A Lewisham-based Thai restaurant and a pizzeria in business for eight years are among the seven businesses in south London named as winners at this year's Deliveroo awards.
11 restaurants in Greater London were finalists at this year's 2024 Restaurant Awards announced by the food delivery chain.
The awards celebrate the best of independent restaurants across the UK and Ireland, with categories ranging from Best Pizza to Best Breakfast and Coffee.
Six of this year's winners in the Greater London awards category were in south London and Lewisham-based Indian-takeaway Quaggy’s Kitchen was named winner of the Above and Beyond award in the Rider Love category.
The awards saw Peckham’s popular White Men Can’t Jerk take home the top regional gong as Independent Restaurant of the Year Greater London 2024.
Here are this year's south London winners of the Greater London Awards 2024:
Winner of Best Pizza: Bona Pizzeria
Address: 25 Dartmouth Road, London, SE23 3HN
Bona Pizzeria was given the Best Pizza award after being up against Cacciari's in west London and Santa Maria in north and west London.
The restaurant, based in Forest Hill, first opened its doors in 2015 and serves freshly made Neapolitan-style pizza made in a wood fired oven, along with a menu of beers, wines and cocktails.
Winner of Best Thai: Tai
Address: 106 Foxberry Road, Brockley, SE4 2SH
Tai was one of three restaurants up for the award of Best Thai, alongside Rusty Bike in east London and Meekhun Thai in north and west London.
Tai has two branches in south London with one in Lewisham and another in Balham.
The restaurant serves Southern Thai cuisine with a menu that focuses on classic dishes, and “vegetable heavy” options suitable for vegan diners.
Winner of Best Chicken: Coqfighter
Address: Unit 19, Boxpark Croydon, 99 George St, CR0 1LD
Founded by trio Troy, Tristan and Deacon, the business was thought up in a flat in south London after the friends wanted to create a business serving high quality fried chicken.
Today, the business has grown with branches in Croydon and East Dulwich, as well as Finsbury Park, Kings Cross and Shoreditch.
Winner of Best Japanese: Koi Ramen
Address: Arch Unit 1156, Bath Factory Estate, 41 Norwood Road, SE24 9AJ
Koi Ramen was named winner for Best Japanese, serving affordable ramen that was featured in Time Out’s cheapest eats list.
Some of their dishes include crispy Gyoza grilled dumplings and bowls of homemade ramen made in south east London.
The branch has four locations across Greater London including Brixton, Elephant & Castle and Herne Hill in south London, as well as Tooting in North London.
Winner of Best Indian & Nepalese: Kricket
Address: 41-43 Atlantic Road, Brixton, SW9 8JL
Kricket is a collection of modern Indian restaurants that combine British ingredients with Indian flavours, first founded in 2015 by friends Will Bowlby and Rik Campbell.
Kricket began as a 20-seater shipping container at Pop Brixton, but today it now has three restaurants in Brixton, Soho and White City, with a fourth set to open in Canary Wharf this spring.
Today their Brixton branch, located under a railway arch, serves a seasonally changing menu and is also open late on weekends with a bar.
Independent Restaurant of the Year for Greater London: White Men Can’t Jerk
Address: 1 Clayton Road, Peckham, SE15 5JA
Located in the Prince of Peckham Pub, this restaurant brings diners a Caribbean fusion menu featuring their signature award-winning jerk chicken dish.
They have also created their own unique spin on West Indian classics, like their classic jerk chicken and chips.
The business has previously won a number of other Deliveroo awards including Top 5 Restaurant in the UK in 2021, Top 10 dish in the UK in 2022 and Top 75 dish in the world in 2022.
Winner of Above & Beyond Award: Quaggy’s Kitchen
Address: 78 Lee High Road, Lewisham, SE13 5PT
Quaggy’s Kitchen in Lee High Road was named winner in the Rider Love Award 2024 under the category of “Above & Beyond”.
The restaurant serves Indian takeaways, focusing on authentic flavours and spices.
Their menu has a range of popular dishes such as tandoori and biryani, and also has vegetarian options available.
Deliveroo founder and CEO Will Shu said: “I say it every year, but the standard of finalists and winners for this year’s Restaurant Awards has been incredible. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting a number of restaurant owners to hear about their stories, food, and the positive impact they’ve had on their local communities and we are proud to partner with such an incredible array of dedicated restaurants to deliver food from around the world to doorsteps across the UK and Ireland. A huge well done to all of this year’s winners.”
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