When I moved to London at the end of January 2020, Peckham's Rye Lane was the first road I walked down with all of my things — one huge, night blue check-in suitcase as heavy as me, a slightly smaller trolley, a cabin bag, and a worn-out, stuffed-to-the-brim leather backpack. The discomfort I felt in carrying so much weight by myself as I waited for a bus to my East Dulwich flat isn't the only thing that cemented that scene in my brain. It was the peak of winter. Like in the most classic of British memories, it drizzled, the rain so fine you could barely see it, and yet it drenched you, still. But even then, on the gloomiest of Tuesday nights, long before lending its backdrop to Raine Allen Miller's 2023 namesake romantic comedy film, the South East London street bustled with life.
People of all ages and backgrounds took turns on the sidewalk, so busy it was along the family-run food stalls, butchers, and fish shops that, blending in with more recently opened pubs, restaurants, clubs, and cocktail bars, dot the road. Cyclists, takeaway delivery riders, and double-decker buses all whizzed by. I remember finding the frenzy slightly intimidating at the time, but the truth is, there couldn't have been a better introduction to a city famed for its relentless energy. Heading out for dinner at Lai Rai, the Vietnamese canteen-style eatery that opened last month at 181 Rye Ln, but already shows the potential of some of the best restaurants in London, is enough to have me re-live that memory.
