current prices seem much the same. However, it did figure little more than a year ago in our comparative review of home delivery pizzas and came in as one of our two top scorers – see here.

Now one of the longest running eateries in Brixton Village, it’s notable for also selling slices of pizza, making it the go-to place for a lunchtime snack. There’s also weekly jazz sessions. A recent development is the opening of a second branch in Herne Hill, opposite the station. But there’s still a commitment to Brixton, which is regarded as the soul of the business.

When we found out it was the winner we decided it deserved another look. We are pleased to report that it is a worthy favourite. It’s not a place for fine dining of course, but if you want simple straight-forward pizzas, at a reasonable price, this is as good as any.

We chose, the Aoca – anchovies, olives, capers and aubergine and the other

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– almost inevitably – a Pepperoni. For me this had a bit too much cheese, but I guess for many this is not really a criticism.

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These are seriously good 12 inch pizzas, with the all-important crispy base, making it easy to eat by hand. We would have had enough each with just one,  but we were hungry, with eyes bigger than our stomachs. So the fridge has pieces destined for today’s lunch.

agile_rabbit04We washed the pizzas down with Brixton ale currently on draught. The total cost, including 10% service that we were assured all goes to the excellent staff, was under £30 (sorry, I’ve lost the receipt).

Best Restaurant in Brixton 2018

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As we hit out 8th (yikes!) birthday we yet again come to our ‘Best Restaurant in Brixton’ vote. Past winners include Nanban, Mama Dough and Donostia Social Club (RIP). The list below is composed of everywhere we have reviewed so apologies if we haven’t mentioned every single place in Brixton.

From going through the places we have reviewed it’s clear that over the past year quite a few of our favourites have closed or flown the nest for bigger residence. Fujiyama, Bukowsi, Cabana, Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen and the previously mentioned Donostia Social Club have all now closed their doors in Brixton. What this means for the next flock of eateries in the area we will have to wait and see, but with the opening of giants such as Sports Direct on Pope’s Road and the redevelopment of the arches we may see fewer independent restaurant and more big buck shops in their places.

Continue reading →

Station 26

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S26_01

Address: Unit 26, Brixton Village Market, SW9 8PR

Tel: +44 20 3689 7124

E-mail: station26brixton@gmail.com

Website: https://www.station26.co.uk/

Opening Times:
Sunday 11:00 – 17:00
Monday Closed
Tuesday Closed
Wednesday 11:30 – 17:00
Thursday 11:30 – 22:00
Friday 11:00 – 22:00
Saturday 11:00 – 22:00

Note: This is a cash only restaurant.

We have returned to a longer standing restaurant in Brixton Village that seems much the same, but has changed it’s name at least a couple of times. It’s main distinctive feature is that it’s gluten free, with occasional vegetarian or vegan items. Set on a corner plot, there’s a few closely packed tables inside and outside around its two edges, but when we went at 6.30 on a Friday there was plenty of room.

The menu is blessedly short, with starters, mains and desserts. Starters include crab cakes, salads, bruschetta, including one with beans and chorizo, and hand cut chips but we opted to go straight to the mains. These include a tuna dish, crab, burgers (venison and halloumi), duck, chicken, pork ribs and finally a vegetable stack – so still a reasonable choice.

I chose the oddly named venison beef burger (maybe there was beef in the burger?) and my companion chose the crabcakes and salad. The burger obviously comes in a gluten free bun but also has tomatoes, some greenery and onion marmalade and is accompanied by a tub of chips. The gluten free bun is a bit spongy but a whole lot better than those you had to endure 25 years ago. It held the burger well until the last few mouthfuls and that may just be a lack of skill on my part. The chips looked OK but really weren’t crisp enough.

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There were three crab cakes. They do contain crab but they were under-seasoned and it was a bit of a lottery between them in terms of the proportion of potato. The salad was generous and had a great dressing.

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For pudding we shared a slice of pecan pie, served with a dollop of cream. This was good, so long as you like them at sweeter end of the spectrum, and the gluten-free pastry was excellent.

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S26_05The alcoholic drinks menu has beer and limited choice of wine – just one each of sparkling, white and red. We went for a bottle of the white and, while they had run out of the one on the menu, the alternative they provided was palatable. The total bill was £47.30 including service, but of that £17.00 was for the wine.