Brockley - less than half an hour from Peckham
Young Londoners are having to be more resourceful when it comes to choosing the area in which to live as places that were affordable a few years ago, such as Hackney , Brixton or Peckham , have died of success and now other alternative neighbourhoods, like Brockley, are taking their place. Gentrification yes, but still restrained.
THE MARKET
Saturdays are a good day to venture out to discover the neighborhood, as it is market day. A car park (Lewisham College Carpark) becomes an impromptu flea market where you can have breakfast, lunch and buy provisions for the whole week. The hours are from ten in the morning to two in the afternoon and, in addition to finding more than a dozen food stands and food trucks, there are also vegetable, meat and fish stalls – don't miss the sausages made in Kent – ideal to make the purchase.
Brockley Saturday Market.
In the stalls you can find the ultra-popular Crosstown Doughnuts, some artisan donuts that already have several physical stores in central London, and whose offer is focused on cream filled donuts –they also have vegan options– as unique as coconut and lime, matcha, orange blossom and pomegranate; Japanese dishes with rice as the protagonist of Pochi Gohan; or burgers from Mother Flipper, which are known for having quality meat and very tender brioche buns (try the Candy Bacon Flipper, with juicy bacon and their special Flipper sauce), or Mike + Ollie's pita-style flatbreads, which usually have three filling options, one meat, one fish, and one vegetarian.
The most famous donuts in the city are filled with different types of creams.
THE PARK WITH A VIEW
To enjoy unrivaled views of the city, Nothing like looking out at Hilly Fields Park. As its name suggests, the little hills in this park are great for enjoying the London skyline.
Also worth visiting is the stone circle, an installation devised by a group of Brockley artists in the late 1990s, and installed in 2000 with the support of the Brockley Society, at the turn of the new millennium. Currently this circle is an emblem of the park and a meeting point.
ARCHITECTURAL WALK
Brockley is one of the London neighborhoods that best preserved examples of Victorian style homes. Charming and quiet streets of brick houses, with rows of trees at their feet and buildings ranging from humble cottages to more opulent houses, it is worth looking as it has Victorian jewels that illustrate most of the architectural styles of family homes of the century. XIX.
Life in Brockley is made in the street and on the terraces of the bars.
EAT AND DRINK
If there is an area where gentrification is visible, it is around Brockley station, where there are plenty of cafes, health food stores and trendy restaurants.
In Salthouse Bottles you can choose bottles of natural wine, in Browns, one of the first cafes that bet on the area, you can sit down to have a first class coffee with a good piece of cake or a cupcake (cinnamon buns are delicious), as well as buying bread from Little Bread Pedlar, an artisan bakery.
In Parlez, a restaurant that aspires to be a renewed version of the pub of all life, They serve from breakfast to dinner, including some British classics such as empanadas or sandwiches. Also, on Fridays they have live music. Another option to eat is The Orchard, where the menus vary depending on the season and where the ingredients are usually local.
At Parlez you can choose the ingredients that you will add to your bowl of granola.
FOR AFTER DINNER
If you decide to have dinner or have a wine at L'Oculto, an exceptional Spanish restaurant and wine bar, you'll be just a five-minute walk from the Rivoli Ballroom, the only intact 1950s ballroom in the entire city. Opened in 1913, it retains the interiors of the 50s and 60s, giving it a very authentic vintage feel.
It is currently a protected building (Grade-II) in which events of all kinds are organized, from movie nights showing classics to concerts. In addition, it may sound familiar to you from seeing it in movies, since it is a very popular location where all kinds of series and movies have been filmed.
If theater is your thing, the Jack Studio Theater is one excellent option to see transgressive works and discover new theater companies in this alternative theater.
The decor at Rivoli Ballroom has been intact since the 1950s.