Review | Weekend Brunch at Wildflower, Peckham Levels

I very rarely travel south of the river in London as I'm based in North London and anywhere below the Thames just seems so darn far away. However, when we were invited to taste the weekend brunch menu at vegetarian & vegan restaurant, Wildflower, in Peckham, it seemed like the perfect time to stray away our usual North London haunts and explore what the vegan scene in the south of the city has to offer!

Wildflower is based in Peckham Levels - a seven-storey carpark that has been converted into a community-led, cultural hotspot filled with everything from art exhibitions, street food stalls, a live music space, bars and even a yoga studio on the 6th floor!

Wildflower is more of a canteen than restaurant with an industrial style themed decor that runs throughout the rest of Peckham Levels. As well as their set menu, from behind the counter is a selection of vegetarian and vegan pastries and sweet treats and a considerably well-stocked bar full of craft beers and wines suitable for both vegetarians and vegans.

The space is both open and bright with simple wooden tables and benches dotted around the transformed concrete space. Wild green plants and foliage that overhang the tables break up the otherwise structured, neutral space. This particularly Sunday afternoon it was buzzing with so many local families and friends that a queue was formed outside the canteen waiting for tables to become free. If that's not a good sign of a great menu then I'm not sure what is!

Vegan Full English at Wildflower, Peckham

Baked eggs with tomato and roasted pepper sauce, yoghurt and a flat bread

Wildflower's menu changes dependent on the day or time of day. As we paid our visit early afternoon on a Sunday, we were treated to the weekend brunch menu (available Sat & Sun 10am - 4pm) but it also offers a different weekday lunch menu and another completely different evening menu as well.  After eying up the evening menu options, I'm keen to head back when I'm next in Peckham as it all sounds absolutely mouthwateringly delicious.

The brunch prices are pretty reasonable for London's standards, costing between just £3 - £9.50 per plate. Despite being both a vegetarian & vegan eatery, 3/4 of the brunch menu is entirely vegan so there's plenty of choice! I knew before I even arrived at the restaurant that I wanted to taste the Vegan 'Full English' as I had browsed through the menu online the day before we arrived. James ordered the baked eggs with tomato and roasted pepper sauce, yoghurt and a flat bread (non-vegan).

The vegan 'Full English' came with a seitan sausage, scrambled tofu, mushroom, sourdough toast, tomatoes, bubble 'n' squeak and baked beans. Now, seitan is very hit or miss for me... sometimes I hate it and sometimes I love it - I suppose it's completely dependent on how it's cooked. However, the seitan sausage was delicious and is probably the most 'sausagey' vegan sausage I've ever tasted. The texture was so meaty that it may even fool an omnivore! I pretty much cleaned the entire plate as every option in the dish was flavoursome but a particular stand out for me was - believe it or not - the baked beans! I was half expecting a tin of typical Heinz dribbled onto the plate but oh no! Served to accompany the dish were huge, creamy butter beans soaked baked in a fresh tomato sauce. They were so darn good that I've bought some butter beans to try and imitate them at home!

Whilst I couldn't try James' baked eggs dish as it was non-vegan, I've been promised that it was absolutely delicious and considering he wiped the dish clean with his flatbread, I believe him.

Vegan salted caramel brownie

Despite being comfortably full, there was no way that I was leaving without tasting one of Wildflower's salted caramel vegan brownies from behind the counter. I mean, when does a brownie ever let you down? NEVER. James' only comment on it was that it tasted 'very vegan' but the texture reminded us both of Nakd bars so I assume they use blended dates in the mixture. It wasn't too chocolately or over-indulgent, which made it a lot easier to eat. The brownie was the perfect sweet treat to finish our brunch at the Wildflower.

If you're ever in Peckham, you'd be a fool not to drop by and check out the grassroots project that is Peckham Levels anyway, but if you need a casual bite to eat then do consider Wildflower. By night the Wildflower space transforms into its sister music venue, Ghost Notes, which hosts incredible musicians from across the capital. I mean, vegan eats + live music sounds like a match made in heaven to me!

Find Wildflower Peckham

Address: Peckham Levels 95A Rye Lane, London SE15 4ST
Nearest tube station: Peckham Rye (Overground & National Rail)

BLOGLOVIN' | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM