1. 56 October 2016 | theresident.co.uk
The Begging Bowl: one of south
east London’s best Thai restaurants
I
n May 2011 Jay Rayner reviewed
Kaosarn, the Thai cafe-style
restaurant in Brixton Market. He
ended his review with the line: ‘On a
Friday evening there were free tables
before 9pm. It won’t be like that for
long.’Anyone who’s stepped foot in the
now much-lauded Brixton Village will
know how right the Guardian’s food
critic was. Fast forward five years, and
it’s not just on a Friday night you need to
wait for a table. Indeed, it’s not even just
during evenings when people gather for a
coveted spot outside one of the numerous
restaurants: most times of the day see a
virtually never-ending round of
destination diners, Instagrammers, food
bloggers and – yes – even locals in
search of something to eat, making their
way around the market with wide eyes
and empty bellies.
Nowadays, Kaosarn is joined by
numerous other traders in Brixton
Village and Market Row, from Franco
Manca and Brixton Village Grill, to
newer-kids-on the block serving
everything from Japanese okominyaki to
jerk chicken. But it’s not just from within
Brixton’s food scene has evolved wonderfully –
and now Peckham is set to follow suit
Words Victoria Smith
Popping up
in Peckham

2. houses events spaces, a farm (for plants,
not animals) and the relatively new Pop
Fields, where you can pitch-up on the
Astroturf and watch sports and films on
a big screen.
The unique combination has been a
triumph, apparent not just in the
perennially packed space, but from the
verdicts of the traders themselves. Bel
Shapiro, owner at The Bell and Brisket,
opened up on the site three months ago,
and as well as supplying visitors with
superlative salt beef, is enjoying being
part of such a unique scheme. ‘It feels
great to be back in a community again,’
she says. ‘We’ve been slightly distanced
from the street food scene recently due
to pub residencies, which don’t offer that
same feeling. So it’s lovely to be able to
turn up in the morning and have a whole
new set of pals.’
Melanie Brown from the New
Zealand Cellar wine shop and bar agrees
that Pop’s a great scheme to be part of:
‘It’s created a new enticing environment
for locals, which has contributed to the
positive growth happening in Brixton,
and it’s also allowed many local
businesses to flourish and created a
network of like-minded individuals to
collaborate and support each other.’
For some of the businesses that have
been at the site since the very start, Pop
has been the kick-start they needed to
expand even further. Kricket serves
contemporary Indian small plates and
gourmet
theresident.co.uk | October 2016 57
Destonation diners,
Instagrammers and
food bloggers are flocking
to the area
the confines of the market that Brixton
has secured its spot on London’s culinary
map: the swift success has led the way
for a raft of new openings, with chains
such as Wahaca, Brindisa, Barrio and
The Rum Kitchen all opening sizeable
sites in SW2 – a notion that a few years
ago any long-serving Brixtonite would
have found far-fetched to say the least –
and, perhaps most excitingly, the arrival
of Pop Brixton, a unique community
project that’s home to some of the
tastiest traders in town.
The site just on Brixton Station Road
makes as much of a visual statement –
it’s created from brightly-painted
shipping containers, arranged around a
central courtyard, with a covered
greenhouse area for chillier days – as it
does a culinary one, and most nights over
the summer saw every inch packed with
people making the most of the space.
But if you’ve yet to venture to the
vibrant oasis, what can you expect? A
culinary wonderland that’ll take your
The likes of Artusi and
The Bell & Brisket have
bene tasty additions to
south east London
taste buds on a tour of countries from
Japan to Italy via India, Ghana and
Germany, to name just a few. However,
it’s not just about the food – this project
exists to support the local community as
well as feed it, and all traders must be
prepared to give something back to
Brixton and its surrounding areas. Pop
also offers discounted rates to social
enterprises and local start-ups needing to
get their businesses off the ground, and
›
Pop Brixton has proved to be a
vibrant community project

3. gourmet
theresident.co.uk | October 2016 59
cocktails – their samphire pakoras are not
to be missed – and the killer combo has
proved so popular, they’re opening a
second site in Soho soon. ‘Being part of
Pop has been an amazing journey, better
than we could have ever imagined and a
great platform to launch our Soho
restaurant,’ says owner Rik Campbell.
Not satisfied with conquering Brixton,
the team behind Pop are now looking
towards their second site, Peckham
Levels. This autumn, Peckham Town
Centre Car Park (the space beneath
popular rooftop bar Frank’s Cafe) will be
transformed into Peckham Levels, a new
creative community for local artists and
entrepreneurs. Spread over seven floors,
it will turn the currently empty structure
into 90,000 square feet of workspaces,
artists’ studios, public areas and event
venues. When fully occupied, it will
house a community of over 600
independent members. Peckham Levels
is a temporary project set to run over the
next five years, but we can’t wait to see
whether it attracts the same kind of
creative talent as Pop Brixton.
Find out more at popbrixton.org and
peckhamlevels.org
Artusi
Artusi pride themselves in their chalkboard
menu of un-fussy, seasonal Mediterranean
dishes. For lunch, think salt cod with
polenta, or a light dish of homemade
ricotta with padron peppers and capers.
At dinner, the olive oil cake with sweet
almond ice cream is not to be missed.
161 Bellenden Road SE15 4DH;
020 3302 8200; artusi.co.uk
Pedler
Plates at Pedler are something to write
home about and are best enjoyed after a
pineapple martini apéritif. We can’t get
enough of their mac & cheese with
harbourne blue, broad beans and herb
crumb, or the pulled goat with curried
tomatoes and ginger. For afters, there’s a
decadent valrhona chocolate brownie
with Bermondsey rum. Yum.
58 Peckham Rye SE15 4JR; 020 3030 5015;
pedlerpeckhamrye.com
The Begging Bowl
Our favourite Thai restaurant, The Begging
Bowl has been lauded in the press, and for
good reason. Try the soup of grilled,
smoked eel and order a crispy tofu stir-fry,
or perhaps try the beef rump Jungle curry
served with green beans, apple
aubergines and Thai basil.
168 Bellenden Road SE15 4BW;
020 7635 2627
Mr. Bao
Asian food can be found on almost every
corner down in Peckham, but Mr. Bao is
where those in the know have been
flocking to this year. Specialising in
Taiwanese, this tiny restaurant serves big
buns for a small price. If you are unable to
book a table, this is a perfect alternative to
order a quick lunch-to-go.
293 Rye Lane SE15 4UA; 020 7635 0325;
mrbao.co.uk
Banh Banh
Based on their grandmothers’ recipes,
the five siblings of Bahn Bahn have come
together to produce a healthy range of
Vietnamese street food, consisting of
food sharing platters including prawn
pancakes, and beef and green bean
stew. Having started out over at the
Bussey Building café, they have now
established their own residency just north
of Peckham and Rye Park.
46 Peckham Rye SE15 4JR; 020 7207 2935;
banhbanh.com
Mamma Dough
With already two establishments open for
business in Brixton and Honor Oak Park,
Mamma Dough has finally reached
Peckham. Pull up a bench for a laid-
back afternoon at this pizzeria’s new
café, which has been hailed for
mastering thin-crusted sourdough bases
with simple and tasty toppings.
179 Queen’s Road SE15 2ND;
020 7635 3470; mammadough.co.uk
The Habit
Reserve a table at The Habit for your next
family meal out for those wanting a hearty,
British meal. Opened February 2016, the
latest edition to Nunhead pairs a
delectable selection of classic dishes with
European wines. There’s an equally yummy
kids menu too – but hands off grown ups.
60 Nunhead Lane SE15 3QE; 020 7635 9060;
thehabitnunhead.co.uk
Peckham – what’s
on the menu?
Banh Banh’s dishes are based on
age-old family recipes
The chefs of Mr Bao;
Pedler serves up
eclectic, tasty dishes