Kudu
South African
119 Queens Road, Peckham, SE15 2EZ
££
New kid on the block, Kudu, has only been around since the beginning of the year. Opened by couple-team Amy Corbin and partner Patrick, the restaurant is centred around South-African flavours, as a chin chin to Patrick's heritage.
In September, Kudu famously won a Bib Gourmand (one level below a full star) award, a mere 8 months after opening, and has since had a lot of hype. This may be expected from some, as Amy's father Chris has been a dominant figure in the hospitality circuit for some time, running venues such as The Wolseley and Brasserie Zédel. One may think it is more than safe to say that this unassuming neighbourhood eatery in the heart of Peckham is light-years away from these fine dining restaurants, and whilst this may be the case in terms of location and modesty, it is by far not the case in terms of quality.
After hearing on more than one occasion how fantastic Kudu was I decided to check it out for myself. On the website I noticed a Friday lunch menu, where you can get 2 courses for £16.50, or 3 for £19.50... a pretty sweet deal if you're asking me. It operates from 12-2:30pm, so Mum and I booked a table for 1:30. Naturally, as I do before I visit any exciting new restaurant, I cross-referenced the main menu to check that I wasn't majorly missing out on something, and it just so happened that everything I would have wanted to order featured on the lunch menu too.
We started with the Kudu bread which came with melted seafood butter, adorned with dill, almonds and baby shrimp. The bread was cooked in a small pan, and was designed for tearing away in four neat chunks. Less like bread and more like one of the best croissants I've ever tasted, it was simply heavenly: and made even more indulgent with the delicious seafood butter, which was a seriously pimped up version on your average garlic butter. My ONLY criticism of this dish was the distinct lack of baby shrimp when compared with the photos online, but if every meal looked as good as it does in photos online then I think we would be living in a much better world. It's worth noting that if you choose this dish it classes a starter for two people - so I would recommend ordering it as an extra side dish (£6.5) which gives you the chance to then try some of their other delicious sounding starters, such as Parmesan churros or Mussel potjie pot.
Following from this, we both ordered the Confit duck, with girolles, celeriac and minestra nera. This was absolutely sublime and definitely one of the most memorable confit duck's I've ever had (I'm a big fan). The girolles fungus went surprisingly well with the dish, the duck was perfectly tender and slightly pink, whilst the skin was crisp and salty. At first we were slightly underwhelmed by the portion size, however, as is so often the case in these types of restaurants, the flavour made up for it and encouraged you to take more time enjoying your food. To finish, we both had the only dessert option on the menu: Malted chocolate ganache. With the bar set so high already, this dish only served to confirm my line of thought: Kudu is simply fantastic. A thick, chocolatey ganache was complemented with the slightly weird but wonderful flavour of sesame ice cream, and accompanied with not only chocolate crumble pieces, but also the most delicious caramelised sesame snaps.
It will come as no surprise then, that I really really rate Kudu. The vibe is very chilled, with optional side by side tables and roughly exposed brickwork, kind of making the place look like it's still under construction. Velvet curtains hide you from the outside main road, which is a welcome addition and the dim lighting makes you feel cosy and intimate, even in the middle of the day. The service is friendly and attentive, and the food is enough to make we want to go back as soon as possible (despite the fact that Queens Road Peckham is quite a ball ache to get to).
It won't be long before these guys truly realise how great they are (if they haven't already). I'm already looking forward to their second, third and fourth branches, and of other many other great things to come.
OVERALL RATING: *****
https://www.kudu-restaurant.com/
