Queen's, Camberwell

Charred hispi cabbage and asparagus

We first properly met Mike, the owner and chef behind Queen's in Camberwell, at his excellent supper club back in 2012. I've had a soft spot for his great cooking and strong desire to use local and sustainable ingredients ever since.

Like quite a few other people, we joined the incredible surge of donations in the dying hours of his Kickstarter project last year to help Mike open his own restaurant. We were in New Zealand when the restaurant opened last year so exchanged our ticket to the opening party for a voucher at the restaurant that we used on Saturday night.

Flat bread and harissa oil at Queens in Camberwell

Between the three of us we were able to order all but one dish on the menu which gave us an excellent opportunity to see what Queen's was all about. As expected there were lots of seasonal ingredients with new season asparagus, peas, cabbages and salads heavy on the menu. The grill is heavily used with lots of charred dishes and in line with their street food stall there are quite a few homemade pickles on the menu.

Kent asparagus manti 

My favourite dishes included the home made flat bread, a signature from their street food stall. Charred and rubbed in spices it was a great start.

Next up was another favourite, the charred hispi cabbage and asparagus with garlic, mustard and fresh cheese. The dish might have been a little oily for some, but I really liked the new season asparagus.

The whole juicy grilled plaice came with vividly coloured beetroot borani (yoghurt dip) and an amazingly smokey spring onion. It tasted like the most intensely smoked aubergine I've ever had.

Photos of the other dishes we sampled, none of which put a foot wrong, are included above and below.

Rounding off the meal was a single scoop of dark chocolate sorbet. I'm not usually one for chocolate ice creams but I really liked this version which came with charred oranges (the grill even gets used in for the desserts!), cocoa nibs and nuts.

Rosehip and star anise marinated pork belly with raddichio

At £98 for the three of us, including a bottle of wine, I thought the meal was good value. The restaurant manager was welcoming and on top of all the restaurant comings and goings. The rest of the staff were friendly and helpful, although it was a little uncoordinated when we were asked three times if we had ordered drinks and our table could have used a wipe before desserts came out too.

Camberwell is definitely lucky to have Queen's and it seems inexplicable to me that they aren't as busy as nearby Silk Road or Theo's pizza. I'm sure it won't be long before the locals are queueing here too.

Whole plaice

Fried potatoes with harissa and seaweed aioli

Marinated lake district lamb, carrots and pickles

Dark chocolate tart and dark chocolate sorbet

Queen's
45 Camberwell Church Street

London

SE5 8TR

Silk Road, Xinjiang Chinese in Camberwell

Mid plate chicken

In Sydney I could literally fall of bed an into the delights of China town, but authentic Asian cooking doesn't seem quite as easy to find in London. With its promise of authentic Sichuan food, Silk Road in Camberwell has been on my wish list for quite a while.

After a false start last year, when we got turned away, I planned this trip properly; assembling a group of friends and, crucially, making a booking. I had a strange nervousness that out booking would have been lost, but thankfully all was well and we got shown to a small table at the back of the restaurant.

Beef and onion dumplings 

I'd been teasing my companions that we were in for a night of offal, While there was generous sprinkling of tripe on the menu we were able to easily avoid, selecting a dish from most sections of the menu so we could taste as much as possible.

First to arrive at the table was a double serving of the beef and onion dumplings. We ordered two servings as at £2.50 each we thought we might only get three / four dumplings with each serving. We shouldn't have feared as we got a generous mound. The dumplings definitely benefited from a dunking in Chinese vinegar and I think if I was going to order two servings again I'd definitely mix up the flavours.

Hot and sour shredded potatoes

Next to arrive at the table was the hot and sour shredded potatoes. I'd expected / hoped for fried potatoes, but despite being cut like shoe string fries these potatoes had been nowhere near hot oil. They were hot, not particularly sour and just the right side of raw. It was an alien taste to my palate and not one I immediately warmed to if I'm honest.

Getting us right back on track were two large grilled swordfish shish kebabs. The fish was spicier than I expected with a ground chilli crust. After the hot potatoes the fish was the dish that tipped me over my pathetic chilli threshold and my brow began to glisten.

Fish shish

I was beginning to fill up, but the dishes kept arriving at our table with the home style aubergine and special cooked lamb with noodles. The aubergine, tomato and chilli was out attempt at a vegetable dish. It still counts of the aubergines were fried, right?

The lamb was our first taste of the homemade noodles and they were a delight, if incredibly long and a little messy to eat. As my shirt can attest and I'd like to make it clear for the record that it was two of my dining companions that splattered me! There wasn't too much lamb in the dish, but you can't complain at these prices.

Home style aubergine

Our final dish was also the best, the mid plate chicken (top photo). A large both of Shichuan pepper and chicken broth arrived at our, quickly followed by some more homemade noodles that were poured on top. The broth had the classic aromatic mouth-numbing quality that you get with heaps of Sichuan pepper. The small pieces of chicken were quite boney and a little awkward to eat, but you forgive a lot when the noodles and broth were that good.

Special cooked lamb with noodles

Silk Road is the type of place I love. Sure it's a little cramp, crowded and rough around the edges. But the food was fantastic and at £15 per head (including a generous tip and two beers each) it was amazing value too.

Silk Road has been added to my London eats map.

Silk Road
49 Camberwell Church St
London
SE5 8TR

Restaurant Review: FM Mangal, Camberwell

Roasted onions in FM Mangal's secret sauce

The call went out for a boys night dinner at my local Turkish restaurant. Sadly, they were fully booked when I called to reserve a table, so the hunt was on for another top South London Turkish. A bit of internet searching brought us to FM Mangal in Camberwell on a rainy Friday night.

The first thing that hits you as you walk inside is the glorious smokey smell of meat cooking over a charcoal grill. It's a smell that can't help but get you excited about ordering some of their grilled meats.

Turkish Bread

We started with FM Mangal's signature dish, their complimentary roasted onions in a pomegranate sauce served with sumac dusted flat breads. The onions were probably my favourite dish of the night and we were all dipping the bread into the bowl to soak up as much of the pomegranate sauce as possible.

Hot mixed meze

The hot mixed meze (£8) was a varied bunch. I enjoyed the salty haloumi and sucuk (sausages), but the calamari and falafel were a disappointment. I wouldn't be surprised if the calamari came from a packet and wasn't home made.

Cold mixed meze

The cold mixed meze (£7) was a selection of dips with some tabbouleh thrown in. Familiar, but nothing standout. I was a little disappointed that the mized meze was almost exclusively a selection of dips. No vine leaves or grilled aubergines?

FM Mangal Special

Our final dish was the FM Mangal Special (£16) a mixture of quail, chicken wings, a lamb chop and shish kebab that had been cooked over the hot coals. All of the meats had a decent smokey flavour and the shish was surprisingly spicy. I'm presuming it had a flair slug of red pepper paste that I discovered on my recent trip to Turkey.

FM Mangal is decent value and the roasted onions in pomegranate sauce are (almost) worth the trip alone. However, it doesn't surpass Brockley's Meze Mangal as my favourite Turkish in London.

FM Mangal
54 Camberwell Church Street  
Camberwell
London 
SE5 8QZ