Mama Lan @ Brixton … now open

First, can I please apologise for our disappearance over the last couple of months.

As you may have heard by now, mama lan has brunched out to a more permanent location – Brixton Village Market. The past two months were kinda interesting to say the least. We ripped out everything in the store (a former fishmonger) including the bright red wall, the dodgy electrical supply and the dated sign.  Weeks of  work consisting of relaying the floor, painting the walls & ceiling, building the kitchen… we have this!

Grand designs eat your heart out.

We have tried to capture what it’s like to eat in little eateries you would find in Beijing complete with communal dining tables, small stalls and chopstick pot holders. Hair curlers and fag handing off the lip in a few years time perhaps….

In terms of food, we’re doing what we do best i.e. Beijing classics such as handmade dumplings, Beijing street snacks, salad and pickles.  Every single dish on our menu has been served at the mama lan supper club at one point or another.  I can’t wait to serve mama lan’s recipes to everyone!

Mama Lan’s little restaurant

I have NEWS!

Well… I’ve Twitted and Facebooked it already but thought I’d start a diary about our little restaurant.

When I went to Brixton for the first time a couple of months back… I completely LOVED it.  I loved the buzz, the quirky shops and the exciting eateries.  So much so me and mum have decided to open a little restaurant there!

Our shop!

We’ve collected the keys last Friday and started stripping out all the old decoration (if you can call it decoration).  At the moment I can’t see how we can turn this bright red shelter with wiring hanging off the ceiling into a cosy little restaurant.  God, did I just say restaurant?  Does this small space that’s even smaller than my living room count as a restaurant?

What it looks like now...

Dodgy electricity

Today I started to think about how we can decorate the place and not had much luck.  I think we need to get someone creative involved really, that’s a hint by the way!

The one thing I do want for sure is an open dumpling making station.  Just like the old days in China where people can see their food being made while having dinner.

Mum’s really excited too and she’s been talking about buying professional shoes & getting a haircut for the opening.  I had to slow her down as we haven’t even got rid off the old floor tiles yet!