London Peckham Restaurant Guide

From the team behind Streatham's Bravi Ragazzi, this new spot in Peckham Levels offers Neapolitan pizza and tapas.

“Just wow: bags and bags of flavour in every dish” – this “consistently interesting” Peckham three-year-old from chef Patrick Williams and front of house Amy Corbin (daughter of Chris) is hitting an ever-more impressive stride with its “modern and intelligent” South African-influenced cooking, service that’s “gracefully informal and knowledgeable” and an interior that’s “charming and relaxed, with subdued lighting”. It’s “generous, too – bread served with whole frying pans full of flavoured butter, for goodness sake!”. “A real treat and worth the (in my case) 350-mile round trip”, enthused one satisfied reporter.

For “ace food” and “an upbeat local boho vibe” – “Ganapati does it every time”. Chef Claire Fisher opened this small Peckham venue 15 years ago after travelling around South India. “Everything is home-made from the pickles to the parathas and you can even buy jars of pickle to take home” – and there’s a “fantastic choice for veggies and vegans too”. Top Tip – “great lunchtime thali for £8.50”.

For a “cheap ’n’ cheerful” scran-fest, Frank Yeung’s small Peckham café comes highly recommended by reporters as distant as Gloucester! It’s all about the tasty Taiwanese bao – a total wow!

2019 Review: “From a small shop come the most divine pizzas – yes, even beating Franco Manca’s original (i.e. Brixton) branch” – that’s the bold claim made by fans of this year-old pop-up-turned permanent in Peckham (which also operates out of a container at Pop Brixton).

“A must-visit, right by Peckham station” – whose converted Grade II ticket office houses this “excellent” three-year-old: a stand-out even by the area’s lofty standards. “Robust, even macho” dishes, from the smoker and robata grills, are central both to the open kitchen and the menu. Top Tip – “worth a visit for the WC alone” – beautifully restored, old, Victorian bogs.

2018 Review: The Nguyen family achieves positive (if not quite unanimous) support for the “tasty and cheap Vietnamese fare” at their bare-brick-walled Peckham Rye yearling.

Spicy scoff “continues to impress at this authentic and very busy Peckham fixture” – a corner site with terrace, which has been a well-known feature of the local food scene since 2012 (and was refurbed in December 2018). It’s not Thai-run: chef and co-owner Jane Alty worked at David Thompson’s much-vaunted Nahm (long RIP) back in the dim and distant past.

2018 Review: Behind Peckham Rye station, this chilled all-day café/bar is worth knowing about for coffee or a light bite – it attracts only limited feedback, but to the effect that it’s an all-round good place.

“All the dishes deliver bags of flavour and something different to the usual” at this “really interesting Balkan restaurant”, “well off-the-beaten-path (even by Peckham standards)”. Much is cooked on a charcoal grill so “there’s a happy smoky vibe to the place”, although it’s “always busy” and “can feel cramped”.