No, you’re not imagining it, the name of this restaurant absolutely is supposed to evoke a Caribbean accent.
You see, the man behind it – Trinidadian-born chef Brian Danclair – is indeed from the Caribbean, and he wants to spread the gospel of the region’s wonderful food & drink culture as far and wide as he can. He’s been off to a pretty great start too, opening the esteemed Fish, Wings & Tings in Brixton Market a few years ago now to much fanfare. And as you may well have cannily discerned, while that place serves up fish, wings, and indeed other tings, his follow up restaurant Veg & Tings is alllll about delicious Caribbean vegetarian food.
You’ll find it sitting right next to its sibling in Brixton Village. And like its sibling, it’s a teeny space bolstered by outside seating under the shelter of the market arcade. Inside, it’s a vibrant affair, with a colour scheme designed to evoke the earth itself, running from a vivd blue sky down to an ochre earth, and cut though with yellow sun. There are no bookings, but there are plenty of things to do around Brixton if you need to wait.
And it’s very much worth a wait. On the menu you’ll find Danclair’s signature format of ‘small tings’ and ‘big tings’. The smalls run from the likes of classic fried plantains to ‘doubles with slight pepper’ (Trinidadian street food involving curried chickpea on a bed of fried bara flatbreads), and corn soup with ground provisions (that is, root vegetables). Then, there are the big tings, such as Trinidad callaloo with stew red beans (which is considered to be Trinidad’s national dish, and has spinach & vegetables simmered in coconut milk) or stew lentils with black eye peas & rice plus curried mango.
Of course you can wash all of this down with a rum punch, some homemade sorrel & ginger soda, or a drink made from the bark of the Caribbean mauby tree with cloves & fennel…
…and a few other delicious Tings.
NOTE: Veg & Tings is walk-in only; just turn up. You can find out more at the Insta page here.
Veg & Tings | 4 Granville Arcade, Brixton Village, SW9 8PR
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