One thrilling step beyond street food

Lai Rai looks faintly make-believe, but has the feeling of being the place to be, says David Ellis

Lai Rai — was it born of a Wes Anderson movie or a computer game? From its ordered red and white frontage it wouldn’t surprise if either Owen Wilson or one of the GTA crooks emerged. On this part of Peckham’s Rye Lane — a world of street barbecues and money transfer shops, of cash and carrys and mobile repair booths — it is an apparition, as crisp and neat as a striped shirt still in its packet. It draws admiring, inquisitive stares; boys riding on their bikes stop, couples double back. A man with holes in his varsity jumper pulled out a Leica and snapped.

Inside is more of the same. It is mostly butter yellow though the red of 1950s diners and tinned sardines is everywhere: the pin-thin neon strip lights; the metal stools; the chopsticks; even the grout between the tiles. It looks faintly make-believe, but has the feeling of being the place to be. Huddled over the small tables are young dates, cool kids; lots of statement frame glasses and nipple piercings. We sat in the window. Great view if you like graffiti.