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Peckham Rye - December 2014
Getting to Bazaar feels like you’re going on a bit of an adventure. It’s not found in the usual Peckham hotspots like Rye Lane or Bellenden Road, and walking there seems like you’re heading into the middle of nowhere. But at the end of this unexpected journey, you’ll find something very special.
We’d been dying to try the place for quite some time, after the food grapevine was a-buzz at the beginning of the year with talk of a small local place serving up incredible grilled meats on an outside grill. Unfortunately, a planned six week closure to move the grill inside stretched out to nearly six months, thanks to issue with extraction (some shit with a fan) and complaining neighbours. But it’s back. And it’s banging.
Styling itself as a pan-Balkan grill, Bazaar was opened in answer to the lack of, in the owners’ opinion, any decent Greek / Turkish / Albanian food in London. That’s obviously a subjective point (I’ve had some great Greek & Turkish meals myself, and I suppose it’s been the classics), but if it has given rise to this place I’ll go with it.
The food is all about up-to-date flavour combinations but without the faff of ‘modern’ techniques; you won’t find a waterbath within a mile of this place. Everything is grilled over an open charcoal pit at one end of the small room - which fills the restaurant with delicious smells and adds the occasional theatrical flame for good measure (incidentally, there have been Tr*pAdvisor reviews bemoaning the smoky restaurant. We experienced nothing of the sort, suggesting that extraction works well).
Also, the menu is ever-changing, dependent on what can be sourced from the markets at any given time. So there’s every possibility you’d never be able to try the food we ate, which would be a real shame, because a couple of the dishes were incredible (the others all decent).
For starters we have marinated octopus, which is smoky, spicy, well seasoned and tasty. A shame then, that it’s also not nearly tender enough. Chewing it, let alone cutting it into mouth-sized portions, takes some serious elbow grease. But the flavours are enough to make up for a lack of tenderisation.
The mackerel we had was delightful, firm flesh, crispy skin and packing some serious heat from the esme salad.
The heat is carried through into the mains with an amazing dish of partridge breast and leg, which manages the alchemy of setting your mouth slightly ablaze with adjika, while retaining a depth of sweet flavours in the meat and the sauce. More smokiness from the moutabel (mashed aubergine) complimented everything. The flavour of spices kept building in the mouth long after the food had disappeared, and when the dish was eaten clean, both Mr. & Mrs. Eatings looked forlornly at the empty plate wishing there was more.
Next to it, the lamb dish felt a little washed out. Beautifully blushed pink, tender and juicy, with a fragrant sauce and creamy beans, it was a very tasty dish, but it really didn’t stand up to the powerful punchiness of the partridge.
For desserts we had a cheese board, and to be honest, there’s a reason you don’t hear much about Balkan cheese. It’s always interesting to try alternative cheeses, but there was no trees being pulled up by this selection of pretty samey hard cheeses.
The baklava however, was a bigger success. Mr. Eatings is no fan of it, but the raptures my fellow diners were in, suggests it was a fine effort. Sweet and sticky, with a light rosewater hints, poached fruit and ice-cream to cut the richness.
They're on to a winner here. The general consensus from the group was that the meal was delicious. There’s nothing bizarre about that.
119 Consort Road,
London SE15 3RU
http://peckhambazaar.com/
