Sushi Revolution

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240 Ferndale Road, SW9 8FR

https://www.sushirevolution.co.uk/brixton

Open everyday, Noon to 10:00 pm

Previous review 1 July 2021 https://eatinbrixton.com/2021/07/01/sushi-revolution/

Ready for a quick review following our previous ones. You need to book if you want to sit on a low table – otherwise you take your chances on a high stool and if there are three people the person in the middle will be practicing for the stalls in Wimbledon and probably have a stiff neck by the end of the meal. The décor has changed a little but not so much as requires more description here.

The food was great as always – and we ordered the edamame. Luckily this came early so we played with that and our drinks (a beer and green tea). Then onto the main event the chicken karaage, Aubergine (delicious) Yellowtail sashimi, spicy tuna, and ceviche roll. These came in very quick succession rather haphazardly so we had loads of edamame left over as they got cold.

We followed this with mochi – green tea, tropical and mango – not homemade!

The bill came to £91.37 including the 13.6% service charge. So not cheap even for three people and we were left a bit hungry. The one criticism we had was the service and the order of the plates. We wanted to savour them and what we got was a mixture of hot and cold dishes all together so the hot ones went cold before we got to them. This was fast food – too fast food. Slow down the service or the diner should just order a couple of dishes and then order more when they are finished. We will return but use the last strategy to have a more relaxing meal.

Rapchar

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address: 30 Brixton Water Ln, London SW2 1PE

Telephone number: 020 3793 8928

https://rapchar.com

This Caribbean restaurant has been opened for a little time and fills a place between Khan’s, Naughty Piglets and Maremma on Brixton Water Lane that is becoming a global culinary paradise. We encourage everyone to try it out as a visit is a real treat but go hungry as portions are large. We coped by sharing.

You can choose a la carte but there is also a fixed menu with choices as you turn pages after the wine. There are vegetarian and vegan options as well as the usual jerk and curry goat and this is not a “small plates” venue – it’s starter, main and pudding – we managed to taste a bit of everything and take some home for lunch the next day.

For starters the three of us shared the jerk chicken wings but we could have had prawns, scallops, hummus or croquettes. The wings were, as expected, fiery, but not the blow the top of your head off kind and so we could taste the spice mix over the tingle.

For the mains there was meat, fish and veggie options – look online for all of them. We had split decision with two choosing curry goat which comes with a choice of extras. One chose rice and peas and the other had the coconut rice and of course there was the mandatory coleslaw and some salad. It is hard to make curry goat look pretty but it came in two bowls and a plate with with the salad that looked like a picture – very inviting. It was again not as hot as expected but was hot but again you can taste the spice mix and the goat itself was soft. The rice was also substantial and it did what it said on the time – tasty coconut in one and lots of peas in the other.

The third person chose the Caribbean Risotto Prawndini. It was described as having a touch of scotch bonnet pepper that was a little scary. It also had rum, crayfish and three jumbo garlic butter prawns. Pleasantly surprised as the risotto was just right – slight bite to the rice and definitely just a touch of scotch bonnet. There were loads of crayfish and the sauce was delicious.

Despite asking to take food away for the next days lunch we decided to try for a pudding and we ordered one and three spoons – the sticky plantain cake with coconut ice cream. The cake comes warm and although it sounded heavy it was in fact light as a feather and we polished it all off. We drank Red Stripe and an IPA (unfortunately not from Brixton Beers).

The bill came to £126 including the drink. Although steep this was great food and is £42 per person. We will be going back.

Mulan Noodle

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192 Acre Ln, London SW2 5UL

020 3518 5872

Reservations dojo.app

We visited a while ago but we thought it was really a restaurant for cooler weather as the menu comes from the north of China with dumplings and fresh noodles in hot soups. The restaurant is situated in the site of a previous Spanish restaurant and although the skin looks the same there are now bamboo seating and small tables with Chinese pictures and posters as well as small vases of flowers.

The starters are small plates of interesting vegetables like a shredded potato salad with chilli oil and vinegar. Then larger dishes are fried or street food including a cumin beef burger and then there are soups and more classic dishes including rice. The list is very long so maybe look before you visit or you will be overwhelmed. The desserts I will come to later.

We ordered Fried Butterfly Shrimp with a dipping sauce and sweet potato fries with plum powder. They were as suggested although the plum flavour was very subtle although we could see it.

For a main we ordered Stewed Brisket with hand-pulled noodles that comes in a savoury I soy broth and Cumin Beef Noodles with onion and pepper. Both were substantial and we never got through them all. We were asked if we wanted to take them and we would have but timing wasn’t great.

Now we come to the desserts which look incredibly exciting. There’s Sichuan ice jelly, Mango pomelo sago, brown sugar rice cake and our chosen dish to share – Deep Fried Milk. It is crispy fried somethings to dip into condensed milk. Very sweet but very delicious.

We ordered a bottle of Tuscan red wine and took most away although it went well with the beef and noodles. That was a large part of the cost of the meal (£35) but want was left including service was £60.29 so definitely a bargain. We hope they do well but takeaway is also an option as this food travels well.

Noko

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48-49 Brixton Village, SW9 8PR

Tel: 020 3793 0874

This is a newish restaurant at the Coldharbour Lane end of Brixton Village. It has only been open for a week, so it is on its soft launch. It is part of a small south London chain and serves Asian food and is definitely a place to try with cash in your pocket, as they don’t yet have any credit card services. But this is a blessing as you get a discount on the food you buy. Sit on small tables or at a counter watching passers by.

On Saturday the menu contained – snacks, noodles, dumplings, robato (skewers), “plates” including sake seabass and fried chicken any style. There are enough vegetarian options to produce an interesting meal. We chose Dan Dan noodles (as recommended) that includes a lot of garlic, peanuts, sesame and soy sauce, skewers of pork belly, skewers of broccoli and tahini as well as grilled aubergine. We were very hungry so we tucked in before taking pictures. There could have been prettier shots – blame our appetite.

The grilled aubergine was soft and delicious and relatively easy to eat with chopsticks. The pork belly was spicy and simple to eat with the fat giving a lovely flavour. The tahini and roasted broccoli florets was a revelation – just the right crispness and sweetness and a relief from all the chilli. Noodles were spicy too but also soft and our waitress cut them up and tossed them in the delicious sauce. We stopped there – we were full and thought we will visit again very soon especially with the 20% discount as an incentive.

We washed it down with water and a glass of a passionfruit drink. The bill came to £27.00 with the 20% discount and including service.

Bistro Union

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40 Abbeville Road

London SW4 9NG

020 70426400

home

We have visited Bistro Union a couple of times before our Sunday visit and always decided that the cost was above a general trip out on a weekday so haven’t reviewed it here. But now they do a Sunday Supper menu at £28.00 per person – an absolute bargain for the food you get. Visit soon – booking is definitely required.

This is a sister restaurant to Trinity in Clapham Old Town which is seriously good and seriously expensive – but you are in for a treat whenever you visit. Back to Bistro Union. During the week they serve a choice of snacks, small and large plates as well as some to share. On Sunday for lunch it is similar but with a roast. Sunday supper is a fixed menu – blessed relief not to have to choose – and when we visited there were three courses and an optional one. Snacks were cheese goujons – light an fluffy. An optional course – a tomato salad with fragrant dressing that we chose and shared. The main course was a deconstructed Caesar salad – the salad plus four pieces of chicken and the desert a berry pavlova that was more like an Eton mess when it arrived but no problem – we wolfed it down.

We were a party of three with a mother who is hard to please. So we took no photos, just in case. But we hit the jackpot with her thumbs up. The chicken skin was seasoned really well and the salad just crispy enough. We had a piece of chicken left over which was immediately wrapped for us to take away for a further supper the next day.

Wine comes in carafes as well as bottles and is a bit more expensive than your local – but that’s because it is really good. Not drinking too much before the hurly burly of Monday was also a blessing – as we were not tempted to dive into more than a glass and a half.

We will definitely go back for another go as the menus change.

La Taperna del Sabor

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Address: 47 Atlantic Road, SW9 8JL

https://tapernabar.com/taperna/

What can we say about this restaurant except you should visit before it disappears. This is short and to the point. They describe themselves as the best Spanish food in London which is a very bold statement that we cannot support, but only as we haven’t visited all the Spanish restaurants in London. However, we do rate this highly.

We visited on a Sunday and were pleasantly surprised that we could get a seat – it was late and there were plenty. The menu isn’t overly long, in fact the drinks menu is longer. It is a tapas bar so everything to share and smaller plates.

We ordered Ensalada de Queso de Cabra (grilled goat cheese, green leaves, cranberries, walnuts and balsamic glacé) as you can see below – it is what it says on the menu. Simple but delightful.

One of our favourites is a croqueta so we ordered the mushroom ones (setas) and the four little hot crunchy and salty ones turned up. Just enough to share.

Then we ordered the Sardinas a la Plancha and three whole fish on a plate turned up with crispy skin, slightly salty – again delicious. We ate all with bread and aoili.

Washing all down with an Estrella – cold and comforting even on a rainy day.

We lost the bill but it looks like it came to about £37. We weren’t hungry when we left.

The Mac Factory

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Website: https://brixtonvillage.com/trader/the-mac-factory/

Address: 7 First Avenue, Brixton Village,  SW9 8PR

Opening times: Tuesday to Sunday: 8am – midnight

We are losing pace with the blogs. We try to compete them a little time after a visit so that no-one can put a name to a face and we are then anonymous. However, this means they sometimes disappear before we publish. This one has but it may be back so keep your fingers crossed.

This was a new addition to Brixton Village is the takeaway (or eat perched on a stool) New York styled pasta and pizza shop. Pasta is, of course, macaroni accompanied by set of “cool” titles and pizza slices or a large whole pizza (about £27). Pizza includes Margarita, Peperoni, Mushroom (with whipped ricotta), and Ground beef (with chili and red onion). Pasta stretches beyond the macaroni, to include fettucine, spaghetti, and rigatoni.

The six types of macaroni are cooked on site and in front of you. Called Nostalgic (a signature cheese blend), La Med Babe (basil pesto, semi dried tomato, baby mozzarella) ……. you see what I mean about the titles. We ordered the La Med Babe and a Hey Mac A Rena (beef chili con carne, jalapeno, sour cream and tortilla crisps).

They were both great although mine was too big for one person and maybe a little too much cheese.

Spicy and crispy – there was an empty box by the end.

We had a takeaway as it was a little chilly in Brixton Village. Food cost £20.00 with no drinks, although they do have beer. We were full and one box had about half left over for the following day, so definitely reasonable.

Gremio de Brixton

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Gremio de Brixton

St Matthew’s Church, Basement, Brixton Hill, London SW2 1JF

Opening Times (for food)

Wednesday        6PM      10PM

Thursday             6PM      10PM

Friday    5PM      10PM

Saturday             5PM      10PM

Website: https://gremiodebrixton.com/

Phone: 020 7924 0660

Previous review link here (2015) and here (2013)

We went to visit an old haunt which has not changed in the last 9 years. It still feels like the inside of the cathedral in Cordoba with brick pillars everywhere but they have improved the lighting so you do not now need to have the torch on your phone.

We visited early-ish mid-week so out for a snack rather than a three course meal. We travel to Spain quite often so have the hang of a menu, though usually we only buy the drink and the tapas comes free. We ordered mushroom croquettes (Croquetas de champinon con ailoli), fried aubergine with honey (Berenjenas Fritas con miel), fried goats with pear and honey (queso de cabra frito con miel y pera), pork belly and crackling (panceta y chicharron) and bread with spreadable chorizo(pan y sobrasada). All surround this text. We enjoyed the ambience and the food although we should have ordered less fried plates. We really enjoyed the aubergine but left some of the sobrasada as it is very rich and salty. Despite thinking we were ordering just enough we clearly over-ordered – take note, order as you go along.

We drank lots of water and had a bottle of red wine and took home half of it to drink later. The whole mean cost £78.18 but this included £34 for the wine that washed everything down well. So only £44.18 for the food for two.

Ruben’s Reubens

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Address: 10 Market Row, SW9 8LB

Website: https://www.rubensreubens.com/

We have tried to get into this place before, but they had a strict no entry before 6.00 and we were 10 minutes early. It was Friday and we were trying to jump the inevitable queues. This time we got a seat on a Saturday but still early – book as it fills up very quickly and most seemed to have their own table. But their website tells you nothing about how to do this and we are very glad we photographed the menu.

This restaurant promotes its own smoked meat and fish with a mix of Jewish and Polish flavours. The menu is blessedly short with barbecue (lamb, sausage, wings) as well as vegie and vegan offerings (King Pao-strami cauliflower, burnt sesame broccoli, chilli cheese hispi), so a range of offers are mostly of the meat sandwich variety (corned beef, pastrami etc) although there is a veggie option. We chose the meat sandwiches.

First the obvious – a Reuben with sauerkraut, gherkins, Emmenthal, Russian dressing and mustard. As you can see this was a stack of corned beef in this one. Nicely toasted so you don’t have to balance the mouthfuls to stop it disintegrating – it was a little spicy, sour and crunchy too.

Next was a Kimchi – as it sounds it was pastrami with kimchi-kraut, gherkins, cheddar, gochujang mayo and mustard. Again a very good choice for anyone interested in a good bite to eat with a warm feeling that you have treated your gut to one of your three K’s a day (kimchi, kefir and kombucha).

Chips come with a dose of everything – salt, pepper and other stuff. We now forget if it was rosemary or mustard seed – you don’t really need to know anything more than they were delicious.

We had space for malted ice cream, gingerbread and salted caramel. we could taste the ginger but we think they need to put more Horlicks into the ice cream.

We washed everything down with beer although cocktails were available.

The whole meal came to £27.56 – a bargain! Now we have noticed it seems closed – sorry Reubens Reubens we should have been faster promoting your restaurant.

Chip Shop

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Address: 378 Coldharbour Lane, SW9 8LF  (on the corner with Atlantic Road)

tel: +44 (0) 207 2743350

email: info@chipshopbxtn.co.uk

website: http://www.chipshopbxtn.com/

Friday night is always busy in Brixton, despite the move to Thursday celebrations – but we are old fashioned enough to think that Friday means fish and chips. We re-visited an old haunt that we refer to the hip hop chip shop on the corner of Coldharbour Lane and Atlantic Road – our last review is here. This was busy (we hadn’t booked), but they squeezed us in – literally to two seats near the bar. But although we hankered after something from the sea, we were to be disappointed. Their order has not arrived, so we were left with the mostly meat options. Just to wet your appetite prawns, fish fingers and battered cod are on the menu.

We chose from the extensive wings menu – wings in two sizes and a sauce – lots of sauces. We had sweet chili and orange glaze (RZA) and it was a bit too sweet for our taste so next time we might have ODB (bourbon barbecue) or Henny hot (Henessey infused). We are assuming that all the alcohol has burnt off. But despite the sweetness the wings we fat and juicy and sticky – we were given warm water with lemon to take care of that as it never comes off with a paper napkin.

We also chose a Red Man burger (buttermilk chicken with a spiced Mac sauce, red cabbage, red onion, scotch bonnet chilli and coriander slaw). We were a bit doubtful about the scotch bonnet hiding all the flavour, but we had nothing to worry about. We got an occasional hit and there was more in the middle but that was fine as we had built up our tolerance. This was a great crunchy, chicken and several of our veggie portions. We also needed the water and lemon for this too.

We were very hungry so we went out on a limb and ordered loaded chips. As you can see they really were loaded (Bacon, House made Nacho cheese (???), Diced tomato, spring onion & coriander). To be honest we could have done without the cheese. But these were “real” chips, crispy and altogether delicious with the addition of everything. Again the tomato cut any greasiness and we had yet another daily portion of fruit (well a tomato is a fruit).

Finally we saw that they had deep fried snicker bar and salted caramel ice cream so we had one to share. The Snickers (why did they rename it) is runny and you get all the crunch of the peanuts while the delicious ice cream cools all of it down. We were full by the end.

We washed (and I mean washed) all the food down with a pint and a half of German lager and a half of Brixton IPA.

The service was slow and so we had time to share dishes but they were full so we are forgiving. We also got some money knocked off the bill for that and we didn’t mind watching the crowd while we waited. The bill came to £50.50 but we had a £3.00 reduction. Service isn’t included. We will visit again but will make sure they have had their fish order.