London Brixton Restaurant Guide

2021 Review: Chef Pietro Franz has now left Pop Brixton for this simple, stripped-down, forever home where he serves Sicilian small plates and pasta. Little survey feedback so far – more reports please.

“A great place to have in the neighbourhood” – this “lovely” Antipodean-run fixture is set – with its own sizable outside terrace – in a large and characterful Victorian laundry; and “sitting next to Brixton Market means it always has a lively vibe with some added street theatre”. “Lots of cocktails are enjoyed at the weekends here”, when it’s a favourite destination. But “it works for brunch, lunch or dinner” with an all-day menu incorporating a good selection of modern bistro dishes alongside more breakfast-ish staples.

“Clever, subtly infused curries a wonderful step up from your local Indian” (“the flavours of every option are incredible with each dish spiced to perfection”) have catapulted this project by university friends Will Bowlby and Rik Campbell from a Brixton pop-up to three thriving tapas-style restaurants, including a Soho flagship with cocktail bar, in less than 10 years.

2021 Review: The “lovely Thai food” at these reliable cafés is “impressively authentic given that they are a chain” – “excellent value” and “fast”, if occasionally let down by “iffy service”. Founded in 2008 by Saiphin and Alex Moore, who inherited the name of their first East End site, the group has 18 branches in London and expanded to Liverpool, Manchester, Reading (delivery only) and Leeds following the sale of a majority stake to US investors. The couple also have two spin-offs, Lao Café in Covent Garden and the new Chinese noodle bar Hoh Sek in St Katharine Docks.

This family-owned traditional Thai trio – in Brixton, Battersea and Tooting – is “always packed” – a tribute to the high levels of hospitality they have maintained over the years. The BYO policy means they are good value, too.

“Smoky, flavourful, moist, DEELICIOUS – the burger is so well done, I go back again and again”, chorus fans of this five-year-old independent with five outlets around London. Some hail the burgers – made from high-welfare native breed grass-fed West Country beef, dry-aged on the bone – as “the best in town”. Founders Liz & Stew dreamt up the project while working ski seasons in Canada – hence the name.

2022 Review: “Sink your teeth in and savour!” the “bold flavours” of former MasterChef winner Tim Anderson’s take on Japanese cooking using foreign or ‘barbarian’ (Nanban) ingredients, showcased in his “fast and furious” 10-year-old pop-up-gone-permanent on the edge of Brixton Market. “Their noodle dishes became a lockdown delivery staple, packed with flavour, a wonderful smoky depth to the tea eggs, heart-warming broths”. A new Covent Garden offshoot opened in September 2021 at Kerb’s Seven Dials Market, focused on ramen dishes.

2023 Review: “Tasty thin-crust dough – cooked well in the middle, so no soggy bottoms” – is the secret to the appeal of this seven-strong South London sourdough pizzeria group, where the emphasis is on local ingredients (including Shipton Mill flour and British-made buffalo mozzarella) washed down with locally brewed craft beers and juices from Kent.

2021 Review: “Everything here is great, but I totally loved the paneer burger” – an alternative to the best-selling bhangra burger on the menu of these popular pop-ups, in POP Brixton and now also Vinegar Yard, SE1. After over ten years in the game, the business shifted up a gear in May 2019 with the opening (flush with £300k of investment having won BBC2’s ‘My Million Pound Menu’) of the new forever-home listed here: a 50-seater in Camden Town’s Stables Market.

2022 Review: The Nguyen family run this duo of no-nonsense Vietnamese cafés in Peckham Rye and Brixton – well-rated all-round for their tasty scoff: soups, salads, rolls and other simple dishes.

2022 Review: Fried chicken junkies beat a path to this first permanent site – in Brixton’s Atlantic Road arches – of a team who also have street food stalls in Leicester Square, Pop Brixton and elsewhere around town.

This “really impressive” two-year-old from Aidan Bryan & Tom Blackshaw in Brixton’s former Bon Marché department store is a “catch-all Japanese restaurant delivering high-quality, tasty dishes” that are “quirky, in a good way”: “while not the most authentic sushi for the purists” – the clue is in the name – “it’s definitely worth a visit”.

2022 Review: Ex-Bonnie Gull chef James Mathieson heads up this post-lockdown 2021 newcomer, located on the ground floor of Brixton’s Design Store, and owned by Squire & Partners – a family-run architectural practice. It incorporates a cobblestone courtyard for alfresco dining – on the menu, Mediterranean dishes ‘from the Aegean and Balearics to the Levantine basin’.

This “cute little restaurant” near Brockwell Park in Brixton “really ticks all the boxes”, with a “short selection of interesting Italian food” inspired by Tuscany’s Maremma marshes – “you wouldn’t expect an establishment of this quality to be hidden away here”. Marks for food slipped a notch this year, although it’s still “exciting and seasonal” at its best.

“As brilliant as ever” – Joe Sharratt and Margaux Aubry’s “unassuming space” in Brixton is “everything you’d want from a local and more” – making it stand out on the South London gastronomic scene. The “laid-back vibe belies a serious approach to food and wine”, resulting in French-inspired “plates of pure pleasure” – “so much better than the fancy fly-by-night trendy places that are all queues, instagram and foam”. Top Menu Tip – “they serve the BEST butter you will ever taste”.

2023 Review: A colourful, small new space in Brixton’s Granville Arcade (Brixton Village as it’s called nowadays) created in mid 2021 by Brian Danclair who also runs nearby ‘Fish Wings & Tings’ (now over a decade old). It’s still off-radar in our survey, but both The Sunday Times’s Marina O’Loughlin (“a restaurant on the verge of a party” with a “bass-heavy soundtrack and hectic colour scheme probably detectable from space”) and The Evening Standard’s Jimi Famurewa (“None of what is on offer… seeks to reinvent the wheel… yet, there is something quietly radical about its forceful sincerity”) have raved in recent times.

“Tasty kebabs and sides” that “offer a modern twist on traditional Middle Eastern cuisine” make this “brilliant” Carnaby Street outfit “a must-visit”, “in the lovely setting of Kingly Court”. The Battersea branch is “an absolute gem”, and there are now half a dozen outlets around town, including at the Market Halls in Oxford Street and Canary Wharf. See also Kebab Queen.

“Fantastic roast duck” and quite possibly “the best chicken rice in London” earn full marks for this Cantonese roast meat specialist with outlets near Liverpool Street, in Hawley Wharf, Camden, and Brixton Market. Founders Pui Sing, Cheong Yew and Mo Kwok were inspired by childhood memories of eating sui mei near Wan Chai market in Hong Kong. Their venues may be “cramped and busy”, but the cooking is “consistently delicious, generously portioned and great value”.

“Still dreaming about the anchovies on toast!” Robin and Sarah Gill’s compact (28 covers) yearling aims to bring Parisian café culture to Brixton’s Market Row. All feedback on the “daily changing menus of small and larger dishes” is upbeat: “a small place with a brilliant selection of options, good wine and drinks list. Staff are really on it, know the dishes inside out and steer you in the right direction for your order”.