The Camberwell Arms is a "comfortable-as-an-old-shoe gastropub", says Fay Maschler in the London Evening Standard. It has won both the Observer Food Monthly's best Sunday lunch gong and a Time Out Love Food Award - and it more than lives up to the hype.
In fact, says Maschler, it "exemplifies and lays out for our delectation everything positive that has been happening in restaurants recently".
The food here is "hearty and comforting", says John Walsh in The Independent, "but carried off with panache". Highlights include the tender slow-cooked kid served layered with soggy crispbread and a yogurt sauce tasting of mint and chilli, and the mussels with cider, bacon and cockles.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Yet "despite all the searing and spit-roasting, the best dish was a simple leek and Jerusalem artichoke gratin", says Time Out. "The spiced rhubarb cake with creme fraiche was the happiest marriage, the sweet moments outweighing the sour.
We shouldn't be surprised. Its head chef is Mike Davies, who co-founded the wildly popular Frank's Cafe in Peckham, and its backers also oversee the Anchor & Hope in Southwark and the Canton Arms in Stockwell.
This restaurant is not alone in responding "ebulliently, reasonably and decently to the business of eating and drinking", says Maschler, "but it does seem unusual in its insouciant unified sense of purpose".
The Camberwell Arms is at 65 Camberwell Church Street, London
-
Friendship: 'bromance' comedy starring Paul Rudd and Tim RobinsonThe Week Recommends 'Lampooning and embracing' middle-aged male loneliness, this film is 'enjoyable and funny'
-
Best Caribbean restaurants in LondonThe Week Recommends From bold flavours to twists on tradition, these restaurants serve up a rich tapestry of food culture from across the West Indies
-
How London fell back in love with the brasserieThe Blend From Brasserie Zédel to Café François, we sample the best bistros in town
-
The Count of Monte Cristo review: 'indecently spectacular' adaptationThe Week Recommends Dumas's classic 19th-century novel is once again given new life in this 'fast-moving' film
-
Death of England: Closing Time review – 'bold, brash reflection on racism'The Week Recommends The final part of this trilogy deftly explores rising political tensions across the country
-
Sing Sing review: prison drama bursts with 'charm, energy and optimism'The Week Recommends Colman Domingo plays a real-life prisoner in a performance likely to be an Oscars shoo-in
-
Kaos review: comic retelling of Greek mythology starring Jeff GoldblumThe Week Recommends The new series captures audiences as it 'never takes itself too seriously'
-
Blink Twice review: a 'stylish and savage' black comedy thrillerThe Week Recommends Channing Tatum and Naomi Ackie stun in this film on the hedonistic rich directed by Zoë Kravitz
