pedler peckham rye

amazing place in london. i love the food. can’t wait to come back here again. congratulations to the staff.

peckham slowly but surely is becoming the little hipster brother to grown up dulwich. in addition to franks and copeland park we now have a hairdresser called blue tit, a new vietnamese place that does bao buns and a few breakfast places that do more than just breaded chicken and baked beans.

much anticipated but disappointed. on arrival everything seemed great. lovely atmosphere, friendly staff, menu looked interesting but illusions were shattered when la-di-da´s (described as pork scratchings) were actually mcoy flavored beef chrisps from the offie next door. at least they arrived in a fancy paper bag, which made it all the more better. the other dishes ordered were ranging from bog standard chicken and chips to fancy rib to liver surprise. crab doughnut was ordered and wondering what could this be? yes, its a doughnut, sprinkled with icing sugar filled with crab delicious -if your completely deranged, a mixed bag, very inconstant. service was attentive but weird. 5/10. they really need to fill those hot water bottles with hot water. bit wanky. at least we got drunk on nice cocktails and good wine. amen.

recently i've made a conscious decision and a real effort to try to explore more of my local areas. part of this is due to pure laziness but also because, after being an afterthought for so long, south london is now really starting to come to the fore. one area which is receiving a lot of attention is peckham and when it boasts places like peddler, you can see why.
self-described as "your vibrant neighbourhood eatery, set up by a team that live in and love peckham.", it is every bit as good as advertised with an energy filling the place which is warm and electric - it was the perfect venue for a sunny sunday brunch.
proceedings kicked off in a civil manner with avocado, slow roast tomatoes and lemon on quinoa sourdough but then quickly escalated with the arrival of the pedler breakfast of eggs, little bird gin sausage, valley smokehouse bacon, house-made baked beans, mushroom, tomato, toast & maple salted butter and the most amazing pig head croquette which is worthy of being a dish in its own right. it was a sight to behold and needless to say, extremely satisfying - brunch will never be the same.

if you didn't know before, you do now; peckham is on the rise and it's places like pedler which are putting it on the map. get there.





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after living in melbourne for the last 5 years, you could say we’ve been spoilt for choice when it came to the city’s choices for brunch. having lived for a year in kuala lumpur and seen the poor imitations of aussie brunches on third wave cafes’ menus, we have spent the last few months trying to find a decent london brunch. many people seem to think that bill granger is the answer to every rubbish brunch in the capital but few people realise that australians don’t actually rate his overpriced breakfast and brunch outlets.

great food and perfect presentation, unique for peckham. there is a different menu everyday and every dish i tasted was delicious. although the portions are not big, the food is really satisfying.

it’s a cute little place both on the inside and out. lots of miss-matched furniture and bits and bobs everywhere gave the feeling of being in a trendy furniture shop. the music playlist was particularly noteworthy – they were banging out some serious tunes. along with some super friendly staff, it had the potential to be the perfect lunch, but the food fell a bit flat which was a shame.

when it comes to eating out in london, i must confess i'm a bit of a hermit. i travel all across europe, but when it comes to my home city, i seem to be stuck in zone 1. partly it has something do with where i live, but also because there's already so much on my doorstep - that and the sudden need for my bed after a boozy lunch means not far to travel. so when peckham was put on the cards, i had to do a quick google. i'd been hearing a lot about peckham recently, with its new restaurant openings and swarm of middle class families moving into what is a slightly more affordable part of london. it's also now home to a fabulous new restaurant, pedler.

one thing pedlar really have got spot on, is their cocktails. relatively simple, but delicious concoctions are mixed together with some cracking ingredients and top quality spirits. the smoky negroni was certainly the best i've had in some time, although dangerously easy to drink. pedler also have a great little selection of appetisers to help curve any hunger pains while you're settling in. some lovely mixed pulgian olives and gorgeous single bites of seared tuna wrapped in a fiery pepper crumb will get the taste buds suitably tantalised.

hopefully you can forgive me for my poor quality photos, it's pretty dark inside pedler. great for cosy romantic evenings, but not for my camera. i took a photo of the bread about 100 times before i managed to focus on it and not because i'm a perfectionist, i just needed you to see what some of london's best bread looked like. i'm a bit of a stickler myself when it comes to bread, i can't help but instantly judge a restaurant from it's bread. it's one of the first things you encounter in a restaurant, so it has to be good, first impressions last and count for a lot. here the bread was spectacular. large slices of fluffy bread, char-grilled and with a small pot of their own olive oil which was light, but full of flavour. this is how you do bread.

the food here at pedler is all about small plates and sharing (or not). everything is extremely eclectic here too, with dishes deriving their inspiration from across all parts of the globe. one dish we weren't expecting to see on the menu were these lamb kofta with hummus and charred baby gem. the kitchen here loves charring food and i love eating it. it was packed with flavour, those kofta balls delicious and the hummus as smooth as could possibly be, even the charred lettuce was excellent. this dish was no culinary breakthrough, but it was perfectly cooked and you could really taste the passion and care that went into cooking this dish.

one dish that no one in their right mind could possibly resist was the devilishly good sounding, blood orange hollandaise 'fondue' with char-grilled dipping veg. to say it was good would be an understatement, but to say it was some of the best veg with the best dipping sauce we've had in a while, wouldn't be. i've not really compared one restaurant to another before but pedler very much reminds me of a little gem in notting hill called, goode & wright. while the food is still excellent in notting hill, the one thing it doesn't quite have is atmosphere like here at pedler - it really does have an extraordinary vibe. the place was buzzing from the moment we arrived, right until we stumbled out of the door.

that was the other thing about pedler, for a mid-week wednesday the place was absolutely packed. so busy that there wasn't a single free table and punters were literally lining the bar in hope of snagging a table - i felt rather lucky. in keeping with its eclectic vibe, spain seemed to inspire our next course. angry prawns, roasted peppers and coriander. the prawns themselves were beautiful examples. large and chunky, a little sweet and had been cooked in a rich, tomato based sauce. the angry element to them was the fiery kick they punched, although personally i'd have actually enjoyed a little more heat. more of that grilling appeared again too, giving a lovely smokiness to it all.

easily the best dish we ate here and one which rarely escapes the ever changing menu, was the frizzle chicken with fried polenta, parmesan and attitude sauce. the dangerous sounding descriptor refers to that sauce drizzled all over everything. i've no idea what this secret recipe sauce consists of, but i can tell you - it's hot. the moist morsels of chicken were covered in a gluten free batter, which was much more crispy than i'd expected. no matter how crispy and delicious this batter was, i'm still no more convinced about the whole gluten intolerant wave that's spread across london - i find it all rather odd how everyone has become gluten intolerant in the last few years. do people really understand what gluten is?! either way at least pedler are bang on trend.

we were completely full by this point and admittedly rather drunk too. it's always a give away when you're ordering large glasses of wine, after we (i) had already polished off a delicious bottle of viognier. i'm blaming pedler's fantastic wine list for that. on the menu there's a fantastic selection of hidden gems from across the wine making world, barely ever reaching past £35 - unless you request pedler's cellar list, that is. nothing is more satisfying than a poached pear for dessert too, especially if it's one like this. laced and glazed in sweet syrup, accompanied by a couple of scoops of chantilly cream. simple, but incredibly indulgent and a steal at only £5.

finishing up on our last dish, i really wasn't expecting to be eating three of my favourite things in one bowl. sweet pomegranate, silky smooth white chocolate sauce and a light and airy chocolate mousse - i think i've found my new favourite dessert.  i started off this review talking about me rarely dining out past zone 1 in london (except for rest of uk) however i think i've had a revelation. with a very small handful pedler is one place that i would happily leave central london for because quite frankly, its eclectic quality mix of foods, affordable wine list, amazing music playlist and some of the best service i have ever encountered while dining out - what's not to like? pedler is one of south london's hottest new openings right now and easily one of my new favourites. go now, before the rest of zone 1 finds out

when it comes to eating out in london, i must confess i'm a bit of a hermit. i travel all across europe, but when it comes to my home city, i seem to be stuck in zone 1. partly it has something do with where i live, but also because there's already so much on my doorstep - that and the sudden need for my bed after a boozy lunch means not far to travel. so when peckham was put on the cards, i had to do a quick google. i'd been hearing a lot about peckham recently, with its new restaurant openings and swarm of middle class families moving into what is a slightly more affordable part of london. it's also now home to a fabulous new restaurant, pedler . one thing pedlar really have got spot on, is their cocktails. relatively simple, but delicious concoctions are mixed together with some cracking ingredients and top quality spirits. the smoky negroni was certainly the best i've had in some time, although dangerously easy to drink. pedler also have a great little selection of appetisers to help curve any hunger pains while you're settling in. some lovely mixed pulgian olives and gorgeous single bites of seared tuna wrapped in a fiery pepper crumb will get the taste buds suitably tantalised. hopefully you can forgive me for my poor quality photos, it's pretty dark inside pedler . great for cosy romantic evenings, but not for my camera. i took a photo of the bread about 100 times before i managed to focus on it and not because i'm a perfectionist, i just needed you to see what some of london's best bread looked like. i'm a bit of a stickler myself when it comes to bread, i can't help but instantly judge a restaurant from it's bread. it's one of the first things you encounter in a restaurant, so it has to be good, first impressions last and count for a lot. here the bread was spectacular. large slices of fluffy bread, ch

brunch. what a great word, or portmanteau rather (that's right mum, i know some long ones). it's certainly a better creation than cabarenaissance and croissandwich. (see also: zonkey and wholphin)

fact time! my spy in the qi elf department may say otherwise, but wikipedia tells me that brunch originated in britain in the late 1800s:

"instead of england's early sunday dinner, a postchurch ordeal of heavy meats and savory pies, why not a new meal, served around noon, that starts with tea or coffee, marmalade and other breakfast fixtures before moving along to the heavier fare? by eliminating the need to get up early on sunday, brunch would make life brighter for saturday-night carousers. it would promote human happiness in other ways as well. "brunch is cheerful, sociable and inciting." beringer wrote. "it is talk-compelling. it puts you in a good temper, it makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings, it sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week."

— william grimes, "at brunch, the more bizarre the better" new york times, 1998

i tend to work on the weekends, often missing out on that magical and mysterious meal time, but i have started 2015 as i mean to go on - with lots of brunch, from pedler to pimlico fresh.
..

pedler in peckham rye is a new all-day neighbourhood joint from the local little bird gin folk.

if you've been to their charming bar on maltby street market, then the pedler décor won't surprise you. i saw someone describe it as having an airy antique yard feel - let's go with that. although, the odd shape of the site they have inherited means that the design isn't consistent throughout; we were directed towards a secluded booth that lacked the brunch buzz of the main room.

climpsons & sons coffee kept us company whilst we tried to decode the menu. frizzle chicken? bubble? dumpkins? attitude sauce? gingerella? lemon on toast? ok, the last one i can do. friendly staff were on hand to explain the rest.

here's what we went for:

- home cured peck'ham, ricotta & sage "french toastie" - £7

- frizzle chicken, brioche, parmesan, attitude sauce & pickles - £8

- banger sarnie, red onion jam, coleman's mustard, cheddar - £6

- avocado, slow roast tomatoes, lemon on toast - £5

- wild mushroom & kentish kale bruschetta, poached egg - £7

- sunday breakie - smoked bacon, sausage, slow roast tomato, mushroom, bubble, poached eggs, toast and maple salted butter - £9

there wasn't much sharing going on, which is usually a good sign. the "french toastie" (a toasted sandwich with french toast) received a lot of praise from jo the sis, and the frizzle (fried) chicken with its spicy "attitude sauce" seemed to disappear pretty quickly. sunday breakie could have been better, with inconsistent eggs and maple toast that didn't quite work, but the ball of "bubble" (not squeak) was a nice addition. the rest were happily dispatched.

we finished off with a large dumpkin (£2) - a pedler doughnut filled with sweet pumpkin cream. the filling was more paste than cream, and the dumpkin was almost cake-like rather than doughy, but it was an enjoyable treat nonetheless.

we weren't in a boozy brunch mood, so the familiar little bird cocktails (barrel aged negroni, peck'em martini, maltby mary) didn't get an outing on this occasion, but at £6-8 you can't go far wrong.

the same goes for the food really. the sunday breakie was the most expensive item on the menu at £9, with everything else around the £7 mark, and on the whole ample portion sizes. whilst i've had better brunches, it's early days for pedler and i imagine it will go from strength to strength.

as we were leaving, the sunday lunch dishes were starting to appear, and the roasts looked incredible. i'll be back for dr.pepper glazed pig loin and some sea stuff (?). there's also an entirely separate lunch & dinner menu on which i spotted smoked salmon with quiquiriqui mezcal butter on rye (!) amongst other delights. if they can pull off these quirky dishes, i'm sure you'll be reading a lot more about pedler soon. return visit required.