Peckham’s Best Restaurants | Where to Eat in Peckham and Peckham Rye - Eater London
"The recent furore surrounding Turtle Bay’s needless desecration of Jamaican cuisine is a good reminder that great yard food exists all over London, it just isn’t found in overpriced cocktail bars. In Peckham, there is Copeland Jerk Centre next to the station, or the stall inside Rye Lane Market, or Gabby’s, but the best is still JB’s, named for Jennifer and Bill Hawes who run it. There is a baseline of consistency guaranteed with anything at JB’s, from the patties, to the curried goat and tar-black oxtail, even to the slab of mac and cheese that always ensures a balanced meal. But JB’s is still, at heart, a jerk specialist, which is why Bill is often found round the back at all hours billowing smoke signals from a steel drum, ensuring that every bit of jerk chicken is infused with pimento, scotch bonnet and that smoke. Best of all is the jerk pork, only usually available on Fridays and Saturdays, served on the bone with layers of creamy fat and crackling. It’s tempting to petition them to keep it on the menu permanently, but in a pandemic, where the days blend into one, it’s always good to have something to mark the weekend by." - Jonathan Nunn
