London Peckham Restaurant Guide

2022 Review: Vegan and vegetarian neighbourhood bistro, set in a quiet street near Peckham Rye station. It was opened in autumn 2019 by ex-Vanilla Black chef Tom Heale (plus his two brothers and a business partner) and – though it’s a simple, cosy venue – it quickly attracted favourable press from The Torygraph and Marina O’Loughlin in The Sunday Times. Sharing is encouraged and drinks include biodynamic, organic and vegan, and numerous fancy teas.

2022 Review: One of the few early 2021 newcomers (at which time it was delivery only) – this ‘soul food fusion’ newcomer operates out of the Peckham Levels. The aim? – ‘a bold and culturally relevant brand to disrupt the traditionally Euro-centric and often whitewashed London food scene’. This translates into hearty spicy scoff – Trinidadian Bara Tacos (fried bread with a chickpea filling), Philly Banh Mi Cheesesteaks… deep-fried Oreos.

Peckish for pizza down Peckham way? Andrea Asciuti’s popular pitstop is a pint-sized, 20-cover premises (a lot of the business is for delivery) and punches well above its weight, with a superb selection of funky Neapolitan pizzas (from 72-hour fermented dough), panuozzo (Neapolitan street-food sarnies), tapas (e.g. arancina, deep fried aubergine balls, lobster croquettes) and puds (including Nutella pizza, natch).

2021 Review: “Tasty street-food vendors, a good pint and a great atmosphere” (plus, for families, “plenty of space for kids to scoot around”) win a thumbs-up for this vibey project, converted from seven levels of an underutilised multi-storey car park. Levels five and six are the heart of the action foodwise: residents include Nandine (offshoot of a Kurdish café in Camberwell), Other Side Fried (chicken burgers) and Hao Hao chi (handmade regional Chinese street food).

The top floor of the National Theatre has been through a number of incarnations and its latest is the autumn 2023 spin-off from Peckham Rye’s hip roof-top bar that’s long been a favoured spot for sundowners and nibbles for fun-loving SE15 types. Most reports see this new branch as “a fabulous addition to the Forza family”, saying: “at last, the National Theatre has a buzzy restaurant to be proud of – with its fab location, a table on the beautiful and spacious wrap- around terrace is unbeatable on a sunny day, serving lovely sharing plates of modern Italian-ish tapas and an excellent drinks list”. On the downside, service can be “a bit chaotic” and “all over the place”. Top Menu Tip – “memorable cauliflower fritti with aioli. Yum!”

This 15-strong London noodle chain (now with branches in Brighton, Birmingham and Bristol) is “a good stand-by” – perhaps it’s “not as good as some of its competitors”, but it is widely seen as “good value”: in particular “the lunch-time meal deal” is a winner.

2024 Review: “This Malaysian place at Market Peckham has wonderful food” – “the chicken satay is as good as I’ve had in the UK” and “the Hainanese chicken sando is delectable”. It’s “highly regarded, with fans including reviewers (Marina O’L)”, but popularity has brought problems with “scaling up” – “they need more space, staff and flexible portions”. BREAKING NEWS – in September 2023, they announced they have found their first ‘forever home’ at 78 Lower Clapton Road, Lower Clapton, London E5 0RN. The bigger space, with open kitchen, will have 40 covers, with 20 seats inside and 20 seats on a ‘garden’ terrace.

After 20 years, Peckham pioneer Claire Fisher’s “refectory-style” venue “keeps on delivering wonderful South Indian food”, including “some cracking veg dishes, though it’s not all vegan by any means”. “We first went 16 years ago and it has remained consistent through all this time – the difference is that then it was a lone star in an area short of places to eat, now it’s one of many”. Top Menu Tip – “homemade paratha is a must”.

This contemporary European venue behind Peckham Rye station is still one of the most interesting restaurants in Peckham (“absurd-sounding, I know, to our parents’ generation, but that makes it very cool!)”. That said, it no longer attracts the superlative ratings of five years ago, and one school of thought finds it “overrated and expensive”. Inspired by the ’bistronomy’ movement of Paris, it serves appropriately “interesting” low-intervention and natural wines.

This “wonderful little local restaurant” is now the flagship of a Peckham-based ‘Collective’ (Little Kudu, Curious Kudu, Kudu Grill) from second-generation restaurateur Amy Corbin (daughter of Corbin & King’s Chris) and her South African-born partner Patrick Williams, who infuses some dishes on the “quite unusual” menu with a light Saffa spin: “engaging and fun” with food that’s “spot-on”. Top Tip – gorgeous cute garden.

2022 Review: “Levan’s sister restaurant is a useful addition to the Peckham dining experience, and also revolves around sharing plates”. Originally due to open on the first week of the first 2020 lockdown, this all-day Peckham diner (in the same stable as Levan and Salon) is named after groundbreaking NYC DJ Larry Levan and is a homage to Jewish and Italian NYC diners, circa 1975. You are served at retro orange tables, with diner-style sarnies at lunch, or more substantial dishes like schnitzel and cheesecake, all dolled up a bit for 21st-century sensibilities (I don’t remember any gochujang mayo served back in the day…).

2023 Review: “Deliciously different pizza” comes by the slice in the “relaxed setting” of this yearling in a former grain warehouse (a former site of Forza Win). For all its “very basic” appearance, serious thought goes into the toppings, along with ingredients such as Sicilian datterini tomatoes, Calabrian tropea onions and Turkish figs. “The only problem is knowing when to stop ordering!”

This “great sharing-plates restaurant with very accommodating staff” – and a “good wine selection”, its primary focus – has been a linchpin in the emergence of Peckham’s going-out scene (“I’ve never had a bad meal here: in principle I’m not a fan of small plates but here it all works”).

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.

2024 Review: Open in June 2023 from Peckham’s Kudu Collective, Little Kudu replaces the Smokey Kudu cocktail bar in Queen’s Road (which has shifted to the RIXO fashion emporium on Chelsea’s King’s Road). There’s a strong focus on South African wine here, with simple, tapas-y/small plates food to soak it up (eg Braaibroodjie: a Saffa cheese toastie).