PECKHAM CAR PARK

So as I sit at my desk and watch the rain lash down over London I suddenly realised we were yet to blog about a magical place that exists in Peckham. This place is Peckham car park where on the top floor there is Franks and the floor below Alibabas snack bar. On a clear day you have the most fantastic views over London not to mention the reasonably priced drinks and  great atmosphere. Alibabas snack bar has an array of drinks you will never have heard of but are just wonderful. Chris really knows how to add ingredients together creating some amazing flavours! I won't rant on about how great this place is I urge you to find out by yourself! To get to the car park head towards Peckham Plex Cinema (5 quid all day everyday) swing a right and follow the path round - you will see the entrance to the carpark...just keep going up!!

View from Franks

Alibaba Snack bar

Menu @ snack bar

Pedler Peckham

After our disastrous breakfast at Peckham Refreshment Rooms we decided this week to give Pedler Peckham a go. Like PRR we have read many great reviews on Pedler and this time we were not at all disappointed and had one of the best breakfasts we have ever had!

We started our day by both smashing our 10K PBs at the Peckham Rye 10K which was 3 and a bit laps of Peckham Rye Park. The event was well organised by Mccpromotions , we got to try True Start Coffee (the world's first caffeine controlled performance coffee) and on completion we received medals and tshirts for the small fee of £13 - this may have to be an annual 10K for us! 

We made the short walk to Pedler which is opposite the park and we were seated very quickly at the bar which meant we could really interact with the staff who were some of the nicest staff we have come across. They straight away engaged with us enquiring why we were red faced with medals round our necks and this was a lovely touch and we knew from that second on we were going to enjoy our time at Pedler. I went for a freshly squeezed orange juice and Soph a ginger ale to kick us off while we looked at the menu and around at the restaurant and bar. The whole place has a lovely laid back feel to it and there were some classic tunes being blasted around the place but at a comfortable level to have a conversation.  The bar staff were all dressed really similar and the whole place oozed familiarity.

Having just run 6 miles we wanted to eat the whole menu but decided to be sensible and pick one item each - leaving room for something a bit special at the end! The pancakes stood out for me and the all day breakfast for Soph but before ordering we were taken through the menu and advised that the pancakes were more like a sweet Yorkshire pudding loaded with leeks & gruyere cheese or parma ham and gruyere topped with maple syrup - sounds strange but was an absolute delight. The 'pancake' was crispy and doughy where it should be and topped with lashings of delicious gruyere cheese. They had actually run out of leeks so made me a special pancake with spinach, mushrooms and parma ham and I was in food heaven.

'Pancakes'

Sophs Pedler breakfast was everything a full English should  be and more! From her first mouthful of house made bbq beans she announced it was quite possibly the best breakfast she has ever had. The bacon was cooked how it should be (pink, with a bit of crunch), the sausage truly delicious and infused with little bird gin made in collaboration with Flock & Herd, bone marrow, grilled mushroom & potato rosti all topped with two perfectly poached eggs and melt in the mouth bread with maple syrup butter. The breakfast was so tasty, most items were grilled therefore not swimming in oil or fat and you could tell it was cooked to order.

Pedler breakfast

While we were tucking into our meals 2 trays of donuts and a chocolate tart were placed right next to us and we just couldn't resist the urge to take 1 away - which one should we go for tho? That was our dilemma of the day! We were faced with the house dumpkin filled with sweet pumpkin cream (although we were advised that no cream was harmed in the making of this donut) or one filled with cream and topped with chocolate and sprinkles. We asked our server which was her favourite and went with the dumpkin only to be presented with both at the end of the meal as a congrats on running the race. We were truly touched by this kind gesture as random acts of kindness are so hard to find, especially in London. We managed to save the donuts to eat with our Alibaba coffees (their new place has now opened and the coffee and Arran are just ACE) and decided the dumpkin was defs our favourite!

Donuts

Alibaba Coffee

Pedler has restored our faith in eateries in Peckham and we are already deciding when to go back - perhaps when this half is done so we can sample the cocktail menu!
Pedler prides itself as a local neighbourhood eatery however we urge you to jump on that train or bus to Peckham if you are not a local to see what you are missing out on not living in SE15.

Our meal including 2 drinks, mains, donut and service - £25
Service, staff and vibe - priceless

www.pedlerpeckhamrye.com

Porkys

Last week after hearing my colleagues rave about Porkys Bankside I decided it was time I got down there during lunch and my god...they had down played how good it was! You can find Porkys opposite the globe and the second I saw beer pong tables set up I knew I was going to really enjoy my rest day lunch! We were seated immediately at the back of the restaurant and as I was with some Porkys veterans they ordered the warm up platter from the off and some frontier beer with bourbon chasers which I had to decline as i'm off the booze for the half so I went for a delicious passion fruit mocktail.

Our sharing starter was presented to our table and all conversation stopped while we tucked it. I enjoyed every single element with the pork croquette or chicken wings being my favourite, however the hush puppies caused quite a stir with 3 of the 4 of us loving them and the other 1 just not getting it. The mug of chilli had a really good kick to it and the bread served as a great spoon to mop it all up. It was at this point we discovered the out of this world chilli sauce that was on the table, being a huge fan of hot sauces this one had it spot on in terms of heat with a lovely barbeque aftertaste.

The warm up platter

Once our starter had been demolished and cleared away one of the lovely staff came to take our main order - we all thought this was a lovely touch that they had effectively left us alone and not bombarded us to take our main order. Having recently cooked pulled pork at home I decided to try the ribs and burnt ends which is not something I would usually go for but it was wicked. Both ribs were really meaty and came away from the bone with minimal effort and the burnt ends were exactly how they should be. The side sauce and pickles added moisture, texture and zing to the ribs. I declined on chips but did tuck into the bacon mac and cheese and pitt beans which we placed in the middle of the table for all to share. The mac and cheese was really creamy and cheesy and not stringy and the beans had ample pulled pork running through...yum!

Memphis meaty ribs and tips

 

Pitt beans

Bacon mac and cheese

 

Below is the food the boys ordered and wolfed down...the two Greeks who like their meat cremated seemed to have been converted to the medium burger way of life and both loved the porky burger - they did let me try a TINY bit and I liked what I tried. Dave (the discoverer of Porkys) was really happy with the tangy sandwich and commented that the chilli slaw had just the right amount of kick and lip tingling.

Porky burger

The tangy

I was defeated by my 2 ribs so no desert for me however the two Greeks were in 'fat boy mode' and both went for the peanut butter sundae and I had the biggest food envy when it arrived! They again let me have a TINY spoonful and each layer was a true delight with a nutty base.

 



Porkys was one hell of a lunch experience and I wish all rest day lunches could be that good...however feel I wouldn't make it round the half marathon course if it was! I cannot wait to return when I will be drinking and can get on that beer pong table! Thanks Porkys for a delightful lunch.

Peckham Resfreshment Rooms

We don't do breakfast or brunch out very often (mainly because Sarah makes wicked eggs in purgatory or pancakes) but today we thought we would have a pre marathon watching treat.  After deciding Shadwell was the best place to watch we decided to brunch in Peckham and then get the overground.  Having been to Lerryn's in the past and Pedler being in just the wrong location, today, it fell to Peckham Refreshment Rooms (PRR for the purpose of this post) to fill our hungry tummies.

PRR is situated on Blenheim Grove near the station just after the hair salons.  We have actually walked passed this place a few times not realising what it was.  It wasn't until we went to Miss Tapas a few doors down that we realised it was PRR.  The interior is very pleasant and much bigger than we thought it would be.  I would say that it is split into two areas a restaurant side and bar side with high tables and stools.  The breakfast menu was written on a chalkboard and in some places we found it difficult to read (mainly me and my poor eyesight).

Sarah ordered a bacon sandwich and I went for the bacon and egg.  We decided against drinks as I had already had a Mousetail coffee and Sarah had downed a..you guessed it... AKB (apple, kale and Basil) from alibaba.  Once we had placed the order (which initially they got wrong), we waited and waited and waited... probably for a good 25-30 mins at least.  When the food finally arrived we were greeted with this....






















Now this is only my opinion but to me this bacon looks pretty well done.  And believe me it was not great; super salty, burnt bacon is not our idea of a nice breakfast. When biting into the sandwich the cremated bacon just crumbled - of all the bacon in the sandwich there was about 5% which remained pink!! Sarah said it reminded her of when she used to forget about the bacon she was cooking hungover at University and would just have to eat it as there was nothing else in the house or felt too ill to try again. Not the sort of quality we expected from a place we have seen good reviews on...maybe the chefs were all hungover or still drunk!?

This same ash flavoured bacon was placed on top of the eggs which were seasoned nicely however they were very annoying to eat out of the flaky black mini frying pan thing that they came in.  Eggs with burnt bits of pan and burnt bacon isn't what we ordered.  On the plus side the bread was nice and fresh.  Not sure how hygienic it is serving butter on the chopping board that my frying pan a la eggs came on was though.

All in all as you can probably tell we were really disappointed and actually would have sent the food back if we weren't in such a rush or left it if we weren't so hungry.  Our meal came to £10.50 and the hunt for Peckham's best breakie/brunch definitely continues.

BAD9 @ Bad Egg

On Monday we attended another fantastic event organised by Camilla aka Burger Away Day . I had previously attended BAD8 at Bobs Lobster with Hannah but this one her and Steve couldn't attend so Peckhamite went as a two! Bad Egg has been on our list of places we have been dying to eat at for quite some time so when we heard about a special menu for BAD9 we were all over it harassing Camilla for a place! Bad Egg is in Moorgate which is an area of London we don't know very well but it is situated in a nice little courtyard type area. It was started by 4 friends who wanted to create a Chicago style all day dinner and this is the exact vibe they have created. We loved everything about the interior including the neon signs, leather booths and funky lightbulb lighting  and could definitely see us spending all day chilling in the restaurant (when we are drinking properly again!)

Not knowing anyone else at the event we grabbed a high table for two and sat down - both nearly falling off as the leather stools were really quite slippy! The evening started with a cocktail and although we are off the booze in prep for the half we decided to roll with it and have the cocktail! We really didn't know what to expect as neither of us have had Mezcal before ,however, we enjoyed our smokey peachy drink. We would have then moved onto a Camden Pale or Beavertown but we grabbed cans of diet coke..rock and roll!

The food came pretty soon after our welcome drink but not before Neil had explained to us what we were going to eat and how/why he came up with it! This was such a lovely personal touch and we could really tell he had put some thought into the menu. So up first was raw beef tostadas Korean style and they were absolutely delicious. Two salty crispy taco shells topped with juicy beef, sweet cubes of apple drizzled with spicy sauce. Everything went great together and with each mouthful came a delightful mix of sweet, salty and crispy and soft - great textures going on.

Once all the plates had been cleared Neil tried to explain the inspiration behind the burger he had come up with because lets be honest...nearly every burger combo has been done...except this one!
The burger was cooked medium rare exactly how we liked it but cooked in chicken coating giving it a totally new dimension. It was topped with raclette cheese with bone marrow and pickles creating a gooey cheesy mess - GOOD MESS THO! As a side we were treated to foie grois & confit duck chips...yes you read correctly..foie grois! This was melted down and mixed with Bad Eggs usual béchamel like cheese sauce and this coated our ample portion of chips which was scattered full of delicious duck. This was a side that just kept giving and seemed bottomless - how many ducks were used in the making of this dish we do wonder!? Overall we really enjoyed both the burger and side however we were missing something else to help break up the richness but a side salad would have just looked so out of place! Each table was kitted out with mustard, ketchup and sirracha and we found the heat of the sirracha really helped bring everything together. Soph wasn't so keen on the chicken/beef combo as it messed with her head as it looked like fried chicken but I thought the burger was yummy.

To finish our glutinous evening we were treated to peanut butter and jelly cheesecake which was presented in a large glass bowl enabling us to see the layers of oreo crumb, creamy peanut butter and tangy jelly jam. Being a HUGE fan of peanut butter I demolished this desert in a matter of seconds but then suffered in the biggest food coma!!



We were surprised that there was no egg element to the menu as eggs feature heavily on their regular menu however this just means we will have to return to the Bad Egg in the near future and the bottomless brunch menu is looking very appealing after the 25th May when all this running stops and we get our social lives back!! Thanks again to Camilla & all at Bad Egg for a fab evening! Roll on BAD10!

Crust Conductor @ Brick Brewery

Today we ran 10 miles which is the furthest either of us have been and went up and around Blackheath...when I say UP I mean REALLY up...the biggest hill ever! When we hit mile 8 we were both feeling the burn in the legs and the only thing that got us through was the thought of heading into Peckham for a Pizza and today Crust Conductor was on the menu as they only have 2 weeks left at their residency at Brick Brewery.

As with all trips to Peckham our first stop is Mousetail coffee followed by Alibaba juice, however today we turned down the lane and there was the biggest queue we have seen in a long time so we crossed over and headed straight to the Brewery. If you haven't been to Brick Brewery you really should as it has a great vibe and their beers are lovely. Today, we were confronted with a huge red double decker bus parked infront of the bar and jumped aboard, passed the open kitchen/pizza oven and headed upstairs. On top deck there were ample cute tables for four and also a dj booth...yes a dj booth! The bus was pumping out some really good music adding to the cool vibe. 

The menu was very reasonably priced and there were 2 pizzas that took our fancy however once we saw the chorizo starter we decided to pick that and go for 1 pizza to share (The not so Ameican, but hot). 

Our starter arrived and we were raring to tuck in however it did come with a heat warning and thank god it did as the balls were like molton lava although they were bloody delicious when we finally got to stuff our faces. The chorizo was swimming in a garlicky red sauce that tasted fab and once all our dough balls had gone we kept the sauce and dipped our crusts into it...we may also have drunk the container dry! The starter was presented in a foil take away container which meant it was perfect for eating outside which we noticed many people were doing.

We really enjoyed our pizza as the crust was just how we like it - thin, crisp and covered with ample toppings. The toppings all worked really well together and the jalapenos had a subtle kick which wasn't too overpowering or made your lips and whole face sting! However, it wasn't quite hot enough for us so we did add some of the chilli oil that was already at our table along with some Parmesan which seemed to majorly excite Soph at the sight of parmesan - why I don't know! The pizza was a good size and we left the bus pretty darn full! We would have loved to have washed our pizza down with a beer however we are trying to stay off the booze in preparation for this half marathon :(

The Crust Conductor will be in Peckham until the 2nd May when they will drive off for a summer of festivals! As the table next to us kept saying 'this place is mint' so we urge you to get down before they go!

Ceviche old street

We first tried Ceviche a couple of years back with our friends to celebrate a birthday.  Being very much a food novice, I (Soph) had never really heard of Peruvian cuisine let alone tried it.  I very much enjoyed what I ate during my first experience, even if it was just the meat (I used to hate fish).  So when Sarah (who has been to Peru and loves peruvian cuisine) saw that Ceviche were opening a new venue in old street she was right onto them to get a reservation.   Sarah arrived early and happily spent 50 mins while I was in the gym drinking a Cusquena which is a Peruvian beer she lived off for 3 months and eating cancha which is effectively crunchy corn. The bar area was really large and the people behind were so friendly and passionate about the restaurant. After getting abit lost trying to find the entrance (ending up in a hotel lobby) I arrived late to find she had moved onto cocktails and had one waiting for me. Despite not liking pisco while travelling Sarah thought she would give it another go and ordered us a Peru Boom and La Jarra which was infused with chilli, both were tasty but neither of us are converts!

On my arrival we moved to our table which was round the side of the bar right by the open kitchen. The old street restaurant is much bigger than their Soho one and kitted out with local Peruvian art which Sarah would have tapped up if she had any wall space! We found our table quite noisy and although appreciate that having an open kitchen and full service it was going to be noisy we found ourselves having to raise our voices and a fair amount of the conversation ended up consisting of "what?", "huh?", "pardon?".

We set about looking at the menu even though we pretty much knew what we were ordering as this had been decided when we got the confirmation of booking.  When the waiter arrived we ordered basically quarter to half of the menu and he seemed surprised by the amount 2 girls would order - we reassured him that we would finish it all and actually we ordered more once the first lot had arrived. This wasn't due to small portions but due to how good the food was we just wanted to try more!

So where to start with what we ate? I guess we break it down as per the menu...

Nibbles:

Huevo Criollo

Burford Brown egg, quinoa, morcilla sangrecita, rocoto sauce

So this was pretty much a black pudding scotch egg.  It was rich and yoky and lovely.  The rocotto sauce was spicy and very addictive.  We polished off the whole lot pretty sharpish.

Tequeños de Ají de Gallina

Wonton fritters filled with traditional chicken recipe, onion, parmesan, single cream, amarillio chilli dip.  These crunchy, chickeny, fried fritters were absolutlety wicked.  They had such a depth of flavour and went with the dip so well.

Pastelitos

In basic terms, these are corn fritters served with a wasabi mayo.  This probably sounds a tad strange but I found these too sweet.  They went well with the mayo but alone, for me, they could have passed as a desert.  I probably wouldn't order these again as they just weren't quite to our taste.

Ceviche bar:

Ceviche del Día

(Available Tues-Sat) Cornwall Project day-fresh fish, celery, red onion, plantain chifles, sweet potato, classic tiger’s milk.  The fish of the day was lemon sole (which I had never tried before) was presented really nicely but in terms of flavour didn't really blow me away.  I personally found the fish a little rubbery and tasteless.

Tiradito Chifa

Thinly sliced tuna, pickled daikon, chifa tiger’s milk, limo chilli, spring onion, roquito, crispy vermicelli

The tuna was presented differently to the usual chuck of fish that you get in ceviche but it was beautiful and worked really well with the sharp lime sauce.

Makinja

This was a cross between sushi and ceviche and we really enjoyed it! The crunch on the top helped with the texture of the overall dish and our only gripe was there was only 3 pieces not 4!

Rotisserie:

Pollo a la brasa

Our own recipe marinade, corn-fed quarter rotisserie chicken

Oh boy was this chicken good, infact it was some of the best chicken I have tasted.  It was succulent, soft and full of flavour.  We probably could have put away half of the chicken, if not all of it.

Classica:

Habas Andinas

Seasonal broad bean and quinoa risotto, bean flowers

This little dish we found to be the dark horse of our evening.  Not entirely sure what to expect from the first mouthful we were sold.  The flavour yet again blew us away, the one thing I would say is the texture of the dish I guess is a bit porridge like.  It took a while for me to get my head round that and it wouldn't be to every bodies taste, I say give it a go.

Lomo Saltado

Flame-cooked beef fillet red onions, tomatoes, saltado sauce, proper chips

We received this dish at the same time as we got the quarter chicken and OMG was it a taste sensation.  The steak was perfectly cooked and just fell apart. The proper cooked chips were PROPER! Crispy on the outside whilst being amazingly soft on the inside.  In my opinion the best thing on the dish was the sauce.  Saltado  sauce is a traditional peruvian sauce originating from the Chifa tradition (a kind of Chinese/Peruvian combination).  That is about as far as my knowledge goes with this sauce, one thing I do know is that it is EPIC.

Majado

Slow cooked pork cheeks adobo, traditional Catacaos cassava hash

Unfortunately neither of us liked this dish, to the extent that we had one mouthful each and left the rest.  We didn't like the pork cheeks at all, this isn't necessarily due to bad cooking or ingredients, I just think we don't like pork cheeks.

Desserts:

Brownie Chocolateado

Warm chocolate beetroot and panca chilli brownie, cancha ice cream

What a nice way to finish a great feast.  Individually this desert was pretty good but when you put them altogether it works really well.  The chilli element is subtle to begin with and builds up nicely into an intense flavour (it doesn't blow your head off).

Overall we had an absolutely wicked night at Ceviche and enjoyed 90% of what we ate! We really urge anyone who has not been to check out one of their restaurants as you will not be disappointed!