Picture of Naughty Piglets, SW2 1PE

Naughty Piglets, SW2 1PE

Wine bar and small-plates restaurant in Brixton.

It's a small space, tucked behind a single shopfront on a side street just off Rush Common. Entry is into a tiny front room, dominated by the bar with high stools and tables squeezed in around. Stairs lead down from here to a basement "bar" space.

Back on the ground floor, a corridor leads further in to the slightly more spacious back room, which seats just 14 people on a combination of bright orange freestanding chairs and a tall wooden banquette. Tables are also wooden, with the edges left in pleasing gentle curves that mirror the natural grain and knots of the wood. Slatted wooden walls and stylised bare bulb lighting complete the look.

Kake visited on a Friday lunchtime in September 2018. Arriving at their opening time of noon, I was the only customer, but two others turned up half an hour later. Music was playing, not too loud, and relatively interesting.

Ham croquette (£2) photo had one small chewy bit but was otherwise good; very creamy, well-seasoned without being over-salted, and not at all greasy.

Grilled pear with jerusalem artichokes, hazenuts, and blue cheese (£10) photo was a lovely combination of flavours and textures. The pear was grilled just right, and there was just the right amount of everything. Jerusalem artichokes appeared in two guises; small lightly-cooked cubes, and thin crisps, with the latter being very well-controlled, nicely browned without going over into burnt. Richness came not only from the hazelnuts and cheese but also from a generous quantity of oil.

Roast cod with XO sauce, cauliflower puree, and sea aster (£15) photo was quite rich overall — really, richer than I wanted after the grilled pear. The cauliflower puree was very creamy, and XO sauce is intrinsically oily. The flavours were good, though, and here there was contrast of temperature as well as texture; the cauliflower puree was served cold (presumably on purpose, and it worked fine). The XO sauce was chunkier than you generally get in jars, and appeared to be made in-house. The cod was fine, though perhaps they could have got the skin a bit crispier.

Service was friendly and helpful, and they timed the arrival of the different dishes well despite me being a relatively slow eater. A small bottle of tap water arrived on the table without me having to ask, and another was brought before it ran out. A 12.5% service charge was added to the bill.

Dog-friendliness: There was a (small and well-behaved) dog present during our visit.

Accessibility: A step to get in. All the seating in the front is on high stools; there's normal-height seating in the back room, but this is up another step. The toilets are in the basement, down a flight of stairs with a handrail on one side only part of the way.

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Last visited by Kake, September 2018. Opening hours taken from the Naughty Piglets website, September 2018.
OS X co-ord: 531191 OS Y co-ord: 174593 (Latitude: 51.455126 Longitude: -0.113185)
Last edited 2023-09-05 13:18:41 (version 4; diff). List all versions.