London Lambeth Restaurant Guide

For the “mind-blowing sound system”, or as “a great place to grab a drink and a bite with your mates”, this “groovy”, music-led four-year-old, near Granary Square has won quite a following. (It was founded by music consultant Paul Noble, who has worked with Monocle and the Beeb; and Canteen founders Patrick Clayton-Malone and Dominic Lake). “The new, handy Festival Hall branch has the same vibe as the King’s Cross original, and here they offer really well-prepared cooking to match the cool sounds, laid-back atmosphere and enthusiastic service... it deserves to thrive.”

“Grab a seat outside either at the counter shelf or at one of the tables” of this eleven-year-old deli “in an off-the-beaten track, verdant garden square in Vauxhall” for an authentic lunchtime treat from a short Italian menu. In colder weather you eat inside at a few closely-packed tables surrounded by shelves of produce.

“Affordable and with a nice vibe” – these good-looking, all-day hang-outs major in brunch, but make reasonably-priced options for a relaxed meal at any time. This year, they added Kensington High Street and Islington to the stable and spread beyond inner London to Surbiton and St Albans.

“A small but well-executed menu” and “great cocktails” win general applause for this “tasty, cheap ’n’ cheerful local Vietnamese” in Peckham Rye, now with a Brixton spin-off. The Nguyen family use their chef-grandmother’s recipes from 1940s Saigon.

“A light and airy space” overlooking a “simply lovely garden” – the pavilion at Lambeth’s Garden Museum is an oasis of tranquillity in a grungy part of town. The three-year-old venture operates as a full-on restaurant for lunch and dinner; and its “ambitious, unpredictable, mainly seasonal menu” is “well executed” by chefs Harry Kaufman and George Ryle, who know their chops after stints in St John and Padella respectively. “Service can sometimes make you feel a bit of a nuisance for asking for attention…”

“There is no finer burger in town: end of!” – Zan Kaufman’s tiny group “keeps things simple… and they smash it!”. “If you want mega-stacked, crazy combos, with layers and layers of toppings falling out of the side, there are numerous other (excellent) options in London. But if you want the best patties, made with the best aged beef, un-mucked-about-with and served by a bunch of nice people, then Bleecker is just the best there is”.

This “all-day neighbourhood restaurant” opened two years ago in an old Victorian dining room opposite Herne Hill station, and quickly established itself as “a top local option” for many reporters; although, because it’s “small”, it becomes “crowded and noisy” as a result. The “admirably daily-changing menu” has Mediterranean influences and “usually offers interesting dishes” at “good prices” – they would be rated even higher were it not for a few reporters who see them as “decent enough, but nothing special”.

“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.

Replacing Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen, which is moving on to bigger things, as so many of Pop Brxton's residents have done before, Petare is bringing the heat to Brixton with Venezuelan arepas, following pop-ups and residencies in markets across London.