Wednesday 6 April 2011

Zeret Kitchen, Camberwell


I hesitate to use the word "ugly" to describe a section of the city that many thousands of people live in and may very well be quite fond of, but my God, Camberwell is not a pretty place. Permanently traffic-clogged and noisy, hemmed in by a number of high-rise tower blocks and those peculiar brutalist Clockwork Orange-style housing estates that seem custom-designed to provide numerous untraceable escape routes for muggers and thieves (at least, in my mind they do), it is the kind of place that doesn't invite you to hang around. And yet, bizarrely, it is the unlikely home to an increasing number of the best budget restaurants in South East London - there's Silk Road, a top notch Xinjiang with its heavenly hand-torn cabbage and tasty pork dumplings, Wuli Wuli, which does pretty much the best Sichuan takeaway money can buy, and even Angels & Gypsies, a Spanish tapas place I'm yet to try but which has a commendably loyal following. And also, ten minutes walk from Camberwell Green and hiding in the windswept forecourt of the most intimidating concrete atrocity you can possibly imagine, there's Zeret Kitchen. "This had better be good", we thought, as we shuffled past iron-shuttered cafes and boarded up shops towards it.


The first thing to settle our nerves was the most unbelievably warm and friendly welcome from a beaming manager, who, ushering us into the empty restaurant, brightly enquired how we had heard about the place. It was a fair question - I don't suppose they get a great deal of passing trade, and most other visitors last night seemed to be grabbing bags of takeaway. We were, in fact, there on the back of several emails my friend had received from readers of her blog; not always an infallible method of discovering great new places perhaps but more often than not, if people go out of their way to email you directly about somewhere, they usually have good reason. The menu was spartan and rather mysteriously short on detail ("strips of beef...in an assortment of herbs and spices") so a brief risk assessment ended with us ordering the £17 special sharing plate for two.



First of all, our host brought out a tray covered theatrically in a large raffia dome, and a side order of about sixteen spoons. Then she scurried off back into the kitchen. After a few moments, curiosity got the better of us and we lifted the edge of the dome just enough to discover that it covered a familiar large base of injera bread - that soft, sour crumpet-like product that forms the base of any Eritrean meal and with which you scoop up using your hands whatever curries or sauces you've ordered to go with it, so nothing yet explained the presence of quite so many spoons. Fortunately all became clear once the meal proper turned up, seven or eight bowls of steaming, colourful delicacies that were carefully each split into two portions at either end of the injera, using a separate spoon for each so as not to muddy the flavours.


Here is where my pathetically meagre knowledge of Eritrean food will fail to accurately convey just why everything we ate at Zeret Kitchen last night was just so mind-blowingly tasty. There was a spicy, dry rub chicken thing, the meat moist & the seasoning complex; there was an astonishing portion of what I want to describe as beef tartare but was, we were assured, not completely raw but actually very lightly fried in what seemed like cardamom; there was a chunk of lamb on the bone, the meat coated in a subtle light dressing of some kind that made you want to gnaw it completely clean; and my favourite of all, a stunning thick chick pea sauce, wonderfully flavoured with smoky, rich spices - it was, my friend pointed out, like a heavenly chip shop curry sauce. This is a good thing. There were others, too many to remember accurately and too complex to convey, but as is the custom, towards the end of the meal they all literally merged into one giant, soggy spicy pancake that we scooped into our faces with merry, messy glee until we could eat no more. There were still plenty of leftovers.


Both of us had eaten Eritrean food before, and it's never been anything less than good. In fact, Zigni House in Islington was previously the favourite, thanks to a particularly lovely Quanta Fit Fit and a similar dose of easy African charm. But here it seemed the whole experience was just turned up a notch, the ingredients more unusual, the execution that much more vibrant and the spicing more aggressive. Some of the flavours were so astonishing we attempted to extract some clues from the manager, who while remaining gracious and charming was nevertheless remarkably guarded when it came to kitchen secrets. "What's the flavour with the beef?" "It's... a blend of different herbs." "Is it cardamom?" "It's various different herbs." We didn't push our luck.


If I was going to criticise anything it would be the room, which was sadly in keeping with the location and rather chilly in terms of temperature and decor. However, with a bill of £15 a head including a healthy tip and four bottles of Castel lager (Cameroon), there really wasn't much else to complain about, and so we have ended up with yet another 9/10 score. With certain obvious exceptions, there seem to have been a number of very good restaurants cropping up on these pages of late; I'm not moaning of course - it's great fun for me - I just hope that yet more gushing prose doesn't for one second deter anyone from visiting anywhere as good as Zeret Kitchen. However unlikely the location and however scary the journey, believe me, it's all worth it.

9/10

Zeret Kitchen on Urbanspoon

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

I worked around Camberwell for a bit last year, I remember walking past that place all the time! Never went in though :(

Oh well, Merkato up my way's not half bad.

Hollow Legs said...

Sigh. And I was stuck at work. :(

Anonymous said...

Looks like a damn fine spot. I am going to have to find some adventurous friends to make the journey with. I like camberwell - it may be rough around the edges but the eating is good.

Paul said...

Looks pretty good, have you tried Asmara in Brixton? Sounds like a very similar experience, both in terms of scariness of location and awesomeness of the food.

Anonymous said...

The 'Shops Open' sign in the main picture makes it even more inviting

tehbus said...

Having lived in the area for the last 10 years, I've never been in, and looks like I have been missing out.

I agree that some areas of Camberwell can look intimidating, but painting the whole of Camberwell with the ugly brush is a little unfair. Like every urban area, there are parts which perpetuate the common stereotype and areas which do not.

Will definitely have to make it here in the near future.

Unknown said...

I lived in Camberwell for 2 years. Its ugly.

Lucy said...

As a Camberwell resident (and therefore biased) I would acknowledge that that bit of Camberwell is not veru pretty - it suffers because it has to be a main road into London as well as a local shopping/ high street road.

This when added to the brotalist architecture you describe (thanks Hitler/local councils/central government) does make it appear unloved but you are very unlikely to come to any harm in the area so dont be scared - come to Camberwell. Besides just off the main roads there are as many Victorian and Georgian houses as you could wish for. In these streets there are lots of people in Camberwell who do go out to restaurants and Camberwell does have a good selection of restaurants to cater for these needs. Added to this of course are the 5,000+ people who work at the hospital so there is lots of demand for eating out in Camberwell.

And so we have a quirky and interesting restaurant scene. So if you want something a bit different come to Camberwell!

Other locsal Camberwell blogs you may be interested in (covering food amongst other things) include www.camberwellonline.co.uk, www.tehbus.com

Going With My Gut said...

What a find! Looking to try this and other SE food spots now that I'm in the quadrant, if not the hood.

Wen

Anonymous said...

Aaaaah your blog is just AMAZING. I can't believe I had never read it before!!! I just spent the last two hours reading and scrolling down your reviews, looking up restaurants etc Arghhh I have final year Econ exams coming up and should be doing revision (help!)...Anyway just thought I'd say it (but I guess you must hear it often) I LOVE IT

Catherine said...

Fantastic review. I drive past there frequently. Do you know if they are open for lunch?

Gin and Crumpets said...

Went past this on the bus yesterday - it is in a particularly grim bit of Camberwell, isn't it? A strong whiff of Clockwork Orange about it. Food looks brilliant, though; definitely going to try it.

Anonymous said...

Looking forward to trying this place but in the mean time the best Eritran place I've found so far is Mosob in Westbourne Park. The place, the food, the atomsphere is perfect.

I hope this place measures up, can't wait.

Conor - Hidden Palette said...

Sounds like a really cool place, I'm still a virgin when it comes to Ethiopian food but the cheapness and deliciousness look and sound all too alluring, I will definitely be paying it a visit asap.

Ollie said...

This place is great, and nice review but I'm pretty sure it's Ethiopian not Eritrean.

Terd said...

Interesting. Will try this place.

I've lived in Camberwell for five years. While you've focused on a particularly grim bit near this restaurant you're not wrong that the rest of it is also largely a sh-thole. The traffic doesn't help.

kaszeta said...

Nice review. I went there back in 2008 (you can read my review here) and it's still one of my favorite Ethiopian places I've been (on several continents). I'm glad they are still there (as you point out, the neighbor is, umm, challenging, although I'm sure the rent is cheap), and still doing excellent food.

Anonymous said...

Zeret Kitchen is my favourite restraunt of all time. The herbs and spices merged together resulting in that mesmirsing one in a million taste. The various options of delightful foods. In addition to that, the warm glow you feel as you enter the restraunt and friendly smiles by staff give you that true essence of homeIf you like adventurous tastes, bursting with instant flavour this is your place. Ethiopia's cuisine has been represented by the fine Zeret Kitchen.

Anonymous said...

I completely agree. This place is a gem!

Anonymous said...

Camberwell is a nice area. The high blocks are every where in London. The thieves they are every were. Zeret is in the main Road Buses are there in front of it. Zeret food is the best the atmosphere and service are exceptional.

Anonymous said...

I agree that bit of Camberwell doesn't look great but the rest of it's fine, particularly as you get towards Denmark Hill.

And the traffic's no worse than the rest of London, to be fair.

Zeret Kitchen is a bit of a surprise given its location though!