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.
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.
“Minuscule” would be a great word to describe Mama Lan (or “petite”, should I be gracious enough to make it sound cute), as it occupies the corner of a street in Brixton Market. The small tables, and even smaller chairs, are somewhat reminiscent of food vendors in Asia where space (and being able to shuffle away fast) is not just a commodity, but a luxury. Only the queues seemed to ignore the theme, ever extending into the night.
Fantastic fresh dumplings with great flavour combinations, made in-house. Although it's pretty small (like most spots in the market) it was worth a small wait for a table and the service was fast. Try the deep-fried vege balls - delicious!
Delicious Morsels. Mama Lan is one of the newest additions to Brixton Village. I went on a Saturday lunchtime, and it was busy, but luckily there were still tables outside.
The menu is very sparse - Dumplings (3 varieties), Street Food (3 varieties) and salads (2 varieties) - however what they've done is stick to what they're good at, and it was all delicious.
I had the Pork & Chinese Leaf dumplings which were perfectly cooked little bombs of flavour, perfect for eating with fingers, and the Chilled Chilli Oil Chicken (under Street Food). I was a bit wary of the chicken when ordering the chicken as it was chilled (& it was late October) but the heat from the chilli counteracted the cold meat, and it worked incredibly well.
A can of lemonade for £1.50 made the bill a round tenner, and I felt that I'd had very good value. The restaurant is BYOB
The mother and daughter team from Beijing started with Chinese supperclubs, which gradually turned into this much loved restaurant. It’s a really small place with more sittings outside than in and surrounded by food stalls selling unusually yellow Jamaican yams. The menu is really simple, 4 options of dumplings and 2 types of noodles. The dumplings are £4.50 per plate for 5 dumplings and noodles start from £7.50. Dumplings are not difficult to make and are must haves on Chinese New Year. I remember my family would all get together, form a production line to make loads of them for 20 people or so to eat at midnight. It’s great fun as we catch up on the latest gossip, decide on the stuffing and make a special filling so whoever eats it would heave good fortune all year. Dumplings are associated with family, homemade by mum or grandparents. Not many of my Chinese friends know how to make them from scratch. Of co
Mama Lan is a small, basic restaurant with seats about a maximum of 20 at any one time. The menu is short (always a good sign for freshness) with a couple of noodle soups (a beef and a tofu one), three choices of dumplings and a few other bits and bobs.
The food is incredibly well priced which is lucky as we ordered almost everything on the menu. The fried vegetable balls were fresh, crisp and incredibly tasty with a delicious spicy sauce.
Mama Lam is another often mentioned treat, more an appeterif than a main meal, they do a selection of freshly made Chinese jiaozi or potsticker dumplings, a couple of other fried lovelies and intense, flavoursome noodle soups. The tiny outdoor tables are a trial in the winter so grab a place at the counter and watch their Chinese mama deftly roll and fill the little dough parcels, poached then crisped off over hot heat. Fillings include beef, pork and vegetables, five satisfying and fresh buns will set you back a few quid.
In Chinese, they are called éè²¼, pronounced guotie and wor tip in Mandarin and Cantonese respectively. In English, they are known by various names such as: pot-stickers, grilled dumplings, or pan-fried dumplings, often with the prefix Peking or Beijing to denote their northern roots. And the Japanese, having stolen subsumed these dumplings into their own cuisine, call them gyoza . Irrespective of their name, these dumplings are the calling card of Brixton Village's Mama Lan . If you're looking for the gossamer thin skins of Cantonese dim sum then this isn't the place to come. These Beijing-style dumplings have thicker skins, largely because the northern Chinese have fat fingers and generally lack the dexterity and grace of their southern compatriots. I am, of course, joking; the skins are thicker because the base of the dumplings is pan-fried. In its short life, Mama Lan has had mixed reviews from critics and bloggers alike. And truth be told, I was prepared to be disappointed
simply delicious, my mouth waters at the thought of the meal I had, cant wait to return to this intimate little venue, very good quick service. If you have heard good things... then you need to go and experienced those good things, it doesn't disappoint.
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Mama Lan first started as a supper club and eventually by popular demand opened a permanent space in Brixton Village. Mama Lan brings you the taste of Beijing street food to London.
It was one of those weekends where there were constant underground works on the TFL I don’t even remember which station we got off to take a bus down to Brixton. Lucky for us, Brixton village was easy to find, I spotted the blue sign for “Brixton village”. Brixton village is home to an international fair of restaurants all under one roof.
All the different smells from all the surroundings can play with your mind. Mama lan was an easy to spot, wooden benches filled with happy diners reminded me of the streets food stalls in Hong Kong.
We managed to get seats within 5 mins; I knew I wanted the handmade dumplings. With 4 different dumplings on offer my friend and I opted for the meat variation. Each serving came with 5 pieces with chunky picked vegetables on the side. Meat is sourced from the quality butchers The Ginger Pig, the meat is juicy and tender however didn’t quite had enough flavour in the pork. The beef versions were a lot tastier.
My friend had more of an appetite and ordered the beef noodle soup. The bowl of beef noodle soup broth was dark and rich in colour, with oil floating on the surface. The noodles was thick and chewy, ummm the beef was tender. This dish reminded me of my mum’s home made beef noodles she makes.
I was intrigued by the tea selections and opted for Chrysanthemum Flowers,
Goji Berry and Rock Sugar. The tea was sweet and had subtle earthy notes.
Overall I think the beef noodles were really good, the dumplings were just ok, the beef one is worth trying. Next time I want to try the chilli fried chicken wings.
My next stop was only a few shops down; a family-run restaurant called Mama Lan - a petite Chinese restaurant.
As I took my seat at the bench in front of the kitchen I knew I had found a rare gem of a place. There in front of me was the one and only - Mama Lan - rolling the dumpling wrap for the spicy beef and onion dumplings I had just ordered.
I haven't come across a place where you can order 5 well sized freshly hand made dumpling for 4 quid ($6). I finished off with the recommendation of their beef noodle soup, which was flavoursome and had a strong chilli kick to it. A great dish for a wet cold day.
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To start with, Mama Lan is in Brixton Village Market! As someone who LOVES food street market I am biased, then! However, you are, of course, not to expect lounge music and sophisticated seats, but you SURELY can expect the tastiest dumplings! :)) The atmosphere is really nice!
It is BUSY around lunch time on a Sunday! Don't forget that: you could wait for 40 minutes to one hour standing! Or walking around the market! :)
Spicy chicken wings are the most famous starter. You are very likely to see someone besides you having it! The name is honest: spicy! :) The fried vegetable balls are really yummy are crunch - they are deep fried! The portion is relatively big: there are around 6 balls!
You will not have many options, but the ones you will have will make you happy! King prawns' dumplings are the only ones which are not grilled in the house. They are really good, worth trying! The vegetarian option woodear mushrooms, Chinese leaf and carrot is outstanding, as well.
Give it a try! It is REALLY worth it!
Lovely dumplings and noodle soups in the fun and quirky environment of Brixton Village.
I was visiting from out of town and came with my kid who loves Asian food. We had the prawn dumplings, the sweet and spicy wings, and the noodles. I thought it was OK, but he LOVED it and can't wait to return. It is a cool little stall in a funky market with great and speedy service. That said, I wouldn't go out of my way to come here, but worth a stop if you're nearby.
Adelina is amazing and accommodating. I had the chicken bai and prawn dumplings. Everything was hot and fresh.
Visited for a second time today as loved it so much at the start of our holiday. Amazing food both times. Dumplings and chicken are a must try! Better than what we had in China Town.
Went for some lunch, had a small but great menu, we opted for the veggie spring rolls and dumplings, smacked cucumber, tofu noodle salad and tofu fried rice, all was delicious and complimented each other, a very well balanced menu, I will be back
Came here with my Chinese wife. Service very friendly and ordered the lunch special.
Wow amazing !! Fried chicken bao was cooked so well as well as the dumplings.
Ignore the bad reviews. Stupid yuppies don't have a clue.
Concise menu but there seemed to be something to appeal to most tastes. I plumped for the Wonton Soup with noodles and a side of Hot Wings. Both were freshly cooked and absolutely delicious. Will be returning again soon to sample more from the menu.
Chefs kiss, real authentic Chinese Street food. The pork dumplings we had were unbelievably good, better than dumplings I have had first hand in Beijing. Lovely service, myself and my girlfriend highly recommend if you're passing through Brixton Market.
2nd time here because I wasn’t sure if I should judge the place the first time when it was late and almost closing time... (The soup noodles I had the first time was made without miso, so just noodles in water 😅).
This time my experience was the waitress (who’s sweet and friendly, keeping her smile despite looking stressed) was still busy and running around, but at least my noodles was made properly, though was quite salty, maybe too much miso this time, and to be honest I have had better. Though I do love the wontons and the bubble pimms which was why I rated 4 but if the wonton noodles alone I would have given a 3/5.
Best wings in town !!.
Chicken noodle salad is super delicious too!. Service was friendly and efficient.
Amazing food and amazing staff. The food was delicious and waitress was quick to recommend vegetarian options for my boyfriend. Great service and great food👍🏻
Nice Chinese food at low price.
Outside sitting is really putting you in the vibe of brixton market.
The food is good and tasty with the atmosphere around adding this extra flavour of traditional Brixton culture.
It's a great choice for a relaxing lunch.
Service is very good and polite.
Back to Mamalan Brixton after quite a long time. Ended up ordering what I ordered last time I was here a few years ago. The dumplings remain their best plate and strongly suggest them. The donton, nevertheless still tasty, was a bit of a disappointing in the size.. they definitely used to serve a portions much larger than they do now. Still quite good though.
We had the Pork and Chinese Leaf Dumplings, smacked cucumber, mama hot wings and the ginger beef rice. It was all lovely, but the dumplings were the stand out dish.
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