London Brixton Restaurant Guide

This “impressive” three-year-old in Brixton is set in a handsome converted Victorian laundry. The first venture of Melanie Brown (a former chef and founder of the New Zealand and Australian Cellar wine businesses), it wins consistent ratings across the board for its “good food, great service and buzzy atmosphere”.

“Delicious Thai food” wins plaudits for this family-owned and run trio in Brixton, Battersea and Tooting, while the BYO policy keeps a lid on the bill.

“The burgers are so juicy and tasty” – “just the right combination of taste and juiciness” – at this small group, which has continued to expand from its Shoreditch’s Boxpark origins via a proper restaurant in Brixton Market Row to new branches in Market Halls Cargo at Canary Wharf and also the largest opening to date: a 45-seater in Exmouth Market (formerly a Dirty Burger). The brand only uses grass-fed, dry-aged British beef.

“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.

Local reporters are full of praise for this Brixton newbie from Aidan Bryan and Tom Blackshaw, which has a perch in the swanky conversion of the old Bon Marché department store (now the HQ of Squire & Partners architectural practice). It doesn’t generate huge amounts of feedback, but fans say “the menu’s varied and the sushi’s as good as it gets”.

This “brilliant local in Brixton” scores well for its “delicious, light food”, taking inspiration from the Maremma, a region of coastal marshes in the south of Tuscany. “A lovely candlelit ambience” makes it “perfect for a fun date night”.

Joe Sharratt and Margaux Aubry’s informal French-inspired Brixton venue is a true leader of South London gastronomy, serving small sharing plates of “the best grub” and “most exciting wines” south of the river. “Margaux is a treasure – a Lyon-hearted wonder” who provides guests with expert guidance through the menu and excellent wine list. Foodie composer/impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber was such a fan that he invited the team to launch a spin-off at his ‘The Other Place Theatre’ in Victoria.

A colourful, small new space in Brixton’s Granville Arcade (Brixton Village as it’s called nowadays) created in mid 2021 by Brian Danclair who also runs nearby ‘Fish Wings & Tings’ (now over a decade old). It’s still off-radar in our survey, but both The Sunday Times’s Marina O’Loughlin (“a restaurant on the verge of a party” with a “bass-heavy soundtrack and hectic colour scheme probably detectable from space”) and The Evening Standard’s Jimi Famurewa (“None of what is on offer… seeks to reinvent the wheel… yet, there is something quietly radical about its forceful sincerity”) have raved in recent times.

“Intriguing twists on the kebab theme” (plus “good beer brewed on site” at the Kraft Dalston branch) continue to win consistently good ratings for this expanding chain, which in September 2022 adds a 20-seater in Brixton to its roster of locations. See also Kebab Queen.

“Excellent Cantonese roast meats on rice” (“the Hainan chicken rice fills your heart with the warmth of a hug and a blanket from childhood!”) at prices that represent “very good value for money” inspire the highest praise for these Cantonese operations, near Liverpool Street and “tucked away” in Camden Town’s Hawley Wharf. The brainchild of Hong-Kong-raised pals, Pui Sing, Cheong Yew and Mo Kwok, they opened a new branch in March 2022 in Brixton Market (praised by The Evening Standard’s Jimi Famurewa for its “cooking of immense focus, skill and real endorphin-spiking intensity”).

From Robin and Sarah Gill, this July 2022 newcomer in Brixton’s Market Row is a little (28 covers) all-day venture, which invokes Parisian café culture as its inspiration. As the name hints, it’s as much about drinking as it is about eating, with an imaginative small menu served alongside a list of ever-changing funky wines and cocktails.