The best restaurants in Peckham

Low-key and minimalist, this honest-to-goodness Italian is just about the most perfect local restaurant you could imagine: cool without being pretentious; brilliant value despite its sky-high quality; and with a concise, market-led chalkboard menu of big-flavoured, technically flawless seasonal dishes. Think January King cabbage with bagna cáuda and breadcrumbs, cotechino with salsify and lentils or lamb shoulder with salsa verde and pea shoots.

Levan is a local delight with a modernist menu that ticks all our boxes. Top pick? The addictive comté cheese fries with saffron aioli. Try the 'chef's menu' for a tasting selection of everything that's good. Staff are ace, and the whole place is fun, fun, fun. We love it… and you will too.

A south Indian restaurant that pitched up on Peckham Rye before it got posh, Ganapati has the colourful, laidback feel of a joint inspired by a backpacking tour of the subcontinent, and it certainly looks the part, with communal tables, school-style chairs, a photo wall and shelves of gilded trinkets. The result is nothing like your average curry house – even the desserts are varied and authentic – and for that reason, it’s deservedly popular with locals.

Zeitgeist or no, this Taiwanese spot is a tip-top contender that brings a slice of Soho to SE15 with its fluffy steamed bao buns, small plates and cocktails. The classic Mr Bao (pork, pickle and peanut powder) is both larger and cheaper than its uptown rivals (but just as good), and we also like the extended list of vegan offerings, such as the ginger-braised tofu bao.  

Tapas-style sharing is the deal at this hip Thai café – a Peckham favourite with an all-weather outdoor space and an exhilarating menu of dishes far beyond your usual pad thai clichés. Expect obscure street-food options such as fermented fish with coconut cream relish alongside more Westernised seasonal ideas (salt-baked celeriac with bergamot and chilli nam jim sauce, for example).

Taquiza has a bit of a ramshackle feel to it; this is down to the fact that it doubles up as The Carpet Shop, one of London’s best new(ish) clubs, opened by the people behind the always-excellent Corsica Studios. Food is Mexican, delicious and big of portion; queso fundido, grilled elote with burnt onion sour cream, tuna tostadas and goat shoulder tacos. Loads of fun. 

A smoky small-plates joint occupying Peckham Rye’s old station ticket office, the Coal Rooms is driven by a kitchen that likes ramping up its UK-meets-US flavours. Whether you’re here for Saturday brunch, Sunday lunch or any-day dinner, expect the unexpected: anyone for bone marrow and Marmite bread-and-butter pudding with wagyu salami? The dining room is not just super-cool, it’s also reassuringly chill by Peckham standards.

Destination neighbourhood dining in Peckham – that’s the schtick at Kudu, a good-looking restaurant specialising in South African-inspired small plates. It may be named after a species of antelope, but don’t come here expecting exotic decor: instead, the dining room has the vibe of a sleek, vintage lounge bar, while the kitchen shows its rainbow nation allegiances with several dishes arriving in traditional cast-iron skillets.

Originally opened in 1927, burned down during the Peckham riots in 1985, rebuilt and reopened in 1990, this branch of Manze’s pie-and-mash shop is run along similar lines to its older brother on Tower Bridge Road. Its pies are some of the best in town, the liquor is perfect, and the endlessly churned mash is just soooo smooth.

Proudly located within Persepolis – Peckham’s Persian delicatessen – this colourful, crowded and charmingly bonkers café is a shoo-in for local veggies. Meze and wraps form the bedrock, but the menu plunders Iran, the Levant and North Africa for inspiration (adding some local tweaks along the way). To finish, go for the hot paklava meltdown or the divine turkish delight sundae. Drink Afghan green tea.

Now happily embedded on Peckham Rye, this former street-food outfit serves up classic Vietnamese dishes in a modest, neutrally decorated, plywood-clad setting. Classics such as summer rolls, pho and noodle salads share billing with more unusual ideas including the house special: bánh khot pancakes filled with prawns, topped with spring onion and sprinkled with shrimp dust. BB’s Vietnamese cocktails are fab too.

Little Kudu is another gland on the Kudu ‘collective’ udder and markets itself as a kind of tapas restaurant, and so not one for anti-small-plates crew. Try the amazingly tangy slopfest of braaibroodjie, a sort of luxury open-faced South African cheese toastie. 

Originally a part-time pan-Balkan pop-up, this spruced-up joint is now a gastronomic gem on unlovely Consort Road. ‘Eastern Mediterranean charcoal-grilled goodness’ is the promise, and judging by the smells wafting down the street, this place delivers in spades. Smoky flavours loom large, from marinated quail with chickpea and apricot tagine to whole turbot with saffron-infused couscous. The whole caboodle is run with real enthusiasm.

Located down a dingy cobbled alleyway opposite Peckham Rye station, Yada’s is a ramshackle Kurdish joint with zero interest in PR but a huge talent for producing honest, flavourful food. Its shish kebabs, shawarma and kubba (lamb-stuffed rice balls) are all grand, and do save room for a qawarma lamb wrap with cheese and pickles. It also does Irn Bru shisha, if you’re interested.

A trendy street-food stall that’s gone permanent, this cool pizza joint comes with a moody lick of paint and a stylish marble bar – although it’s all about the blistered Neapolitan-style specialities that are pulled out of the oven. Our top pick is the version strewn with lamb merguez sausage (from Flock & Herd across the road), red onion, cavolo nero and rosemary – a surefire Peckham classic.  

An impeccably hip drop-in selling seriously delicious pizzas sliced from 22-inch New York-style whoppers, Voodoo Ray’s is known for its long hours, gigantic portions and downright kooky menu. Carnivores might fancy Porky’s or The Meat Is On, but there are also plenty of takers for the Vegan Queen (artichoke hearts, green olives, red onion etc) and the ten-inch brunch pie topped with wild mushrooms and cherry tomatoes on a soy yoghurt base.