Peckham Bazaar

The latest addition to Peckham’s burgeoning culinary scene comes in the form of Peckham Bazaar, proudly named after the area of South East London that is home to this porch-front, pan-Ottoman BBQ joint cum dining room. With the success of Frank’s Café and the Peckham Refreshment Rooms, it’s becoming increasingly common for independent restaurants and street markets (including King’s Cross favourite Kerb), to be setting up shop in this neck of the woods, rather than Hackney or Brixton, say. At the end of June this year, head chef and Peckham local Gion Leka, along with co-founder Donald Edwards, started putting together an outdoor grill for their primarily charcoal-cooked menu, inviting friends and family, and increasingly, customers, to join them outside the old pub that houses the Bazaar.

The menu spans the cuisines of the Eastern Mediterranean – Greece, Albania, the Balkans, Turkey, Israel, Morocco, “basically the area covered by the Ottoman Empire,” Edwards explains. “Which also runs north through Hungary, and, of course, they reached the gates of Vienna.” Chef Leka, who is originally from Albania, first came to London to join a Greek Orthodox seminary, and is now doing his best to expand diners’ understanding of regional cooking from his homeland and surrounds. “We’re trying to capture the taste of a fresh fish cooked over charcoal at a Greek seaside tavern,” Edwards says, as Leka stations himself at the grill. “Or the wonderfully cooked meal of a Turkish mangal. But we also want to show that there’s so much more to the region than what people expect. They only know kebabs, or the Greek food which has become standard in the UK since the 1970s.”

"We want to show that there’s so much more to the Eastern Mediterranean region than people expect. They only know kebabs..."

The fare at Peckham Bazaar started modestly – fish and lamb wraps and the like – but quickly evolved as they started to see the potential for a venture that would last beyond the summer’s heat. Now, sharing plates and larger portions are to be found in equal measure, with plenty of fish, seafood, and seasonal meats, and game. Expect richly spiced and savoury dishes such as grilled octopus and pickled vegetables with garlicky Greek skordalia; marinated quail with harissa potatoes; or lamb and venison kebabs with fennel and sumac. Freshly baked bread is a welcome touch, as is the Eastern Mediterranean wine list with entries from across the region, including Hungary, Georgia, Bulgaria, and Eastern Italy.

Luckily, good weather was on Leka and Edwards’ side, and as the grill stayed fired up, summer turned to autumn and by then they were ready to move to their new indoor grill. Now, Peckham Bazaar is preparing for winter, and further summers to come, no doubt.

Text by Ananda Pellerin

Ananda Pellerin is a London-based writer and Neil Wissink is a visual artist also based in London. More from The Hunger here, and contact The Hunger here.