New Shops in Dulwich / Peckham

[Peckhamrye]

If you're after Dim Sum I and several Chinese friends like Dragon Castle at the Elephant - a 343 drops you outside the door.

[Jeremy]

Dragon Castle - yes pretty good, but I think it shut down...

[goldilocks]

It was open on Sunday when I went past on the bus

[spark67]

Tries to get into meat liquor last night to celebrate getting a new job, it was packed, but asked if there was a table for two, there were some empty seats by the window, someone said they were reserved, & got the girl in charge of the seating to see us, we asked again & mentioned its good you can reserve, to which we said (with a bit of attitude) they don't... all very strange, so we popped to try Xoco which was a bit empty, strange decor but lovely food and staff at a very reasonable price... it soon started filling after we arrived, give it a go before you write it off :)

[KidKruger]

Also went to Xoco last night.

Yes it's unusual having a menu split by burgers / curries / kebabs.

Missus had a burger and I had a Jalfrezi - not something you can normally do, but suited us as we couldn't settle on where to eat.

Jalfrezi was as good as Curry houses on the Lane, in fact a bit better IMO as it was drier. Good level of heat too.

Missus' burger was OK apparently.

Very friendly, plenty of space.

I get the impression they want to so something different, if I had to classify it I'd say it's a curry house with other options for those not wanting curry.

Would go again.

[DulwichFox]

It's not a suprise the curries are good. There seems to be a connection with another L.L curry outlet on L.L.

Albeit a little distant. Sort of friends of friends as opposed to any family connection.. ??

Foxy

ETA. It is on my list.. Albeit a very short list. :)

[Guest]

Not too far from Dragon Castle is a new'ish Korean restaurant called Chee Mac. It's quite decent with good Korean friend chicken..

Not sure if there are any other Korean restaurants around but this is the only one I know of.

[Jeremy]

goldilocks Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> It was open on Sunday when I went past on the bus

Thanks - good to know. It always used to be a bit of a step up from HK City or the place in N Greenwich.

[Peckhamrye]

Dragon Castle closed for refurbishment during May, open again now for your Dim Sum fix!

[mancity68]

The Beautiful Pizza Boy opened on Bellenden Rd yesterday. Operated by the Pedler team. A frankly waistline terrifying combination of lovely looking pizzas and exotic cocktails. We were too late for food last night but had two cracking drinks.

[antantant]

There is a newish Korean on Lewisham Way near New Cross Gate called Paranhodu. Well worth a look!

TD Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Not too far from Dragon Castle is a new'ish Korean

> restaurant called Chee Mac. It's quite decent with

> good Korean friend chicken..

>

> Not sure if there are any other Korean restaurants

> around but this is the only one I know of.

[pilsbury]

Went to Xoco last night and was really pleasantly surprised. Me and the hubbie had Indian and the kids both had fish and chips, all really nice, decently priced and v friendly staff... Will try to be more open minded in the future (it was me who said first off, what a weird and varied menu, it must be rubbish!)

[KidKruger]

That's a good point actually, only one of my kids enjoys when we go to a curry house - the others don't really like it so much. So a F&C / burger option is a potential win, hadn't thought of that. Cheers !

[DulwichFox]

I think it will be an alround winner. I went Fri night but it was full..

Will try again soon.

DulwichFox.

[DulwichFox]

Went last night to Xoco Bar & Grill

Amazing place.. Nice Decor..

I ordered the Mirichi King Prawn a Malasian dish.. Pilau rice and a plain naan .. Small Cobra.

Was presented with complimentary Olives, Hummus, Taramasalata with a full naan.. so cancelled my naan.

Food was amazing . one of the very best curries I have had ever.

My King Prawn came with a generous 4 Butterfly K. Prawns with red/green peppers and fresh Green Chillies onions in a delicious sauce.

Service was good and my main meal came in a realistic 15 mins (food very fresh)

Staff were very pleasnt.. and attentive without being too intrusive..

I complimented the chef on the food and he came out to thank me..

Small Cobra a very reasonable ?3.10

Total bill was ?19.35

Would recommend people try this place..

I will be back to sampleother dishes..

DulwichFox

[*Bob*]

'Did' Meat Liquor last night.

Like the decor. Good music. Honest Burger probably edges it on the food but hey they're both decent burger and chips, you're only really talking + or - 5% of difference. Burger n chips, innit.

Nice to actually have somewhere a bit more youthful on LL. Older kids will like it as a family eat as it's got a fun vibe (ours did) - though no entry with kids after 7pm I think?)

[????]

Ok, given the reviews, i am going to pack up my cynicism and try Xoco with the family

[*Bob*]

I'm up for giving Xoco a try as well - the mixed menu could work with a mixed family group.

That said, it was a graveyard there last night around the time we were eating. Empty restaurants do not entice, unfortunately. Meat Liquor was rammed.

[Louisa]

http://meatliquor.com/london/menu/Meatliquor-W1-Menu-Web.pdf

Let me get this right, a cheeseburger (cheapest burger item I can see on the main menu) is ?8. You then add on chips (fries they like to call them) which in there most basic form on the menu start at ?3.35, that ?11.35 for burger and chips and that's before we even get to the drinks menu. It's fried food, full of fat and something you should only have as a treat once in a while. I don't get how these new hipster type restaurants/take aways get away with charging this much for burger and chips I really don't.

Despite not being able to get a table last week, I am going to have to get a take away to see what all the fuss is about. The best part of ?30 for me and mr L to have burger and chips at home, it better be good.

Louisa.

[Jeremy]

*Bob* Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> That said, it was a graveyard there last night

> around the time we were eating. Empty restaurants

> do not entice, unfortunately.

Yeah but not many places busy on a Tuesday, I imagine. I'm up for trying xoco some time, but it still all sounds so bonkers... olives/hummus/etc before a curry, etc.

The new Ali Baba place (https://twitter.com/alibabajuice) seems to have opened now... was busy-ish last night. Again, it seems like an odd combo... juice bar, cocktail bar, caf?, restaurant. But I'm sure will do well with the burgeoning hipster crowd.

[*Bob*]

Just to manage your expectations here, Louisa, what we're talking about here is 'a burger and chips', which consists of 'a burger' served with 'chips'. It's a decent 'burger and chips' - i.e. decent meat, a bit of charring and tastiness on the outside and pinky in the middle (as opposed to the one you get, say, outside the football stadium from a mobile catering unit that costs ?3.50) but - at the end of the day - there's only really so much you can expect from a burger and chips.

You eat it inside a venue with a good atmosphere, decent music and a nice decor vibe (if you like that sort of thing - which you won't). This is different to eating out of a polystyrene carton in the street.

So, my advice - if you're planning on taking one home and picking over it whilst watching Goldenballs and then furnishing us with your inevitably tiresome 'value review' - my suggestion is "please don't". Go to Xoco instead.

[Jeremy]

Huh. I did actually get a takeaway from there the other day, and enjoyed it. So nur. I kind of figure that any takeaway worth eating is going to cost at least a tenner a head anyway.

The price of the chips does annoy me a bit though. Surely they're just bog standard skinny fries... the type that McD's charges ?1 for?

[Gloves]

I like *Bob*

[Louisa]

I don't get why these places serve up half raw minced meat and pass it off as 'medium/rare'. It isn't a steak FFS, which is a single slab of meat with any germs restricted to the outside of the meat. Even the best quality steak mince is raw and can contain some bacteria, and I think even the food standards people recommend throughly cooking burgers all the way through.

I agree the decor and style isn't to my liking, but I shall try the food via take away just to see how great a burger and chips can possibly be. If they offer this stuff up to be taken home then I expect it to be good, simple as that really, and my "tiresome 'value review'" will be honest, if it's good and worth the money I'll certainly not be holding back on telling everyone. I will also be trying Xoco once I have stopped fuming over my previous failed attempt to get a table at a LL eatery.

Louisa.

[titch juicy]

DulwichFox Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Went last night to Xoco Bar & Grill

>

> Amazing place.. Nice Decor..

>

> I ordered the Mirichi King Prawn a Malasian dish..

> Pilau rice and a plain naan .. Small Cobra.

>

> Was presented with complimentary Olives, Hummus,

> Taramasalata with a full naan.. so cancelled my

> naan.

>

> Food was amazing . one of the very best curries I

> have had ever.

> My King Prawn came with a generous 4 Butterfly K.

> Prawns with red/green peppers and fresh Green

> Chillies onions in a delicious sauce.

>

> Service was good and my main meal came in a

> realistic 15 mins (food very fresh)

>

> Staff were very pleasnt.. and attentive without

> being too intrusive..

> I complimented the chef on the food and he came

> out to thank me..

>

> Small Cobra a very reasonable ?3.10

> Total bill was ?19.35

>

> Would recommend people try this place..

> I will be back to sampleother dishes..

>

> DulwichFox

It's just a real shame for you that you can't enjoy your food there ;-)