Where to go in Lewisham

25 places in Lewisham, each one on the Guide on merit.

Beckenham Place Park

• Beckenham Place Park Swimming Lake

  Wild swimming lake

  A restored natural swimming lake in a Beckenham park, low-key and off the radar. A proper wild-swim without leaving the city.

Brockley

• Browns of Brockley

  Specialty coffee

  Ross Brown's tiny pioneer opposite Brockley station, where the Square Mile espresso and house pastries built half of south-east London's coffee scene.

• Cantinera

  Caribbean & Latin

  Mexican cantina crossed with Spanish tapas on a Brockley corner. Walk-ins only, and you bring your own bottle from the shop over the road.

• Joyce

  Wine bar

  Twelve taps in an old funeral parlour, named after someone's nan, which is about as Brockley as it gets.

• Mauby

  Caribbean & Latin

  Caribbean small plates in a converted chippy, cooked with warmth and restraint. The critics got there first this time.

Crofton Park

• The Rivoli Ballroom

  Ballroom

  London's last intact 1950s ballroom, red velvet and Chinese lanterns untouched, now running themed DJ and music nights, from Northern Soul to 90s parties. There is nowhere else like it in the city.

Deptford

• Bluethroat

  Cocktail bar

  A Deptford cocktail bar doing serious drinks without the attitude. Dark and low-lit, made for a long sit.

• Buster Mantis

  Caribbean & Latin

  Two railway arches under Deptford station, bar and kitchen on one side, gallery and events in the other. Off the radar, and put together with real care.

• Cantina Boccone

  Wine bar

  Sixteen seats under the Deptford Market Yard arches, pouring the Portuguese and Italian bottles nobody else in London bothers with. Opened this July and already hard to get into.

• Enclave

  Artist-run gallery cluster

  A cluster of artist-run galleries and studios on Resolution Way, with spaces like Xxijra Hii and LAKE showing new work on low Deptford rents. Go on a Friday or Saturday afternoon while shows are open, or catch a private view.

• Hop Burns & Black

  Craft beer shop

  A Deptford beer-and-hot-sauce shop with a cult following: a fridge of rare cans to drink in or take away, and the staff to steer you.

• Jazu Bar

  Bar + kitchen residency

  The bar that turned a quiet stretch of Deptford into a street party.

• Kekaki Izakaya

  Asian

  A snug Deptford izakaya: Japanese small plates, sake and a counter to sit at while it all comes off the grill.

• KiliG

  Caribbean & Latin

  Filipino and Colombian roots in one Deptford arch, which works because the two owners actually live it.

• Marcella

  European

  A Deptford pasta-and-wine room without the neighbourhood-restaurant cosplay. Short menu, done properly.

• Sylva

  European

  A Deptford Mediterranean with a devoted local following: sharing plates, natural wine, a tiny room worth booking ahead.

• The Dog & Bell

  Historic free house

  Wood-panelled, soft-lit, minimal music, a billiards table at the back.

Forest Hill

• Lope Ariyo Cookery School

  West African cookery class

  West African and diaspora cooking from Lope Ariyo, author of Hibiscus and an Observer Rising Star. A new, no-pressure Forest Hill school covering jollof, soups, stews and street food, taught properly.

• Sylvan Post

  Pub in a former post office

  A 1960s post office reborn as a pub, with a vault you can drink in.

Honor Oak

• Babur

  Asian

  A long-running Indian restaurant with the polish and pedigree to sit well above good-local-curry-house.

Lewisham

• Jerome's Wine Bar & Shop

  Wine bar

  A Lewisham wine bar and bottle shop with a sharp low-intervention list and a proper neighbourhood feel. Bottles to drink in or carry home.

• Momo & Co

  Asian

  A tiny Lewisham Nepalese doing momos the way they should be: handmade, fiery, and beloved enough to queue for.

New Cross

• Corner

  Queer café-bar & gallery

  A queer-owned coffee shop, cocktail bar and basement gallery in New Cross. A good daytime spot when you don't want another bar.

• Goldsmiths CCA

  Gallery

  A former Victorian bathhouse in New Cross turned free contemporary art space that programmes whatever it wants. Difficult, in the good way.

Sydenham

• Doma

  European

  Spasia Pandora Dinkovski cooks Macedonian food out of a former Sydenham kebab shop, netted curtains and all. Weekends only, and the Mystic Burek filo pies appear on the last Saturday of the month.