All In London Logo

Nanban

Social Club in Brixton
Nanban image
Ad

6 / 10 from 1 review
Address
426 Coldharbour Lane
Brixton
London
SW9 8LF
Map
History
Telephone
020 7346 0098
Region
Brixton
Nearest Station
Brixton
0.09 miles
Category
Social Clubs
Edit Venue Information

Nanban means ‘southern barbarian,’a term the Japanese once used to describe Europeans, since they first arrived in Japan via the South China Seas, and they were, of course, barbaric. The term is no longer used as an epithet, but it lingers on as a descriptor for certain Japanised western dishes. Nanban Brixton explores the delicious world of Japanese food of foreign origin, with a focus on the southern island of Kyushu, where ramen, karaage, curry, and shochu reign supreme. We also take inspiration and culinary cues from Brixton Market, with its incredible selection of global ingredients and fresh produce.

All In London Review

Good soup but Nanban lacks the attention to detail that the great ramen restaurants exude

Review Image
As a fan of the Nanban cookbook, the ‘Japanese Soul Food’ brand established by former Master Chef winner Tim Anderson, hearing that they had opened a second outpost in Brixton meant Saturday night was alright for ramen. Told to arrive early since we didn’t have a booking, we were still resigned to the ground floor of the stylishly DIY looking restaurant. Spare but considered, the décor at Nanban is what we think people might call ‘hip’. Seating runs around the ground floor wall keeping the space in the middle for, erm, who knows? Rushing waiters? Upstairs, the place is more of a restaurant affair with a type of table and chair layout that will blow your mind. The booth seating comes with wheels and peculiar arcing structures over your seats, which might give you the sense that you’re eating in a cross between a tuc-tuc and a stable. Still, horses seem to enjoy them – stables, that is. Anyway, we like the look – much better than a boring old table and chairs and besides, in a joint that’s crossing curried goat with ramen, a touch of kook seems to add to the mix.

Since we enjoyed Nanban, I’ll start with the negatives. The dessert, a supposed Japanese take on the affogato, was shocking. The cheap and nasty tasting vanilla ice cream collapsed beneath the weight of the flavourless green liquid that flooded it. For that mess we were charged £4. After complaining about its quality, we were thanked for our feedback and billed all the same. Fair enough.

Onto the positives: Scotch bonnet pickles were provided free of charge when we mentioned how much we liked pickles. Score. The ramen was a delicious, gloopy soup of indescribable depth; a salty, meaty treat you wouldn’t want to eat too much of for the sake of your heart. And the twice-cooked tripe of the Horumon Yaki was a fair morsel to start with. However, if I may make another point, the one small piece of pork in the ramen, the meager amount of broth and the clumpy noodles meant that Nanban isn’t even close to some of the best ramen spots in town.

Yes, the broth was delicious but Nanban feels too much like wrapping up a concept, ignoring the attention to detail and serving it up to a ready-made Brixton market looking for the next ‘thing’. We liked it, we just didn’t really believe in it, which is a shame because we really wanted to.

Reviewed by T.A.O anonymously
Published on Apr 1, 2016

User Reviews

There are no user reviews
Have your say

Add a review or useful tip for this bar

Add a review
Add a useful tip