Peckham Bazaar, Peckham

Baked feta parcels, marinated betroot and skordalia

The first thing I noticed as we stepped inside the Peckham Bazaar was the smell of cooking over charcoal. The second thing I noticed was a whole lamb rotating on a spit behind the open kitchen. It had me excited.

The menu describes itself as Greek, Turkish, Albanian and Iranian and there were lots of items that I didn't recognise like tarama, skordalia, adjika and kefalotyri. Our friendly waitress offered to help we any questions we had and was surprised when we only asked about one or two dishes. Our lack of questioning wasn't from any position of knowledge, but more happiness to make some random new discoveries.

Imam bayaldi, kefalotyri and sheep’s yoghurt

We started with the baked feta parcels, marinated betroot and skordalia (£6.50). We were both expecting the feta to be 'parceled' in filo, but it came in wrapped in tin foil. A much more suitable protector from hot coals. The star of the dish for me was the garlicky white skordalia.

We shared two main courses. The first was the imam bayaldi, kefalotyri and sheep’s yoghurt (£13.50). Half a slow cooked aubergine was sitting in a pool of sheep's yoghurt and was topped with some shaved kefalotyri, a hard sheep's cheese that tasted a little like parmesan. I enjoyed the dish and subtle spice of the aubergine, but thought it could have been enhanced by some fresh mint to help cut through the richness. It wasn't very substantial as a main and I thought a little on the pricey side for half an aubergine.

Spit roasted lamb, swiss chard gratin and greek salad

Our final dish was the one that caught my eye as we walked in, the spit roasted lamb, swiss chard gratin and greek salad (£18.50) from specials board. The lamb was my favourite of the food we tried. It wasn't as smokey as I expected, but the skin had a subtly spiced flavour and the swiss chard gratin was good too. However, for the price I was hoping for a much bigger serving of the lamb.

The Peckham Bazaar has been on my wish list for a while so it was good to finally make it. I liked the friendly service and the fact they are trying to do something different in suburban Peckham. Before I could become a regular they need to sort out the smoke which filled the dining room, got in our clothes and on occasion stung our eyes. I also feel they need to sort out their pricing too, better value might tempt me back sooner.


Peckham Bazaar
119 Consort Rd
London
SE15 3RU