Ferndale Road

Sushi Revolution

~ eatinbrixton ~ Leave a comment

Address: 240 Ferndale Road, SW9 8FR

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

We arrived at this restaurant on the day it opened – wearing masks and very early. It is pretty bare, some tables, counters with high chairs and a bar. We were mistakenly given a large table for the three of us, as speech in our face masks was clearly difficult to discern. We remained there for the whole meal as the alternative was to sit in a line at a counter, which is very awkward, even if very Japanese.

The menu description is “taking on Japanese classics with a rebellious twist”. I assume they mean Padron peppers with a yuzu miso, or miso soup with truffle oil. Plenty to try and we did our best to sample as much as possible. There are gluten free and vegan options.

The choice is snacks and nibbles, Sushi, Nigiri and Sashimi, “Revolution” – think panko popcorn shrimp, Salads, various Maki, and if you really can’t decide, then choose one of the four sharing plates. We have given a description, but can’t really describe the taste of each – they are right about innovation and we will return, less hungry, to savour all the different flavours.

We had Yellowtail Nikkei Sashimi with yuzu truffle oil, Karaage Roll chicken with avocado, yuzu koshu mayo – Crispy Drago tempura prawn with avocado, spicy mayo, teriyaki, and sesame. Don’t ask us to choose each one was a delight.

Then there was the Aubergine Nigiri (yummy!) and California Uramaki prawn, with cucumber, avocado, miso aioli, and tobiko (flying fish roe, small and perfectly formed but not as much of a zing).

For dessert we had a Mango Passion Fruit Mochi and a Coconut Mochi – we preferred the Mango one but both were delicious.

We washed it all down with a couple of bottles of Asahi beer, Blushing Bride Session APA, and a couple of glasses of Inzolia Borgo Selene, Sicilian white wine (no picture)

Choosing to browse the menu rather than eating the shared plate does increase the cost which was …… £91.14 including 12.5% service for three people and all our drinks. The most expensive sharing plate with 28 pieces was really enough for three and cost £35.00, but you can get away with £15 per person for an interesting plate that is probably sufficient for the less greedy. Our view is to return and we will sit at the counter if there are only two of us but if there are more than two and you are not prepared for the Wimbledon head turning experience then specifically ask for a table.

Cattivo Hall

~ eatinbrixton ~ Leave a comment

207 Ferndale Road

020 096 2236

Website: https://www.cattivobar.com/

Email: bookings@cattivobar.com

Monday: Closed
Tues-Thurs: 12 noon to 12 midnight
Fri-Sat: 12 noon to 2am
Sun: 12 noon to 11pm

We usually give a new restaurant a few visits before reviewing, but this place caught our eye on a cold Friday night. They were in their “soft launch” phase – the whole kit and caboodle will be open tomorrow (Tuesday 16th October), when it will have a longer menu including desserts. It is part of the same chain as Canova Hall (link, link and link), which is just across the road. This is a restaurant and bar also but takes a slightly different approach to decor. Gone are the cosy banquettes and the French Bistro feel, but what is left is the same industrial style, with lots of room for standing and drinking. Downstairs (and yet to be explored) is a cocktail bar with its own Gin distillery.

But we visited for the food, although by way of a cocktail and glass of wine. Food on the menu was hearty, and with large proportions it will certainly line your stomach for the Friday night revelries and probably divert any potential hangover. Menus online seem to be more extensive, with some sharing plates.

The foreshortened menu consisted of spaghetti and meatballs (beef, spicy pork and ricotta), a vegan dish and some fried items including potatoes, squash, peas, parmesan fries and focaccia. We settled for spicy pork and ricotta meatballs, and although we thought about ordering a side dish, we were glad we hadn’t when we saw the size of the plates of pasta.

The spicy pork was spicy but not overpowering with some chili in the tomato sauce too. We missed the promised gremolata but liked the taste of the sicilian sausage.

The ricotta meatballs were much softer than the beef but equally tasty. We  missed the gremolata again and wondered what the ricotta salata was (advertised on the menu). We did have cheese and they didn’t offer any extra Parmesan. But I don’t think either of us minded.

We washed all this down with water and a glass of Primitivo and a Professore cocktail (Del Professore Madame gin, Kamm & Sons aperitif, Campari) – so a sort of Negroni with a large ice cube and we were glad to see the absence of a straw. A clever engineering touch was the shaved orange peel jammed into the side of the ice cube thus successfully preventing it from freezing your top lip during drinking. We would like to congratulate the barman (or woman) who invented this – patent it now.

We paid £42 including the drinks which were almost half the bill. We have another booking for Friday to try some of the other specialties on offer.

 

Cabana

~ eatinbrixton ~ Leave a comment

Cabana01address: Bon Marche Centre, 201 – 207 Ferndale Rd, London SW9 8BQ

Phone:020 7326 5760

email: brixton@cabana-brasil.com

website: http://cabana-brasil.com/restaurants/brixton/

The idea was that we wouldn’t review chain restaurants but as they creep into Brixton and as it was a Monday, which reduces the choice of where to go, we broke our own rules. We were glad we did as Cabana was a pleasant surprise. It describes itself as a Brasilian Barbecue and if you want meat they have a lot of it. This is a huge (for Brixton) restaurant with loads of room and comfortable seats. There is a capirinha bar on the floor below but we chose to eat.

We were in a threesome, which meant we could try things across the menu. There are small things to eat while you wait for your food and from that list we chose Guaca-Molho – guacamole with lots of corn chips. The chips were endless and were not too salty and didn’t taste of sprayed on flavours, so we enjoyed them a lot. But we could have chosen fiery pork scratchings, parmesan with honey or chargrilled pitta. We skipped the starters section (still thinking about weight reduction following Christmas) and went straight to the mains. Think meat – chicken, pork, beef or lamb in all forms – burgers, stews, steaks, on or off the bone.

We chose spicy Malagueta Chicken, Feijoada (beef, pork and bean stew) and a Steak and Palmito (palm hearts). Sides of rice and peas, sweet potato chips and “homeslaw” were a good portion size. We enjoyed them all, especially the rice which was really well flavoured. Seasoning was personalised to each of our tastes and if you want it hotter there was a choice of bottled sauces on the table to increase the heat. We were delighted with the chicken and the steak, although we have had better feijoada. It probably needed a bit more time in the microwave, as it was a bit chilly in parts. The chicken was served in an authentic fashion, from the spit on which they had been barbecued.

We washed this all down with water and a couple of two-for-one capirinhas that are served until 7:00 pm. They weren’t the best capirinhas we’ve had, not at all like those we had in Sao Paulo, but not bad at half price.

We want to thank the enthusiastic and helpful staff who not only were thoughtful about the service but wrapped up the leftovers for a lovely lunch the next day. The whole thing came to £61.25. Apologies for the lack of photographs but the lighting was subtle, so they didn’t come out too well.