Brixton is already a London favourite when it comes to eating out, brimming with fairylit wine bars, cosy pubs and a massive array of rough-n-ready or slightly more upscale restaurants, sheltered under the canopy of trendy Brixton Village.
But if you're still not convinced, Sunday 26 October will see the first Brixton Flavours, a day-long food festival to celebrate the hefty selection of worldwide cuisine on offer here. For £15, you’ll receive a wristband entitling you to sample tasters at 22 participating local restaurants, plus a handful of pop-ups. You'll also get £15 Brixton pounds that can be used to buy bigger plates, if the samples take your fancy.
Hot Dinners was invited on a whirlwind preview of a handful of participating venues in the run up to the event, who plied us with many of the samples and dishes that will be on offer during the day.
We kicked off proceedings at The Satay Bar at the top of Coldharbour Lane, where Thai-inspired goodies like deep-fried soft-shell crab and crispy tofu salad were served up along satay skewers with zesty dipping sauces.
From there, it was a quick jaunt around the corner to The Wine Parlour, where we sampled Chix and Buck's latest house white, imported two days prior especially for the festival and available to take away for £10 (or drink in for additional corkage fee of £10). Perched on barstools overlooking Vining Street, we sampled a peachy, zingy white, which paired marvellously with a goats’ cheese and grape bombe, with a pistachio crust and truffle oil.
Just over the road, we ducked into Courtesan, a dim sum restaurant with a lavish dynasty-style interior where we were served up an assortment of steaming dumplings - in particular we loved the crunchy, cannelloni-like cheung fun; a trio of pork, prawn and tofu that was rich and warming. As we left, Spiros from newly-opened patisserie Parissi insisted we grab a bite sized sample of hazelnut-topped brownie, which will be on offer during the festival.
Brindisa’s newest branch on Atlantic Road was our next destination, where chefs behind the counter were busy carving up paper-thin slices of jamón for us to try, including the meltingly rich jamón bellotta.With your wristband, you'll be able to get a sample of an autumnal chestnut and chorizo soup, or a creamy Spanish hot chocolate; "the kind your spoon would stand up in.”
The midpoint of our whistle stop tour took us to the bustling Brixton Village, where we sampled spreads from crêperie Senzala, plus plates of fatty ribs and chicken from the Brixton Village Grill, and hearty Mexican beef bites (or cheese and rossa cocoa beans for veggies) on deep fried green plantain from Jalisco. On the day, you'll also be able to enjoy Caribbean fare courtesy of Fish, Wings & Tings, like its reggae wings with pineapple, mango and ginger chutney.
If you need a sugary pick me up, Paulina from Sponge and Cream will be providing mango upside-down cake, as well as a sweet butternut squash cupcake.
As our stomachs happily approached bursting point, we soldiered on to nearby Brazilian restaurant Carioca, and tucked into their crunchy cheese bites made with a mix of sweet and savoury cornflour, dished up alongside feijoada – Brazilian black bean stew. For the festival, they'll also be providing wristband-holders with chicken croquette coxinhas.
Neighbouring Mexican restaurant Casa Morita was our penultimate stop, where we decided it was definitely worth imbibing a cup of their dreamy hot chocolate with rum and chilli, made with cocoa imported from Mexico. Chilli features heavily in Casa Morita’s cooking, so we'd advise you go carefully with their festival sample: a blow-your-head-off spicy Morita chilli dip with tortilla chips.
We finally wrapped things up at Brixton landmark the Ritzy Cinema, where we sidestepped film fans on the stairs heading up to their cafe to tuck into one last dish; a falafel burger with a mango salsa in lettuce cup, plus a secret menu item that'll only be on offer on the day.
With such a high number of local restaurants clamouring to provide festival-goers with samples, and £15 Brixton pounds in your pocket to boot, it's a hard-pressed day to beat for value and variety. Running 11am -7:30pm, you could make a full day of it. And keep your eyes peeled for surprise performances from the Bite Size Opera singers, 10 of whom will be roaming Brixton providing punters with snippets of classical arias – perfect as a digestif.
Brixton Flavours festival costs £15 and takes place on Sunday 26 October, 11am – 7:30pm, Brixton SW9
