Brixton
Brixton
Here’s our guide to the best things to do in Brixton, including all the restaurants, shops, bars and venues that make this South London neighbourhood tick.
You won’t go hungry in Brixton, especially if you’re looking for Caribbean food, with the likes of Fish, Wings & Tings in the neighbourhood. Brixton Village is filled with great indie food spots and you can find food from a whole range of countries and cuisines here, and across the wider area – you can even get dinner inside a prison as part of a social enterprise dining experiece.
Just a stone’s throw away from the station is the environmentally friendly, up-cycled shipping container space Pop Brixton. It hosts some of the local community’s most exciting restaurants, bars and businesses like The New Zealand Cellar and Container Records, and has a 200-capacity event space for gigs, cinema screenings, fitness classes and places where you can play bingo.
Now over 100 years old, the Ritzy Cinema is an iconic part of the Brixton landscape. Restored to its original turn-of-the-century charm, it still has all those amazing architectural features and a red velvet curtain. The Brixton Academy is another local institution, having hosted gigs from legends like The Smiths, Madonna, The Clash, The Prodigy and the Sex Pistols to name but a few. Much more modern, having arrived in 2013, Aussie street artist James Cochran’s mural of David Bowie has become another recognisable part of Brixton, and has been a must-see for Bowie fans ever since his death back in 2016.
Robin Gill and his wife Sarah have opened a new bistro and wine bar in Brixton called Bottle + Rye and we can confirm it’s an absolute banger. Located on the edge of Brixton Market and Coldharbour Lane, the pair have carved out a little piece of Paris in south London, with a stellar line up of relaxed bistro dishes and superb natural wines. Lewis Wright has curated the wine list with a selection mostly sourced from France and Europe but also including a couple of bottles from Renegade in London, and head chef Ben Hughes-Gage has created a food menu to match – we’re talking dishes like anchovies on honey toast, raw scallop with watermelon & plum, smoked eel brandade with pink fir crisps, and gooseberry & fig leaf choux eclair.
Run by Trinidadian chef Brian Danclair, Fish, Wings & Tings has become a Brixton Village institution. He serves up his take on Caribbean classics including reggae wings, cod fish fritters, coconut prawns, curried mutton, stew oxtail, jerk chicken and rum punch. Expect good food and good vibes.
Now over 100 years old, the Ritzy Cinema is an iconic part of Brixton’s fabric. Restored to its original turn-of-the-century charm, it still has all those amazing architectural features and a red velvet curtain. Classy! Owned by Picturehouse Cinemas, there are loads of great deals to get money off your tickets, plus there is an upstairs live music venue called named ‘Upstairs’ (duh!) for when you decide your night isn’t over after the end credits.
Popular Brixton spot The Prince of Wales is no more but it’s not all bad news because the site has been transformed into new venue Brixton Storeys, and it has a 24-hour music and alcohol license. The 750-capacity venue features three distinct areas; The Red Room, which boasts immersive lighting and Turbo Sound and Funktion One acoustic technology; The Boudoir, a more intimate indoor space; and The SKY Terraces, two redesigned rooftop terraces with full sound systems, a DJ booth and retractable roofs. The likes of Mas Que Nada, Got Soul, Summerized Sessions, Dazed, Up on the Roof, Cirque du Soil, Milkshake, Reggae Brunch, Wallop and Supa Dupa Fly Brunch will all be hosting residencies and events at the venue.
Temaki, London’s first authentic hand roll bar, is overseen by restaurateur A.M Dupee and chef Shaulan Steenson, who has gained experience at some of Japan’s most coveted sushi joints as well as at London’s best Japanese restaurants. The rolls are available individually or in sets and are rolled to order before being handed over the counter. If you order a set – we think this is the best and easiest way – they all start with the akami tuna in honour of the first roll Shaulan had when working in Japan. The unagi (BBQ eel), otoro tuna with spring onion and crab with egg yolk & white soy are also excellent. It’s a handroll bar so naturally these are the main attraction but you definitely don’t want to skip the small plates, especially the monkfish karaage. The quality of sushi at Temaki is right up there with the best in the city, with the added bonus of not costing a bomb and the informal and friendly atmosphere make it great for solo dining.
Housed in the former Montego Inn in Brixton, Maremma is all about showcasing produce, particularly game and seafood, and wine from the Maremma part of Tuscany (it’s the southwestern portion by the coast FYI). Much of the wine list hasn’t been seen in the UK before so you really are getting something new. The menu is tight, with only a handful of antipasti, primi and secondi – definitely don’t miss the signature tortelli Maremmani, fat parcels stuffed with spinach and ricotta, and swimming in sage butter.
Just a stone’s throw away from Brixton station is the environmentally friendly, up-cycled shipping container space Pop Brixton. It hosts some of the local community’s most exciting restaurants, bars and businesses like The New Zealand Cellar and Container Records, and has a 200-capacity event space for gigs, cinema screenings, fitness classes and places where you can play bingo.
“Tell you what, why don’t we go and grab a bite to eat…we’ll go to that new place, the one in the prison, yeah Brixton Prison”. Yep, you can go and eat at The Clink Restaurant right inside HMP Brixton. Providing inmates with the tools and skills to help gain employment on their release, The Clink serves up a proper restaurant quality menu cooked and served by prisoners, so it’s sure to be a unique dining experience. A daring first date perhaps?
DAVID BOWIE MURAL
- Monday: Open 24 hours
- Tuesday: Open 24 hours
- Wednesday: Open 24 hours
- Thursday: Open 24 hours
- Friday: Open 24 hours
- Saturday: Open 24 hours
- Sunday: Open 24 hours
Exactly what it says on the tin, this Bowie tribute, painted by Aussie street artist James Cochran in 2013, suddenly became a site of an overwhelming outpouring of public grief following Bowie’s death in January 2016. If you were a fan of the legend that inspired it, it’s definitely worth a look.
The Windmill turned 200 in back 2016, making it MEGA OLD. It’s still a looker though and it’s still a working windmill (the only one left in London in fact). Fancy having a nosy? The windmill is open for guided tours between April and October, and you can pick up flour milled on site to use in your bakes at home.
Another of Brixton’s iconic landmarks, the Brixton Academy was built in 1929, starting out in life as a theatre. Since then it’s been reopened many different times under many different names but has never lost its musical roots. The venue has had many a legend pass through its doors, including The Smiths, Madonna, The Clash, The Prodigy and the Sex Pistols to name but a few, and is likely to see many more in the future. Rock on!
Tucked back on a little square, this boozer is a great one to have up your sleeve, especially if you’re looking for a pre-gig pint rather than a pre-gig scrum at the bar. They extended upstairs to give more space for diners and added a fire pit to the beer garden, so you can hang out back there all year round. It’s a Young’s too so you can be sure of a decent pint.
The Duke of Edinburgh has one of the biggest beer gardens in south London and it comes with a huge outdoor bar and BBQ pit. With lots of ales and cask beer on rotation, this one is a good spot for beer geeks. It’s super chilled and a great place to spend a sunny afternoon.
From the logo all the way through to the names and flavours of the beers, Brixton Brewery is a product of the South London neighbourhood it’s named after. The Electric IPA is named for Electric Avenue, its taste designed to be an assault on the senses – much like a trip to the street itself. Coldharbour Lager takes its name from Coldharbour Lane, a street known for its boho origins – reflected in a lively, easy-drinking lager. And as you’d expect, Brixton Brewery’s taproom sits in the very heart of the area, under the railway arches. Because where else would you put a brewery in London?
Weigh and Pay is the first zero-waste shop in Brixton Village, selling organic and plant-based whole, household goods and cosmetics. The shop is stocking products from local businesses like natural deodorant maker Elsa’s Organic and skincare company Suneeta London.
Created by Will Bowlby, who previously worked at The Cinnamon Club, the dishes are inspired by Southern India but use British ingredients and modern flair to bring them up to date. Samphire pakoras and Keralan fried chicken have become Kricket signatures but there’s a lot to love across the menu, including the likes of Goan sausage croquettes & burnt apple chutney, claypot baked cod, duck leg seekh kebab, and Mangalorean chicken gassi. The Brixton and Canary Wharf restaurants also serve Sunday lunch menus centred around charcoal grilled tandoori chicken, grilled cauliflower and braised leg of lamb, with sides like berry pulao, black garlic & dried chilli raita, and pickled onion & pomegranate salad.
Not only does Brockwell Park have a bangin’ lido that’s the ideal place to cool off come summer but it’s also got a BMX track, basketball court, cricket nets, bowling greens and a ton of other sports facilities. Or you could just kick back and enjoy the views from the top of the park.
A branch of the prolific group (they’ve got eight other branches in London, as well as two in Dubai), Enish Brixton is a bustling Nigerian restaurant with an extensive menu of authentic dishes. They’ve got all the classics, including the likes of jollof rice, ogbono soup (with or without swallows), fried plantain, yam porridge, a range of suyas as well as various other meats and fish from the grill. Aside from the food, they’ve got a regular programme of live music and DJs – you’re not gonna be bored with a night out at Enish.
Melanie Brown, the woman behind The New Zealand Cellar in POP Brixton, also runs all-day bistro and wine bar, The Laundry, just the other side of Brixton Village on Coldharbour Lane. She’s taken over Walton Lodge, which used to be a commercial steam press laundry (hence the name) but has kept the original brickwork, mixing in vintage furniture, antique mirrors, counter and banquette seating, and a wall stacked with wine. The menu is full of comforting classics with an Antipodean twist, like beets with apple aioli, prawn cocktail, and chicken Kyiv with caesar slaw, and there’s an interesting wine list to go with that – it’s also worth asking for recommendations as the staff know their stuff.
If you’re a fan of Cantonese roast meats, Three Uncles is just the spot for you. The Brixton Village site, their first sit-in one, is serving up their famous Cantonese trio of roast duck, crispy pork belly and char siu pork. They’ve also got some of their classics on the menu such as Hainan chicken rice, lo mein noodles and a selection of dim sum available to eat in, take away or have delivered, not to mention the Brixton-only specials including the Treasures Platter of duck, char siu and crispy pork; roast duck & char siu lai fun noodle soup; and lotus leaf rice with Chinese sausage, steamed chicken, shiitake mushroom & chestnuts. Trust us, you want to be trying this.
BLACK BEAR BURGER
- Monday: Closed
- Tuesday: 5:00 – 9:00 PM
- Wednesday: 5:00 – 10:00 PM
- Thursday: 12:00 – 10:00 PM
- Friday: 12:00 – 10:00 PM
- Saturday: 12:00 – 10:00 PM
- Sunday: 12:00 – 9:00 PM
Starting out as a street food joint, Black Bear Burger opened up its first bricks-and-mortar site in Brixton back in 2019 (they still have kitchens in Boxpark and Market Halls) and it’s been slinging out some of the best burgers in town ever since. Those burgers are made from a bespoke blend of cuts from grass-fed and dry-aged British beef and they’re so good, they only need topping with cheese, smoked bacon, onion jam & garlic mayo – you can get them with blue cheese sauce and beer-braised brisket on if you’re feeling extra indulgent. The burgers may be the main event but there are plenty of other treats to discover, including brisket spring rolls (which are as good as they sound), smoked pork tacos, buttermilk chicken nuggets with blue cheese and buffalo sauces, and even smoked meat specials on from time to time too. This BBB joint also serves booze, so you can sip on cocktails, beer jugs and shot skis alongside your buns.
Founded by wine buff Margaux Aubry and chef Joe Sharratt, Naughty Piglets is Brixton’s favourite local bistro. It’s beloved for its extensive list of natural wines and modern European menu of small plates, like ham croquettes, gnocchi with pesto & dried olives, duck Kyiv with wild garlic butter, Cornish turbot with courgettes & butter sauce, and creme caramel. Super intimate (with just 29 covers) and super friendly, this is the place to go if you want to feel like a well-fed, welcomed part of the community.
Welcome to the farm — we mean farmshop. Wilfred Emmanuel Jones, the first black farmer in the UK, opened the Black Farmer Farmshop in Brixton complete with life-size cows, a deli counter, homeware, and premium wine. You can also grab a bite to eat inside the shop with a menu of freshly made sandwiches, desserts, and more.