404. Mr. Bao

A lovely little place in Peckham, Mr. Bao has had residency for the last couple of years. Bao's seem to be the craze as of late making their appearance at most pop-up street markets and the well known Bao in soho.
This little place is a perfect for a light lunch or evening cocktails and tit-bits.

Menu Done asian style, you get handed a little menu which you tick what you want. Split between the side dishes and bar's there's a great variety between veg and meat. Well balanced I'd say.

Interior Nicely done, nothing fancy. Nice exposed light bulbs, bit of floral tiling. However this place is very small and they've made good use of the space they have. Fits about 25 people.

Food Tapas style each plate came out as soon as it was ready. We opted for four sides to share and a bao each for a light lunch. This was the perfect amount.

First came the pork dumplings. Probably my least favourite out of everything, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy them because I did. The only thing was that the pastry didn't taste fresh and split easily when picked up. They should've been slightly more crisped, however the filling was great, well seasoned and light. Although the biggest faux pas is that soya sauce was not provided! Sriracha sauce was instead... 6.3/10

Next came the sweet potato fries with wasabi mayo. Ooo lordy these were good. Almost like tempura, the batter was lightly crisp and semi flaking off. The wasabi mayo was delicious (although could've been stronger personally) but they were great. A lovely little side dish. Highly recommended, however they are a bit stingey on the mayo. 8.4/10

Then followed by Soya and Ginger Edamame beans and Fried Chicken with siracha mayo. The edamame beans were delicious, the sauce was great sweet and salty. Can't go wrong. The fried chicken was good, nothing to rave about. But great if you can't resist a bit of some crispy fried chicken. Came with siracha mayo, which for me was ok but would've preferred a sticky honey and soya sauce. 6.1/10

Lastly came the Bao's. These were pretty darn good. Lots of flavour, fresh and tender. A good size too, you might think they were a bit small but the dough is rather filling but light at the same time. I opted for the Chicken and Kim Chi whilst the sister went for the Slow braised pork and Peanut powder.  Delicious. 6.8/10

Price Sides £3-4 / Baos £4 - £5

Rating 7.6/10

Verdict Service is a bit slow, very small restaurant and do need a larger venue especially when you allow large family with buggies. However bang for your buck. All the above came to £22! Great food too.

Address 293 Rye Ln, London SE15 4UA

401. Fancy Funkin Chicken.

I purely chose this place as on a Tuesday they have buy one get one free deals on the burgers and the cocktails and it was my turn to pay between Josh and I...I had read about this place in a few newspapers/blogs etc so I thought I'd give it ago. I love chicken and so I it was only natural.

Free range and ethically sourced their food is Southern American inspired.

MenuA great array of chicken I must say, I like how it was split between burgers, bites and wings. And very well priced.

Interior Average, nothing special. slightly too much bar vibes.

Food All the food came out at once, which for me was a little faux pas. (Would've like the wings before the burgers). We opted for 8 of the Funkin Hot Wings, they were good. Smothered in plenty of source and very large in size! Surprisingly so, I was relatively full after four. My mouth was on fire, but I couldn't stop myself because they were so tasty. A well deserved 8.2/10.

Next came the mac and cheese, would've liked a slightly larger portion but that's me being greedy. It was good, but could've been a bit more cheesier/creamier. Average I would say, 5.5/10.

Then came the burger, holy moley, it was huge. Bang for your buck. And very tasty. I went for the Big Cheese Burger, triple cheese, bacon and caramelised onion. The only disappointing thing was that it was overwhelmingly flavoured with rosemary, and it didn't feel like triple cheese, more of a double. Otherwise the bun was well toasted, the cheese oozed and the chicken was well crusted. This was a 7.9/10.

We also ordered chips which were good a solid 6.7/10 although the coleslaw was warm and very disappointing a 2.5/10, I expected something of a better calibre when the burger was that good. 

Price Coleslaw £3.50/ Mac N Cheese £4.50/ Big Cheese Burger £9.50/ 8 Wings £6.50

Rating 7.4/10 (Increase my scale out of 10, 5 was too small)

Verdict I'd recommend going, definitely on a Tuesday when it's BOGOF, bloody bargain. Just stay away from the coleslaw, and make sure you make room in your stomach before hand.

Address 441 Coldharbour Ln, Brixton, London SW9 8LN

399. Banh Banh.

I ventured here for a lunch date with a friend. Having visited back in Summer last year I thoroughly enjoyed it but needed another taste to remember how good it was. It didn't fail.

Run by a Vietnamese family (turns out its my house mates, mate), the food is traditional Vietnamese food and feels healthy and fresh. 

Menu Good size, plenty of starters to pick and mix from and a good choice of mains but not an overwhelming amount which is good. 

Interior Feels easy and relax, bit of the scandi wood, exposed lightbulb vibe but not pretentious or cramped.

Food The pork skewers with lemongrass dipping sauce were so delicious we could of had a portion each (3 skewers per portion) and the Chicken Pho felt fresh and light, healthy amount of noodles, chicken could have been less chunky and a little extra chilli but overall very tasty. I went back the following week with my boyfriend and he got the chicken curry, I very much had food envy as I tried a mouthful and it was just so flavoursome. However I went for the noodle salad which came with two spring rolls and these incredible pork patties. Again nice and light but very wholesome and delicious.

Price Pork Skewers £6 / Pho £9/ Curry and Rice £11/ Noodle salad £9.5

Rating 4/5

Address 46 Peckham Rye, London SE15 4JR