Kudu Grill

One look around the dining room at Kudu Grill tells you the team here knows it’s way round a winning formula. Even on a Wednesday night it’s packed with wall-to-wall diners whose conversations combine to create a lively buzz. It’s the braai that’s the big appeal, a South African live fire grill. Even the wood - were told - has been sourced from overseas for unadulterated authenticity.

Despite the rush, experienced staff remain cool and even manage to be upbeat, friendly, and welcoming against the odds. The odds being a dining room that doesn’t let up. There’s a pretty cool vibe going on, with dim lighting and simple but impressive furnishings keeping things feeling cosy. High ceilings echo with happy conversation while the tempo of powerful playlists make sure the atmosphere steers well clear of stuffy. 

Kicking things off is a little plate of grilled potato flatbread topped with wild garlic and lardo. It’s crisp on the outside, fluffy on the inside and crowned with enough salt, fat and garlic to ensure it’s never going to be anything other than delicious. Peri peri prawns follow with charred edges and a well-balanced sauce that doesn’t strip your mouth with brutal heat but instead has a tempered warmth.

A glistening dry aged T-bone steak comes cut into thick pink slices and surrounded by an addictively and surprisingly light Bordelaise sauce and delicately pickled onions. It’s heaven. Crispy potatoes cooked in beef fat, creamy mash topped with chicken skin and smoky grilled baby gem lettuces prove the kitchens competence for taking a few choice ingredients and making them feel really special.

Desserts here weren’t the strong suit, but with a main menu where you want to order one of everything, we’d happily take and extra side of potatoes over a pudding any day.

Overall, this is clever cooking, the kind that makes you feel comforted and cosy with its familiarity, but never bored thanks to bounds of creativity from a kitchen team at top of their game.

Found in a revived ex-Truman’s pub, Kudu Grill in Peckham offers up a menu centred around the braai – a traditional south African barbecue.

The use of open flames (the team cook over wood and charcoal) means many of the dishes have a wonderfully smoky streak. Separated into five sections - snacks, starters, braai mains, sides, and desserts – the menu makes use of seasonal ingredients where possible. In fact, owners Amy Corbin and Patrick Williams grow plenty of what the kitchen use at their very own allotment. The pair come with some strong kitchen-based kudos too, having grown up in the hospitality industry and having worked under acclaimed Irish chef Robin Gill, respectively.

Inventive combinations come as standard at Kudu Grill with starters like a grilled potato flatbread having a rich lardo and wild garlic topping, or grilled prawns coming doused in piri piri butter. Elsewhere, on the main braai section, there are hearty cuts of meat like T-bone steaks and thick pork chops, as well as veggie-friendly dishes such as grilled cauliflower.

Co-owner Corbin and Williams aren’t just dab hands on the food front, they also know their way round a good drinks list. Here at Kudu Grill that translates into a seasonal cocktail list which flexes with the months. Our tip? Don’t miss the Braai Negroni which combines strawberry infused whisky with Italian bitters, vermouth, and oak smoke essences.

Interiors aren’t an afterthought either, with the design having been headed up by the award-winning A-nrd Studio. Think clashing textures and colours coming from exposed brick, raw concrete, and Italian marble as well as richly coloured upholstery and glass accents.

Kudu Grill is the sibling site to the much-lauded Kudu in Peckham, as well as the brand’s cocktail bar Smokey Kudu and the private dining branch of the business, Curious Kudu.