Really liked my experience at mama lan. Food was amazing, the staff is super nice and as well as the place itself. I definitely recommend all the noodles dishes and dumplings!
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This is for the site in Dalston. Tried to add restaurant, but no join - so hopefully this good experience applies to Brixton too!
Once again, Dalston represents with another foodie haven to rival the more established barrio’s of nearby Spitalfields and Shoreditch. On the low key bit of Kingsland Road before you hit the stations, its bustling market and shops, Mama Lan quietly occupies a cute cafe offering street food from Beijing.
When most talk about food from this area, they group it as Chinese. They rarely refer to regions, especially specifically its capital – well not that I have seen much of anyway. So of course on a Sunday chill session it grabbed my interest on the walk up to Dalston for some shopping. Mama Lan in Dalston is one of four locations, two east, two south. The website talks of handmade dumplings, doodle soup and street snacks being its core, hailing from Beijing. I was intrigued.
As a solo diner, this spot works well. Dining alone can always be a little daunting, as you can look like you are a bit of a billy no mates, depending on the kind of place you visit. During the quiet service (Sunday afternoon), this is perfect. Single diners get comfortable, couples quietly share dishes and Deliveroo couriers come in and out like revolving doors (obviously popular for delivery).
Having decided to have an alcohol free day, I opted to start with their cocktail of lemonade with rose. It was really refreshing, although a tad sweet. A glass like jug with lashings of juice over chunky ice cubes. I ended up having two. To eat, I had their spicy chicken wings, stewed seaweed and beef & spring onion dumplings. All were cooked quickly and tasted good. The only observation I would have is that the seaweed sauce was very intense, almost like vinegar. Could perhaps be toned down a little.
My bill came to a little over £22, which I guess is decent for three small dishes and two drinks. Really cute dining experience, will go again.
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As far as cupboard-like restaurants in Brixton go, Mama Lan is up there. There are two little tables inside, and a few outside, with a mini kitchen and practically no storage. So it’s a miracle really that they manage to churn out such consistently delicious food at such a high volume.
It came about as a supper club, named Mama Lan after owner Ning Ma’s mother, who used taught her to cook her grandad’s authentic Beijing recipes. She was so successful she acquired a permanent site in the market and here we are!
We stopped in late-ish on a Wednesday and had to wait for a table, finally squeezing in next to a very loud guy having a shouty conversation with his poor date. I gave her a few sympathetic glances but she didn’t seem to notice. We ordered soft drinks along with prawn and water chestnut dumplings and some pork dumplings. The menu is tiny (it would need to be given the size of the kitchen) and the premise is fresh, local food, some of it’s from elsewhere in the market, which I love. We also got some beef noodle soup to share, which is pure love and comfort in a bowl.
The broth is dark, rich and meaty, with plenty of spice from the chillies and big chunks of tender beef. It’s a tough cut that’s been cooked for hours, it falls apart in your mouth and is so bloody beefy. God it’s delicious. Soft egg noodles make it a simple and perfect meal in a bowl.
Dumplings are good too, they taste fresh and aren’t stodgy or sticky. Again, simple and lovely, and normally between £20 and £30 for two, for maybe a few dishes and dependent drinks obviously. Definitely one of my favourites in Brixton Village. Ning Ma recently opened a second branch in Clapham, testament to her success and popularity, and hopefully she’ll continue to expand. With all the drama in Brixton at the moment, with shopowners being forced out, I hope Mama Lan survives.
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