Sunday lunch at Village East

Bermondsey is becoming the new chic area with many restaurants and cafe popping up. Many of them have good reviews. One fine cold but sunny Sunday, we went to Village East for brunch. At least that was the plan initially but plans sometimes change for the better.

Entrance to Village East

After a long walk from the station, we finally arrived! The restaurant was already buzzing with people who had woken up from their possibly amazing saturday night out or in, now well dressed and pretty. Everyone looked happy and fresh, some came from exhibition at Tate Modern in their stylish frocks.

The bar filled with all sorts of fruit juices you can imagine. If you please, early cocktails are served too. It's Sunday after all.

Baked skate wing with miso glaze, pak choy and rice.

Like I told you, we planned to have brunch but it was already lunch time and oh well, lunch menu looked too tempting to have eggs Benedict. And because the menu was so good, I was torn between two fish dishes. I could not decide which fish was better but the girl taking my order had a look in her eyes when she said the skate wing tasted much better. I trusted her and was not disappointed at all.



My friend ordered pan fried hake fillet with saffron, clam and squid orzo with bouillabaisse sauce which I was about to order. The hake was well cooked and delicious but frankly speaking, the skate wing was a winner.

Juice overload

Later, M joined us after his lunch meeting with his mates at Pizarro, just across the road from us. They couldn't get a table at Village East cause they were being men, and not made reservation. Hah!! The staff happily moved us from our table for two to the more spacious lounge area as there were no more tables available. We were happy sitting at the lounge area. It was a stylishly arranged space with comfortable couch. They even had my favourite Sori Yanagi Butterfly stool! Tick.

Smile..

Love it that they have almost any kind of fresh fruit juice at the bar. Good service, good food, great ambience. Particularly like the lounge area.

Frown..

A slightly long walk from either station but it was worth it. Also, there is a possibility of being turned away without a reservation as it gets really busy on weekends so book ahead. It's nice to walk all the way knowing there is a table waiting for you.

Will I return?

Definitely.

Village East

171-173 Bermondsey Street
London SE1 3UW

Tel: +44 (0)20 7357 6082

Nearest station: London bridge (jubilee/northern), Borough (northern), Bermondsey (jubilee)