Feeling peckish? Mam Sham are here to save your wallet

Maria: ‘It’s my favourite spot to have lunch in London. My sister lives in Tottenham and introduced me to this “amazing Colombian spot you guys have to go to’”. It feels like you’re in their home – so don’t be loud and obnoxious! Respect it. But it’s so fun, they always have great music playing. The sancocho is really flavourful – it’s made with potatoes, plantain, meat on the bone and yuca. It really fills you up.’

Rhiannon: ‘It’s been stewed for hours and hours and hours, so it’s like a broth. Then you’ve got to add their chilli sauce.’

Maria: ‘That whole strip by the Seven Sisters station is excellent – there are loads of great Latin shops where you can buy anything from sauces to pastries. Latin Village was at risk of closing down forever and being turned into luxury flats, so make sure you go appreciate this amazing space that people have fought hard to preserve.’

Rhiannon: ‘They also have really good Brazilian butchers around there who have the biggest array of different meats.’

Blankita, Seven Sisters Market

Maria: ‘You might have to borrow your mate’s car to get there. It’s in the middle of Epping Forest next to a massive pub, which apparently has a pool?! It’s all very extra. The Oyster Shack is what is says on the tin – it also has a large fish selection – and it feels quite old school East End which I love.’ 

Rhiannon: ‘I love the herring rollmops. They do a selection of cold seafood but they also cook stuff there, so you can get amazing scallops and hot lobster. It’s incredibly affordable – you can go and have an absolute feast and it’ll be nothing like the prices you pay at a seafood restaurant in town.’

Maria: ‘The specials are always really good, but I love cold prawns with a little slice of baguette – that’s my thing. You can get a drink from next door too, so if you want to spend a little bit more go and get a bottle of white wine.’

Rhiannon: ‘It’s all outside and you can go for a nice walk in Epping Forest afterwards. It’s a full day out!’ 

Oyster Shack & Seafood Bar, Epping Forest

Rhiannon: ‘I used to live around the corner and would just go there relentlessly. I even worked front of house there. The mum is so lovely. She rules the roost and makes everything. The dad works in the back serving soups and the son serves out the front. She wanted to create somewhere everyone could eat, so the chicken curry should be more expensive than the tofu curry, but it’s not. I just think that is the nicest, most amazing way to run a business. She’d always dreamed of being a chef so she started cooking in Spitalfields market and from that opened her own Vietnamese restaurant.’ 

Maria: ‘It’s hard to get a seat there, but if you can't they do takeaway which is a couple of quid cheaper.’ 

Rhiannon: ‘Everything on the menu is unreal. The mango salad is so special because she makes every single component from scratch – just like everything else on the menu – she makes the amazing pickles, the crispy onion and her dressings. I don’t think you will get a flavour like she creates in your mouth at any other restaurant in London. All the recipes were passed down in her family which makes it even more special.’

Hai Cafe, Clapton

Rhiannon: ‘It’s just down the canal and quite an unassuming Japanese cafe, but what they care about is the quality of the food. They haven’t put thousands of pounds into creating a bougie space, it’s just a really nice café where you can eat outside on the canal. Everything on their menu is under a tenner; breakfast, lunch, any meal deal. What I love about it is that you get a real selection of different bits on your plate. You don’t just get a big bowl of noodles, you get some rice, you get some fried chicken, you get some pickles, you get a seaweed salad, then you get a bowl of soup. All of that is included. And it changes every week.’

Maria: ‘You can never get bored of it.’

Rhiannon: ‘It’s also a community cafe, so it’s got a space at the back which kids can play in – but if you go on the weekend there aren’t many children.’

Toconoco, Haggerston

Maria: ‘We do a radio show every month on Foundation.FM, which used to be based in Peckham. We were always starving by the time we’d finished yapping for two hours and we’d always head to Yemenes.’

Rhiannon: ‘It’s a truck just off the high street, and they make all the bread fresh in front of you for your wrap. It’s where everyone goes, because it's under a tenner and it’s unreal. You can get falafel, you can get halloumi, you can get chicken… but it’s really all about the sauces. I get the chicken shawarma with everything on it.’

Maria: ‘Get every single sauce on the bottom of the wrap – there’s like, six of them. It’s so big sometimes you can’t eat it all… actually, I can always eat it all.’

Yemanes, Peckham