The past two years have been among the most challenging for hospitality businesses, including specialty coffee shops, in London, and around the world. Keeping a specialty coffee shop in business in London is difficult even in normal times, let alone during a global pandemic, which has felt like a game of snakes and ladders with constant changes of rules, snap lockdowns and general uncertainty. Unfortunately, some coffee shops have had to close permanently (please come back, Black Swan Yard!), but it's been encouraging to see how many new — and often exciting — cafes have opened in London in the past couple of years. 

One of my all-time favourite meals in London was the first time my friends and I visited the original Pedler on Peckham Rye. We were there for the neighbourhood eatery's soft launch in 2014, and with 50% off food and five of us present, we got to make that wonderful order: "We'll take one of everything." As predicted, we all returned regularly, celebrating birthdays, babies and boozy brunches, usually featuring a Little Bird gin cocktail (they're owned by the same people). But although the restaurant was beautifully designed, it could feel crowded even in the beforetimes, and unfortunately, after one lockdown too many, Pedler closed its doors for good. 

Luckily, however, it has now reopened as Pedler Good Fortune in a new location on Queens Road, still in Peckham but a mile northeast. The delicious food, great décor and excellent service remain the same, but when I visited one evening last week, there were some exciting changes too.

Without doubt, 2020 has been an exceptionally challenging year for independent coffee shops and other small businesses in the hospitality industry, but the COVID-19 pandemic was one of factors that drove the opening of NOLA, a new speciality coffee shop on Rye Lane in Peckham. Owners Josephine and Anthony also form the band Oh Wonder. They created NOLA as a neighbourhood coffee shop that brings together things they love about coffee shops they've visited around the world, and that offers much-needed calm, respite and great coffee to the local community in uncertain times.

A disused multi-storey car park turned creative and foodie hub couldn't sound any more Peckham if it tried, could it? And yes, of course I've been wanting to visit Peckham Levels since the revamped complex opened in late 2017. An unseasonably cold and snowy March Saturday turned out to be the perfect time to sequester myself away with a bunch of friends in the lively, brightly coloured zones.


If you're arriving from Rye Lane, turn off at the Peckhamplex and follow the murals round to the Peckham Levels entrance. You can take the lift to the top but it's more fun to walk up the stairs through level after colourful level. And in case you were wondering, this is indeed the same car park whose rooftop is the summertime home to the excellent Frank's Cafe.



We arrived around 1:30 pm on Saturday and the main food and drink areas — levels five and six — were just starting to fill up. The crowd included a lot of young families, and there's a kids' play area on level five, which was being well used. By the time we left, some hours later, there were fewer kids and more groups of young Peckhamites enjoying a night out.



As for food and drink, there are diverse options. I started with a cortado and an energy ball at WEST, a California-inspired wine bar and kitchen, which would make a good brunch spot. The coffee is from the always excellent Assembly, and although my cortado lacked latte art, it was nicely prepared. From WEST, there is a fantastic view over the distant central London skyline. Note: WEST and most other places in Peckham Levels do not accept cash. Typically, I managed to leave my debit card in my running jacket at home, so it was lucky I had a credit card with me — and some friends!



Next to WEST is the beautifully designed — and Instagram-ready — Near & Far cocktail bar, which was booked out for a private event on Saturday afternoon. There are a couple of other bars serving craft beer, wine and a few more basic cocktails too.


Finally, there are various more casual street-food vendors at the far end of level six. I had heard great things about the dumplings from Hao Hao Chi, but in the end ordered the honey butter fried chicken sandwich from Other Side Fried. The chicken was perfectly juicy with gorgeous crispy batter, and the accompanying fries were just spicy enough to have a bit of a kick. The wings were epic too. And from duck poutine, to Kurdish falafel and vegan pizza, there's enough choice to satisfy most palates.




Elsewhere in the complex, there are small creative businesses, from film makers to jewellery designers, and yoga to ceramics. I didn't get chance to explore beyond the central two levels, but would like to go back to see what else is going on — and to try some more of the food!

Peckham Levels. Levels 1 to 6 Peckham Town Centre Carpark, 95A Rye Lane, London, SE15 4ST (Peckham Rye Overground). Website. Twitter. Instagram.

You might not want a lump of coal for Christmas but conversely, a lunch at the Coal Rooms in Peckham is an infinitely more appealing proposition. Peckham's Old Spike Roastery and Camberwell's Spike & Earl have long been favourites of mine, but because I've been travelling so much this autumn, it's taken me a while to visit their newest sibling, which opened in August. Occupying the former ticket office in Peckham Rye station, Coal Rooms consists of a series of three rooms, moving from the bakery and take-out-coffee spot in the first chamber, to the stools at the sleek black marble bar overlooking the kitchen in the middle, and the bright, minimalist dining room at the back.


Some fellow south-east London friends and I visited for brunch at the weekend and really enjoyed it. We booked a table (which is always a pleasant novelty), although as we were there fairly early on a rainy, winter's day, we probably didn't need to. We had a great table in the corner of the main dining room, seated at the comfy teal benches that skirt the room. The room is light and sparsely, but attractively, decorated. Although I didn't take any photos, the bathrooms — located in the station's former public facilities and retaining most of the period features — are well worth a visit even if you don't need to spend a penny.


The Saturday brunch menu erred on the breakfast end of the spectrum, which is just as it should be. There were three brunch cocktails and I was tempted by the bloody Caesar but stuck to coffee, as I've been fending off a cold for the past fortnight. Coffee is from Old Spike, of course, and the menu simply proposed black (£2.25) or with milk (£2.65). Of course they serve espresso-based drinks but in the absence of a piccolo prompt on the menu and distracted by the food choices, I defaulted to ordering a black coffee, which turned out to be an americano. It was pretty nice but had I thought more carefully, I would have ordered an espresso or perhaps a piccolo. One of my friends ordered a flat white later on, which looked rather good.


Most of the brunch dishes sounded great — the hash brown with kimchi and kimchi mayo, and the bubble and squeak with smalec, fried egg and plum brown sauce, in particular — but I had heard such great things about Coal Rooms' bacon sandwiches (£5), with coffee-cured bacon and homemade ketchup or brown sauce in a custard bun, that I had to go for that. I went for streaky bacon and ketchup, and also ordered a fried egg on the side.


Now, they must have been out of custard buns, although no one said anything to us, because the sandwich came on two ginormous slices of sourdough bread. This was so little of a disappointment — I mean, it was a half-foot-tall sandwich! — that I didn't even notice until later. I would still like to try the custard bun another time, particularly after enjoying the Dutch crunch sandwich at Spike & Earl. The bacon was delicious and flavoursome and came in a very generous portion. Seriously, this was a very challenging dish to eat, but well worth the effort. I ended up using my knife and fork because I don't think it's physiologically possible to eat it by hand without unhinging your jaw. This bacon sandwich definitely merits its rankings among London's best bacon sarnies, and although I probably wouldn't have guessed that it was coffee-cured if I hadn't already known, the coffee did add a rich, full-bodied twist to the meat.


We did almost regret not ordering the full English for two (£30), which came served on a huge platter of deliciousness, but our 'modest' main course meant that we had room for a pudding. The pudding was a millionaire's shortbread (£6), with rich chocolate sauce, brown butter caramel, crumbled shortbread and 'waste barista milk ice cream' (yes, we are in Peckham). It came served in a cup with the logo of the premises' former occupants, Fat Boy, and once all the layers were mixed, it tasted heavenly.


On the way out, we paused in the café room to look at the Old Spike coffee (whose packaging remains one of London's most beautiful) and merchandise — the Old Spike socks, packaged in a tin, would make a particularly good gift for the hipster in your life. There are a few pastries and sweet treats on offer here, waiting patiently underneath the Christmas tree.



Coal Rooms. 11a Station Way, Peckham Rye Station, London, SE15 4RX (Peckham Rye Overground). Website.

As I have to fit my travel plans around a full-time job, I often get to spend only three or four days in any one city, and I spend a lot of time researching and planning the perfect trip. My agenda usually includes a few key sights and/or museums and some fun places to eat, drink and, especially, caffeinate. I’ve produced various ‘three days in…’ or ‘four days in…’ city guides, but it’s been a while since I compiled a guide to my favourite places in my own city, London.


This post highlights my top picks for what to do, eat and drink, and where to find good coffee in London; I've been working on this for a couple of months so I hope you enjoy reading it and find it useful. Scroll to the end for a map of each place I've featured. With much help from my talented friend Cindy (thank you, Cindy!), I've also produced a handy one-page PDF version of this guide, which you can download and print here: http://bit.ly/bex-london-long-weekend

I was sad when I heard that The Beautiful Pizza Boy, the Peckham pizza-and-cocktail joint run by the fine people of Pedler and Little Bird Gin, had closed down a little while ago. However, like a phoenix rising from its floury ashes, a new pizzeria has just opened on the same spot on Bellenden Road. Made of Dough has been trading at Pop Brixton for a couple of years but Bellenden Road is its first permanent spot.


Last weekend was their soft launch so we and — thanks to an impressive array of London media and blog mentions — many others headed down to Peckham on Saturday evening to check it out. We got there just before 6:30 pm, which was lucky, given that over the next few minutes, the queue seemed to grow exponentially. We were a group of three and had to wait about an hour for a table but twosomes and those willing to eat at the bar were seated more rapidly. We soon reached the bar, which is at the front end of the long, narrow restaurant, and could order from the drinks menu, which included beers, wines and Italian-influenced cocktails.




Given the weather, the Amalfi lemon bellinis were proving popular, although not as much as the spritzes — made, I believe, with Prosecco, Aperol, gin and San Pellegrino aranciata — which I tried and which slipped down very nicely with my pizza. One of our group tried the bellini, which was nice but very sweet and came with more foliage than needed given that the gin was also rosemary- and thyme-infused.


I'm glad we waited for a table because we got to sit in the small patio area at the back of the restaurant, which was perfect for such a warm, sunny evening. The interiors are similar to the space's Beautiful Pizza Boys days — exposed-brick walls, hip pendant lights and simple wooden furniture — although less colourful and a little more bling. The pizza oven remains in the centre, which means the delicious smell of pizza wafts throughout the restaurant, helping me build up my appetite while I waited.



The pizzas start at £6.75 for a margherita, with the most expensive being the truffle pizza (£11). One of the pizzas includes lamb merguez from Flock & Herd, the excellent butcher across the road, while another has grilled artichoke hearts, rosemary, cold-pressed garlic oil and lemon. Because I prefer tomato sauce to fresh cherry tomatoes on my pizza, I ordered a margherita with serrano ham rather than the serrano pizza (which also came with baby kale — not my choice of pizza topping). We were all very happy with our pizzas: the bases were great (chewy, puffy and very moreish), and the toppings were high quality and generously portioned. The pizzas themselves were of a good size too.



As it was 50% off everything, we tried several of the salumi side dishes (£3.50 or £4 each), including the olives, which came with pane carasau (Sardinian flat bread); spicy salchichón with peppercorns; carpaccio di zucchini; and cavolo nero with celeriac and pomegranate. I don't eat courgettes, so I only tried the other three dishes, which I enjoyed very much; the courgette did seem to be the weakest link anyway.



I didn't strictly need a dessert but I couldn't resist the call of the motherf**king [sic] peanut and vanilla gelato shake (£4.90). It was delicious and came in a rather fun cup. Sadly, it slipped down all too quickly.


Given how busy it was — the queue was still well out the door when we left — the staff were friendly and welcoming. Although I very much hope Made of Dough continues to thrive in its Peckham home, I also secretly hope that it will be a little easier to get a table in the future. There are a couple of seats in the window where you can wait with a drink, it's not very relaxing sitting next to the queue, and they can't serve drinks at the seats on the pavement out front.

Made of Dough. 182 Bellenden Road, London, SE15 4BW (Peckham Rye Overground). Website. Twitter. Instagram.