As a true melting pot, Peckham Rye’s evergreen appeal lies in its mix of multicultural vibrancy, righteous grit, and beautifully cosmopolitan chaos. This part of southeast London has been hip for years— arguably since the opening of Alsop and Störmer’s neo-brutalist, Stirling Prize-winning Peckham Library building in 2000— but while steadily on the ascent, it remains resistant to overt gentrification, with an iron-strong diasporic community that’s essential to its identity.
A hub for restaurants of every stripe, rooftop bars, creative workspaces, independent galleries, and boutique shopping, the district is as best understood as three distinct areas: the hectic central axes of Rye Lane and Choumert Road; the more relaxed ‘villagey’ Bellenden Road; and the green expanse of Peckham Rye park itself. Here’s an insider’s guide to the best of it, from an updated New York-style deli with pan-Asian inflections and natural wine to a wood-paneled bar with both raucous drag quizzes, as well as more tranquil “Balearic Thursdays.”
Eating
Peckham Levels
The thronging sixth-floor food hall at this multistory carpark turned creative complex is home to various fine concessions, but two are no-brainers. First: 081, an essential Neapolitan pizzeria in a city brimming with them, that also does a headsy line in the kind of fried, cheese-leaking crocche and frittatina common on Campanian street corners. Second: Boxwallah, a cracking ‘roadside’-style Indian hatch whose preposterous butter chicken samosas might be SE15’s greatest morsel. 95A Rye Lane, SE15 4ST
Artusi
A homey Italian spot on Bellenden Road, Artusi has received rave reviews since its opening in 2014. Its clattery appeal hasn't dimmed; the hyper-seasonal menu changes day-to-day, but might include meticulous little dishes like ox tongue pastrami with caper agrodolce and harissa, or spaghetti with leeks and bottarga. The £25 three-course set lunch menu is almost a maniacally good value. 161 Bellenden Road, SE15 4DH
Larry’s
The logline of this dinky diner-bar might sound erratic— it’s basically a Modern European small-plates joint with pan-Asian inflections, refracted through a prism of New York corner cafés and Jewish delis— but the results are seamless. Come for the pork schnitzel with gochujang mayo or faultless pastas (Xinjiang-inspired lamb and cumin pappardelle, say); stay for the gallons of natural wine and perennially buzzing milieu. Unit 5, 12-16 Blenheim Grove, SE15 4QL
Suuyar
The Choumert Road stall of Nigerian chef and bona-fide YouTube celeb Kolawole Ajayi (10 million views and counting) is one-stop nirvana for diasporic food fans and minimalists alike. You have two options only: the burnished beef suya, honking with peanut cake and fragrant yaji spices; and a goat asun that’s nearly palette-recalibrating in its scotch bonnet heat, and it’s all the more satisfying for it. 150C Rye Lane and Choumert Road, SE15 4RZ
Kudu Grill
At the opposite end of the continental African nexus, Kudu Grill is a refined South African-inspired joint near the Rye common. Snacks and starters skew global, but the focus is on punchy, braai-fired plates of meat and fish, plus emigré deserts like a MelkTert choux bun with candied kumquats. The interiors are handsomely rustic; the wine list, of course, wholly South African. 57 Nunhead Lane, SE15 3TR
The Begging Bowl
A first-wave catalyst in the emergence of “posh Peckham,” The Begging Bowl specializes in super-fragrant modern Thai fare served sharing-style. The menu cuts a line from the fiery, fermented funk of northern Isaan cuisine to the more soothing curries of the southern borders, by way of cured cod with green mango, rhubarb and agretti, or banana blossom with white asparagus. 168 Bellenden Road, SE15 4BW
