Another bite of Brixton Market - Feb 2012

As a little foodie cluster, Brixton Village has more than enough ethnic treats to satisfy even the most diverse of foodie. The main problem will be deciding what to go for. Personal highlights include the excellent Honest Burger, Franco Manca (the slew of other, newer openings have thankfully made seats here easier to come by) and Federation's excellent coffee. 

There's a pleasant mix developing between new and old Brixton. The newly opened food stalls complement the peacock finery of the African clothes stores and feel at home alongside the butchers and veg stalls elsewhere. A soundtrack of dub, reggae and itinerant street preacher permeates and there's thankfully little sign of the depressing corporate homogeneity that has neutered Spitalfields, Borough, Camden and the other markets. Brixton does it differently.

Mama Lam is another often mentioned treat, more an appeterif than a main meal, they do a selection of freshly made Chinese jiaozi or potsticker dumplings, a couple of other fried lovelies and intense, flavoursome noodle soups. The tiny outdoor tables are a trial in the winter so grab a place at the counter and watch their Chinese mama deftly roll and fill the little dough parcels, poached then crisped off over hot heat. Fillings include beef, pork and vegetables, five satisfying and fresh buns will set you back a few quid.

A rarer street food is served at Okan, big hearty pancakes from Osaka called Okonomiyaki. Hefty, hearty giant rosti cakes, made with a cabbage and noodle base held together with a sloppy batter, served with a variety of umami rich toppings and fillings. They taste better than they sound and the theatre of them being prepared on their sizzling short order grill is both evocative and famishing...

As well as the three or four places mentioned recently, there are a number of South American places I've subsequently noticed now on my list, a good looking Thai, jerk stalls (though I have my Peckham affinities here) and a selection of other bakeries, grills and goodies alongside non food related retailers old and new school. The continual evolution and ad hoc nature of the place will hopefully bring new places to the market to sink or swim based on satisfaction rather than longevity of lease or depth of corporate pocket.

The finished product

 Looking in at Mama Lam

And the resultant pot stickers

Franco Manca - Another slice of Brixton Market - Jan 2012

Occupying two shallow store spaces opposite each other on the pedestrian walk through Market Row, the chaotic crowds around Franco Manca get to you just before the smell does. luckily others are either busy keeping their new year's resolutions or have moved temporarily on to the gustatory delights elsewhere in Brixton Market and we slide (un)comfortably into the slim fit church pews outside ready to worship at the altar. On a cold January day we're slightly envious of the sweat slicked artisan operators slaving away at the dual wood fired ovens, one on either side.

Things are kept simple. You're only here for one thing after all. A choice of six pizzas on the menu plus a daily specials board. Paper menu, Ikea tumblers and cutlery in tins on the table.

Toppings are mainly meaty and our special, with soft creamy wild boar mortadella is no exception, the meat going well with roasted green peppers softened and sweet from the wood fired oven.
The pizza is a chewy sourdough, fresh from those ovens, served as it comes. Being picky, ours is slightly soggy in the centre from the tomato sauce (though possibly also my over generous application of chilli infused olive oil). The crust is superb, if you can then try to bring one of the naysayers who leaves it at the side of their plate, and steal theirs too.


                

The last meal of the year - Honest Burger, Brixton - Dec 2012

The last review of the year. It could only really be a burger right? And this one was a long shot. I've tried and failed to get a seat here before (and I really can't queue, especially not for fast food...) Luckily enough, I found myself with a hunger, in Brixton Market, at just the right time...

Rough and ready doesn't come close to describing the friendly little hole in the wall, at 12:10 it's already on the way to fullness, before my meat materialises it's standing room only. Interior decor is minimal, and that's being kind, though they've got the fundamentals - a scattering of tables, a small grill and a beer fridge... What more do you need? They don't have a lot on the menu after all. As you'd expect from the name, it begins, and ends, with burgers.

Alongside a portion of triple cooked rosemary salted chips, lunch arrives served in 40's enamel trays, a nod to the austerity of the design perhaps. I was briefly tempted by the festive special, venison sausage topped, but feel I have to go for the trademark Honest Burger, served a recommended medium. The dark beef aged chuck patties, flecked with fat, are pressed onto the grill to order, tiny cloches added at the last to steam the cheese into the meat. In a space this small, the smell is mildly intoxicating and certainly enough to have me salivating before it arrives.

The burger is good. Very good. A well formed cricket ball of chopped steak nearer to med-rare than medium - certainly not something I have a problem with. The glazed brioche bun gives the right amount of support, iceburg lettuce adds a welcome crunch and the tangy cheese, a cheddar in this instance, is (correctly) sparingly applied and combines well with the sweetness of the meat. The chips were a little over cooked for me, too much cooking for thin chips, it made them feel like they could have been reheated. My only other gripe was with the sliced gherkin served inside the bun, something I'm really not a fan of, but hardly enough to call for a boycott.

Don't come with any hope of getting a table for more than 2, it's almost impossible to wrangle a spot for larger groups in the packed lunchtime session. Still, there are plenty of other food options in the buzzy market hall community that's gradually opening up in Brixton Market. Is it a competitor to the big boys of Byron and Meatliquor's burger king Yannis? It's difficult to say. The burger is excellent, (if not quite up there with the Meatwagon's legendary Dead Hippie) but it feels like a labour of love, very much suited for the tiny space.. They're doing well at the moment though, and if they keep their standards up, long may it continue.
 

Review of Khamsa - June 2010

Where (in South Africa): England v Algeria, Green Point, Fri June 15
Where (in London): As proudly pointed out by our host tonight, there is only one authentically Algerian restaurant in London, Khamsa. The more established Numidie in Crystal Palace is actually French-Algerian.
With who: Nico Polo
How much: £25 each (including BYO wine) for two massive courses, mint tea and pastries to finish


I realised tonight why I started this project. Sitting down with Nico Polo in the small friendly dining room of Brixton restaurant Khamsa I reflected that this was somewhere I'd never have even thought about coming to if it hadn't been for my desire to 'eat' all of England's World Cup opponents. Acre Lane will never be the prettiest street in London, an ill-tempered traffic snarl cutting between the uglier bits of Brixton and Clapham. Every other shop is a bottle shop or a cheap fast food store and the few spots of slowly emerging gentrification poke like grass out of concrete.
Khamsa was set up in October 09 by the owner and his wife. Listening to them talk passionately about the importance of freshly prepared, locally sourced food you wish them every success. It's evident their neighbours do, five or six passersby greet, and are greeted, warmly.
Cooked to order, with the minimum of prep, the food is simple, authentic and delicious. While much more subtly spiced than Turkish or Middle Eastern equivalents, the flavours and dishes of Algeria are familiar. We start with a selection of cold dishes to share. A familiar sounding Baba Ghanouch is creamy and light, like a delicately flavoured hummus rather than the more familiar smoky mix. A personal favourite is the Loubia Be Dressa, a spicy mix of black eyed beans and slow cooked onions in a piquant tomato sauce.
Our smiling and modest host advises that we only go for two if we're really, really hungry. We are, so we do. Nico went for a Tajine Djadj, a creamy chicken, spinach and sultana pot served with a sprinkle of freshly toasted almonds. I go for Couscous Modern, topped with perfectly cooked skewers of succulent lamb and chicken, a too subtle merguez sausage (the only duff note for me) and a wonderful lamb stock based sauce, so thick it's almost a stew, so much it's a separate dish. The courgette, peas and green beans soaking up the juices are all sourced from nearby Brixton market and cooked fresh each day.
The owner trained as a pastry chef and it shows. His pastries are served with a digestif mint tea are sweetened with (local) honey only. A standout is the brittle baklava flavoured with cinnamon and orange water notes.