Opening with little fanfare in the middle of sunshine in Summer, Peckham Bazaar has only one chef and a little kitchen outside (soon to be moving inside to be able to stay open for the Winter months), word of mouth has spread and now you are unlikely to be able to eat here without a reservation.
Food is heavily influenced by Greek and Middle Eastern cooking and with a weekly changing menu, produce is always fresh, innovative and delicious.
The weather was warm enough for us to sit outside in one of the last hazy Summer evening we had. The atmosphere outside is wonderful, it is sat in the middle of a quiet housing estate and we hardly saw anybody about whilst we were there. Try to visit when you can still sit outside for it all adds to the magic of the evening.
We started with, what Peckham Bazaar are calling, a #wrongungina. Turkish spirit raki mixed with orangina. You wouldn't think it would work but it really does!
Having had a look at the menu earlier, we knew we wanted to order one of everything and with the prices of the food this wasn't going to be a problem!!
We started with grilled pork souvlaki with pickled carrots, nigella seeds and tzatziki and unfortunately I have no picture because we ate it too fast. A mark I think of just how good it was. The pork came on skewers all tender and with a slight smokiness from the grill.
Next was a marinated grilled prawn saganaki, which is apparently a traditional Greek way of preparing a dish in a small frying pan. As all food is prepared on the grill it all comes with a gorgeous but not overpowering smokey flavour. The prawns were juicy and for ease their shells had been taken off. Didn't have to get too messy.
This next one may have been my favourite of them all. At the time I couldn't pick between all of them, they were all too good but I still remember (and I went about two weeks ago now) the flavours that came from the spices in the meatball and how tender it was that it completely fell apart on my fork and melted in my mouth.
It was a huge single veal and pork meatball with a courgette and almond puree and Turkish tarator. The puree was delicious and so different and accompanied the meatball perfectly.
Ok wait maybe this one was my fave. Grilled octopus with Greek fava, braised silver skins and capers. The octopus was crispy from the grill and the puree of fava - yellow split peas - complemented this wonderfully for a beautiful texture.
There was only one dessert to choose from and at the time I thought that it sounded a little boring - cherry baklava with walnut ice cream. Having a parent from a Middle Eastern background I have had plenty of baklava in my life and thought I had been there, done that and knew what to expect.
I was so wrong!
I haven't baklava with huge pieces of real fruit in before - let alone sweet and succulent cherry. The juice of the cherry mixed with the syrup from the baklava toned down the overall sweetness of the pastry and made for a gorgeous, gooey, every so slightly (in a good way) sticky texture. The walnut ice cream was pure brilliance, and when it all started to melt together and there were syrup and cherry flavours all over the bowl I was in pure heaven.
Again, no picture. It was that good.
Reliving them all over again, I can't decide which one was the best. Even the dessert stood up to the mighty meatball!
The service was a little slow - but with there only being one chef on a small grill and a very busy restaurant I will happily let them off. A warning, it is also cash only!
You can't at the moment get much better value for money anywhere else. The chef clearly loves the food he is cooking and the place has true values and it shows. I hope their success only continues to grow.
The weather was warm enough for us to sit outside in one of the last hazy Summer evening we had. The atmosphere outside is wonderful, it is sat in the middle of a quiet housing estate and we hardly saw anybody about whilst we were there. Try to visit when you can still sit outside for it all adds to the magic of the evening.
We started with, what Peckham Bazaar are calling, a #wrongungina. Turkish spirit raki mixed with orangina. You wouldn't think it would work but it really does!
Having had a look at the menu earlier, we knew we wanted to order one of everything and with the prices of the food this wasn't going to be a problem!!
We started with grilled pork souvlaki with pickled carrots, nigella seeds and tzatziki and unfortunately I have no picture because we ate it too fast. A mark I think of just how good it was. The pork came on skewers all tender and with a slight smokiness from the grill.
Next was a marinated grilled prawn saganaki, which is apparently a traditional Greek way of preparing a dish in a small frying pan. As all food is prepared on the grill it all comes with a gorgeous but not overpowering smokey flavour. The prawns were juicy and for ease their shells had been taken off. Didn't have to get too messy.
This next one may have been my favourite of them all. At the time I couldn't pick between all of them, they were all too good but I still remember (and I went about two weeks ago now) the flavours that came from the spices in the meatball and how tender it was that it completely fell apart on my fork and melted in my mouth.
It was a huge single veal and pork meatball with a courgette and almond puree and Turkish tarator. The puree was delicious and so different and accompanied the meatball perfectly.
Ok wait maybe this one was my fave. Grilled octopus with Greek fava, braised silver skins and capers. The octopus was crispy from the grill and the puree of fava - yellow split peas - complemented this wonderfully for a beautiful texture.
There was only one dessert to choose from and at the time I thought that it sounded a little boring - cherry baklava with walnut ice cream. Having a parent from a Middle Eastern background I have had plenty of baklava in my life and thought I had been there, done that and knew what to expect.
I was so wrong!
I haven't baklava with huge pieces of real fruit in before - let alone sweet and succulent cherry. The juice of the cherry mixed with the syrup from the baklava toned down the overall sweetness of the pastry and made for a gorgeous, gooey, every so slightly (in a good way) sticky texture. The walnut ice cream was pure brilliance, and when it all started to melt together and there were syrup and cherry flavours all over the bowl I was in pure heaven.
Again, no picture. It was that good.
Reliving them all over again, I can't decide which one was the best. Even the dessert stood up to the mighty meatball!
The service was a little slow - but with there only being one chef on a small grill and a very busy restaurant I will happily let them off. A warning, it is also cash only!
You can't at the moment get much better value for money anywhere else. The chef clearly loves the food he is cooking and the place has true values and it shows. I hope their success only continues to grow.
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