London Brixton Restaurant Guide

2021 Review: 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.

Converted from a Victorian laundry by Brixton Market – this “friendly local with tasty small plates, an appropriate wine list and the bustle of Brixton life” has a distinctly Antipodean flavour – owner Melanie Brown founded the New Zealand and Australian Cellars, while exec chef Samantha Harvey hails from Sydney. It has a “great outdoor space for lunch”, too.

“Brilliant, innovative and constantly changing” – Will Bowlby & Rik Campbell’s “unfailingly interesting” street-food cafés provide “real Indian food… cooked by Brits” and inspire a large army of fans for this small group, which added a fourth Canary Wharf outlet in early 2024 (and has announced a fifth branch will be coming to Shoreditch at the end of the year). They have achieved an all-round success story: “super-friendly service” scores incredibly highly as does the “buzzy environment”. And in Soho, “the restaurant is now supplemented by the Soma Bar next door” with an array of funky cocktails.

2021 Review: The “lovely Thai food” at these reliable cafés is “impressively authentic given that they are a chain” – “excellent value” and “fast”, if occasionally let down by “iffy service”. Founded in 2008 by Saiphin and Alex Moore, who inherited the name of their first East End site, the group has 18 branches in London and expanded to Liverpool, Manchester, Reading (delivery only) and Leeds following the sale of a majority stake to US investors. The couple also have two spin-offs, Lao Café in Covent Garden and the new Chinese noodle bar Hoh Sek in St Katharine Docks.

“Consistent and authentic Thai food” earns a shout-out for this low-key, family-run trio, in Brixton, Battersea and Tooting. Prices are reasonable and the ability to BYO in each location is a further boost to the value of a meal.

“Sinfully good” burgers are delivered with “quick and efficient service” – and “genius free soft serve ice cream” (which accompanies your bill) – at this independent group with a handful of outlets around London. Former nurse Liz Down and her husband Stew started out in 2016 with a stall on Broadway Market, inspired by working holidays in the Canadian Rockies. Top Tip – “indulge in the guilty pleasure of their dry-aged beef glazed in miso with double cheese”.

2022 Review: “Sink your teeth in and savour!” the “bold flavours” of former MasterChef winner Tim Anderson’s take on Japanese cooking using foreign or ‘barbarian’ (Nanban) ingredients, showcased in his “fast and furious” 10-year-old pop-up-gone-permanent on the edge of Brixton Market. “Their noodle dishes became a lockdown delivery staple, packed with flavour, a wonderful smoky depth to the tea eggs, heart-warming broths”. A new Covent Garden offshoot opened in September 2021 at Kerb’s Seven Dials Market, focused on ramen dishes.

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.

2021 Review: “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.

2022 Review: The Nguyen family run this duo of no-nonsense Vietnamese cafés in Peckham Rye and Brixton – well-rated all-round for their tasty scoff: soups, salads, rolls and other simple dishes.

2022 Review: Fried chicken junkies beat a path to this first permanent site – in Brixton’s Atlantic Road arches – of a team who also have street food stalls in Leicester Square, Pop Brixton and elsewhere around town.

‘Rebel against the establishment and join the sushi revolution!’ – purists should steer clear of this small Brixton pitstop, where various funky meat, vegan and veggie options sit alongside more traditional Japanese sushi combos. Feedback was limited this year, but continues to rate it positively all-round. And they must be doing something right, as a new Shoreditch branch opened in June 2024.

2022 Review: Ex-Bonnie Gull chef James Mathieson heads up this post-lockdown 2021 newcomer, located on the ground floor of Brixton’s Design Store, and owned by Squire & Partners – a family-run architectural practice. It incorporates a cobblestone courtyard for alfresco dining – on the menu, Mediterranean dishes ‘from the Aegean and Balearics to the Levantine basin’.

An “honest and unpretentious Tuscan-focused menu” is the specialty at this “delightful Italian restaurant with a local neighbourhood vibe” near Brockwell Park (which is named after Tuscany’s Maremma marshes). Its sizable fan club is more than local (“I love this place, it’s always buzzing…”; “if in doubt, fall back on this cute little local for romance”).

Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, Margaux Aubry’s “exceptional” Brixton wine bar always “does a great job in making you feel welcome” in a “tiny space”. Co-founder Joe Sharratt is no longer involved, so Margaux’s “great wine list” is now accompanied by cooking from a succession of guest chefs – which means “the only complaint, that the menu rarely changes”, no longer holds, so now it can be more of a “regular haunt”.

“Not a place for a posh dinner, but lip-smackingly good tucker and a fun night out” – that’s the deal at Brian Danclair’s vibrant small gaff “in the heart of Brixton Village Market”, close to his Fish Wings & Tings. The menu is “super-tasty”, often with a Jamaican twist; and “you get a very warm welcome from the boss”.

This 10-year-old group with six sites offers a “good-value and tasty” take on the Middle Eastern kebab, served with a “modern twist” alongside “noteworthy cocktails”. “A seat at the counter is fun” at the original Kingly Court branch in Carnaby Street, which has a ‘fine dining’ option downstairs, Kebab Queen (see also).

“A takeaway hole in the wall with some seating” characterises the branches of Pui Sing, Cheong Yew & Mo Kwok’s HK-inspired group, which specialises in Siu Mei (“authentic roasted Chinese meats”) served in “generous portions” plus noodles – “top Hong Kong food, affordable and better than at ‘normal’ sit-down restaurants”. Towards the end of 2024, they will open their largest site to-date: a 50-cover restaurant in Ealing’s Filmworks development.

“Still dreaming about the anchovies on toast!” Robin and Sarah Gill’s compact (28 covers) yearling aims to bring Parisian café culture to Brixton’s Market Row. All feedback on the “daily changing menus of small and larger dishes” is upbeat: “a small place with a brilliant selection of options, good wine and drinks list. Staff are really on it, know the dishes inside out and steer you in the right direction for your order”.