London Lambeth Restaurant Guide

“Grab a seat outside either at the counter shelf or at one of the tables” of this ten-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.

“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 two-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”.

Limited feedback to-date on this new, ‘playful restaurant and botanical bar’ next to The Old Vic serving ‘killer botanical cocktails’ alongside ‘eclectic sharing-plates’ from Natalie Coleman, winner of MasterChef 2013. One early reporter voiced sentiments similar to the Evening Standard’s Fay Maschler: “it’s a fun, new opening but with fairly average food”.

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”.

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.

Occupying one of Pop Brixton’s shipping containers (and with a little terrace, too), Irish chef Simon Whiteside (from Hook in Camden) is serving up fish and seafood cuisine with inspiration from his homeland. Feedback is too thin for a rating but praises its “beautiful, very fresh fish”, suggesting it’s worth a visit.

Brixton locals Alice Staple and Dickie Bielenberg have teamed up with ex-Bruno Loubet chef Dominique Goltinger to create this little Italian haven. It opened in early summer 2019, too late for survey feedback, but early reviews are very upbeat about its honest Tuscan cuisine.