Sparrow, Lewisham

Location: 2 Rennell Street, Lewisham, London SE13 7HD

Website: https://sparrowlondon.co.uk

Sparrow is a small restaurant in Lewisham and they are a fantastic addition to the South-East London food scene. Nestled in the unlikely location of the edge of the multi lane A2, it is the last place you would expect to find top quality cuisine. It is run by a husband and wife duo who have really mastered their trade. The dishes clearly have a South Asian influence but the food is a good mix of many international cooking styles.

The food is mainly small plates made to share and every dish is perfectly cooked. We started with the Rock Oyster Tempura, which was rich and delicious. I say we started but Claire is pregnant so she couldn't partake, the waiter mistakenly brought 2 even though we had only ordered one and I happily obliged in taking one for the team and eating Claire's. We particularly enjoyed the crispy fried quail with the chilli pickle mayo, an elegant take on deep fried poultry bursting with flavour. The chilli pickle and creamy mayo made dish an absolute delight. I'm not entirely sure what the Parappa Vadu was, it was a bit of a cross between an onion bhajee and the potato part of a vada pav, whatever it was it was delicious. My only slight criticism was that it was a bit underseasoned, a slight oversight for what was an otherwise perfect dish. The Jaffna Lamb with pickled Mooli was perfectly cooked to medium rare, and there was some amazing red stuff on the dish I couldn't identify, but it was great! (Sparrow if you are reading this can you please let me know). We also had the Fresh coco bean and pea Makhni with their home made methi paneer and a dosa, absolutely delicious. I was expecting the makhni to be heavy, but it was really light and refreshing.

The wine is all great and not overly expensive, I had an Italian white but the name escapes me, they also do excellent cocktails. The only drink I wasn’t a fan of was the condensed milk ice cream affogato, but I think that was more down to my own taste rather than the quality of the drink. They also made some excellent non alcoholic cocktails for Claire.

The service was impeccable, fast, and the staff were very knowledgeable about the menu options. Claire was running late and the waiter kept chatting with me as I think he thought I may have been on a first date and had been spurned! A nice touch but fortunately that was not the case.

The restaurant space itself has low lighting, industrial style fittings and a laid back vibe. It is so well done that you completely forget about the perpetual traffic jam just outside the front door.

This place is a little on the expensive side for Lewisham, but still good value for what you get. We paid about £80 a head, including tip but we will definitely be coming back again.