Category Archives: cafes and restaurants

Longdan Supermarket…Our Local Asian Superstore

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If it isn’t on your gerbil trail then you’ve probably missed a very unique place at the top of Walworth Road called ‘Longdan’. Longdan is a pan Asian supermarket with a very tasty Vietnamese street food restaurant attached called ‘Aobaba’.

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We know that some of you sit up at night wondering just where you can source dried lotus seeds and 50 kilo sacks of jasmine rice. Well, now you’re in luck. Longdan specialises in hard to find products from Japan, Vietnam, China, Thailand and Malaysia, among other places. The hard to find products are perfect if you are feeling inventive, want a bit of culinary inspiration, or just want a browse. For the cautious sorts much of their fresh exotic goods are sold frozen and can be kept for the long haul.

 

One thing Longdan does very well is condiments (and who among us doesn’t favour a nice condiment?) and you can bag a range of soy and chili sauces, bean curd, stir fry mixes, and good old fashioned Siriracha. Recently we bought banana leaves to remind us of the time we were in Kolkata (oops, better pick up that name we just dropped!) in a sad effort to resurrect our curry meal there.  Having said that, our favourite bit is at the back, where they sell a variety of Asian kitchen products which are largely impractical for western chefs but a great way to make you feel like a cooking pro.

 

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As for Aobaba, it offers cheap and delicious Vietnamese fare to eat in or take away. In the past we’ve enjoyed summer rolls, Banh Mi (baguettes), grilled pork and beef noodles. At the time of writing they didn’t do Pho, but our capital certainly isn’t lacking in those joints…

 

 

 

 

So, if your gerbil trail  leads inexorably to our depressing ‘Shipping Container Tesco’ then try moving in another direction for a bit of a culinary challenge. Cabbage roots, anyone?

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I Due Amici for a Change

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On Christmas Eve we experienced an existential crisis as Loose Women wasn’t on, so we decided to fill the gaping Northern Line Extentsion sized hole in our lives by exploring the lunch items at local institution I Due Amici. We’re also aware that our annual ‘top ten restaurants of Kennington’ posts are coming up* and we need to make up for lost time by stuffing our faces.

I Due Amici is owned by the unflappable Houman Meskati, who also owns ‘Amici’ and the gone but not forgotten Persian/Vodka joint ‘Doost’. As Houman is himself Persian we decided to get our chops into Due Amici’s Persian stews, which are definitely the best things on the menu. Your intrepid writer had the khoresh ghormeh (number 1) which consisted of lamb, kidney beans, and fresh coriander. Served with basmati rice, the lamb was very slow cooked and virtually fell off my fork. The seasoning was a bit off but a good balance of other herbs were present, including fenugreek.

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My dining partner noshed on the khoresh gheymeh (number 3) which was also less slow cooked lamb but also with potatoes `and split peas. It had a nice thick, split pea yellow consistently with some interesting herbs in the mix.

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While not quite up to the Persian standards of Doost, the stews offer a real variety in central Kennington that is needed in terms of lunches. Due Amici also has your standard fare of sandwiches, salads, vegan food and even, bizarrely, burritos. It is at 310 Kennington Road.

*shameless plug.

Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Free Pastis

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Two upcoming free, fun events in Vauxhall and Walworth to sink our little SE11 (and 17 and 1) teeth into to get us into the Christmas spirits, folks! Tomorrow night (Monday) London’s Night Czar and all around good egg Amy Lame will be switching on the lights of the Vauxhall Christmas tree at around 6pm with a little help from a serenading London Gay Men’s Chorus. And you know how we get about freebies, there will be free (no way) pastel de nada (Portugese custard tarts..stick with us) and hot chocolate provided by our friends at Maderia Cafe in Vauxhall… Don’t be late!

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We often have ‘London Guilt’ about not finding time for the great bi annual events at Pullen’s Yard over in Walworth, but this year we’ll be all over it like a Berkeley Homes bulldozer with planning permission. Pullens Yard is an artistic enclave of 60 artist studios set in a Victorian cobbled mews. Over the next week they will be flinging their doors open to show what they do and will have a variety of art and objects to sell. But will there be free tarts, I ask you? If not, our friends at cool The Electric Elephant  will feed ya. Details below….

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Playing Happy Families

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We don’t really review enough (ok, ever) lunchtime venues in Greater Kennington which is a shame, given the rapid ascendency of the Edinburgh House Workspace, Vox Studios, and Kennington Park Workspace. Yesterday we had a very tight deadline to meet before Loose Women started at 12:30 so we decided to pop along at lunchtime to the Kennington Chinese place ‘Happy Family’.
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In spite of it’s name, the ‘maitre de’ of Happy Family is a gruff white guy who doesn’t  take kindly to the modern concept of debit/credit cards (but over 8 quid is ok). Cash in hand, we have been a few times and indulged in their Vietnamese duck Banh My Pho (a Vietnamese baguette)  which is heavy on the duck and sauce and at £4.80 is a very good alternative to the Tesco Meal Deal, which we have never *coughs* tried.

 

 

On this trip we sunk our teeth into Happy Family’s lunchtime special which was sweet and sour chicken with rice. The meat to veg ratio was generous and the service was very quick. The meat was also well cooked and the texture didn’t possess the gelatinous quality of many other sweet and sour dishes.

 

If you live in Greater Kennington then you probably know Happy Family from it’s takeaways, which they have been doing since the dawn of time. While it is OK, we still prefer to cough up a few more bob for Firecracker, in Windmill Row, which has a more creative menu. Happy eating!

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An Apple a Day Doesn’t Keep the Developers Away

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Guess what, Greater Kennington? You’re about to be the proud parents of another high rise! Yep, the Apple Green petrol station (and home to our favourite Greggs) in Kennington Lane has been sold to developers. Tonight we went along to their consultation to find out more.

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First of all, the developers want us to know they want to ‘make maximum use of the site’, which is developer’s parlance for ‘lets build loads of luxury flats’. Apparently the building was going to be 62 metres but ‘we decided to be sympathetic to the scale of the local area’. That’s developer’s parlance of ‘Lambeth wouldn’t let us make it that big’. The building will have 15 floors and contain 116 units, and of these units 35% will be for affordable rents. That developer’s parlance for ‘Lambeth told us they couldn’t all cost two million quid’.

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To their credit, they have stated that they will be using light green terracotta tiles and draw influence from Royal Doulton Ceramics, respecting local history. However, they also said that they will ‘be influenced by the Berkeley Homes development across the street (say what!). They’ve also said that the want to emphasize cycling, and this is how that conversation went:

DEVELOPERS – “Yes, we’re thinking that the retail until on the ground floor could be an independent cycle café concept shop”

RUNOFF – Yeah, or it could be a Poundland.

How they manage to contort 116 flats into a what is essentially a petrol station forecourt is certainly a daunting task. And if you want to behold the daunting task yourself, or if you want to lose your collective sh*t then you are in luck as they are having another consultation tomorrow (Saturday) from 12 – 4 at the Foundry, 17 Oval Way. The website for the development can be found here. Apparently they have a few more hurdles to pass with Lambeth, but construction could start by autumn of 2020.

In other matters, we just had wind of more high rises that just passed the planning stages that will be located on that no mans land of a vacant lot next to the Beafeater Gin distillery.  When we go to the consultation we’ll fill you in.

Kuma in Kennington Cross

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If you follow our inane ramblings on social media you might have noticed that we’ve been sniffing around and discovered that the site formerly known as ‘Doost’ is about be transformed into ‘Kuma’ and the cuisine will be Korean/Japanese (yeay). Works are moving apace, and if we ever succeed in our mission of becoming ‘Kennington Influencers’ we’ll be invited to the soft launch, showered with sushi, and tell you all about it. IMG_5700

Merano Cafe and the Looming Towers at Albert Embankment

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Believe it or not, the new towers on Albert Embankment, those looming  sentinels over the western reaches of greater Kennington, are actually within the KR catchment area. The other morning we decided to pop over and check out a curious new café as oligarchs have to eat somewhere  it seems to be developing a bit of a buzz. It’s located on the ground floor of one of the new buildings: We don’t recall the name of the specific building, but they all seem to be named after luxury cars from yesteryear so take your pick. Roller? Corniche?

Merano Rose bar café is a buzzy and airy joint that doubles as a cocktail bar/restaurant in the evening. It mostly caters to people who work in Vauxhall, with a small smattering of locals. We had a very flaky and buttery croissant, but could have chosen from a range of other pastries and muffins. We also indulged in a very rich but satisfying eggs benedict on sourdough served with parma ham. If you are a fan of hollandaise sauce you are going to love this place, as half of the menu items seem to feature it in copious volumes. If you are of a healthier bent, they also serve granola and porridge…

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On the drinks front, Merano serves fresh squeezed orange juice, espresso, and a range of coffees and teas. When we were there some people had just popped in for a quick bite and others were working assiduously (they have wifi). They are open throughout the day from 8, including weekends, and also have a lunch and dinner trade.

Merano is a good little, moderately priced outpost on the periphery of our society so worth checking out. And at the end of the day, where else could you wash down your 8:30am scrambled eggs with a G&T?

Merano is at 31 Albert Embankment, SE1 7GR. It is just beyond the arches at Vauxhall and is more or less at the back of Spring Gardens. Happy eating!

Taro Time

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As most of you are aware we’ve had a lovely, much overdue Japanese joint on our doorstep for nine months now and we recently checked it out (ok, we’ve actually been about eight times). We have to confess to a slight bias as we’ve been going to Taro’s Soho outlet for about 16 years and it’s great to see a Soho venue in our area, but without the rickshaws, sick and stag ‘dos.  This was one of our predecessors’ top 10 earlier this year, but will it make the cut again?

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We were in Japan earlier this year and went to Taro with our friend Mark, who actually lived in Japan for years and acted as our cultural attaché. We had sushi (both tempura-maki and other maki) which was fresh and generous on the fish side. We also had fried chicken (below), which was crunchy and equally meaty. For a veg angle we also indulged in juicy tofu steak, with a surfeit of ginger and wasabi. For sides we recommend onshinko pickles and gyoza dipped in soy vinegar.

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Taro is honest, authentic ‘Izakaya’, (roughly meaning ‘pub food’) very similar to  the food you get in Japan and is good value for money. While this is the best Japanese in the Runoff catchment area and it’s environs, we have to concede that *dodges brick*  if you want the real deal there are more authentic Japanese places in London. So, if you like your sushi made in right in front of you by grumpy chefs, you might try venturing to Eat Tokyo. However, if you want to keep it local Taro is a firm choice, but do reserve as a few weeks ago we couldn’t get our hands on a table!IMG_5193

 

For the curious, apparently Taro roughly means ‘dude’ in Japanese and on most nights Taro himself  is on the premises (his round face is the logo). He likes to talk about his lovely farming family who’s picture graces the back wall, so pick his brain.

Daebak – A Korean Worth Visiting

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A few days ago we popped our sweaty selves to Vauxhall to revisit a delightful Korean friend called ‘Daebak’.  It is a small, delightful restaurant not to be confused with the not so charming ‘Jihwaja’ across the road. Well, unless your idea of charming involves hen do’s, stale kimchee and blaring K-Pop. And if it does then this website might not be for you…..

For our meal the three of us ordered soy garlic chicken (a speciality, below), spicy bibimbap,  Katsu curry, crispy tofu, and gyoza. Let me tell you, reader, we were rolling out of there by the end of it. We could have easily dropped one of the main courses as they were huge. We highly recommend the various kinds of fried chicken on order (crunchy, subtle) and the Bibimbap is delicious and comes with two veg. options. I would also experiment with a starter like octopus balls. Great food, and pretty kind on the pocket. If you are going on a weekend it might be a good idea to book, as last time we couldn’t get in we had to go across the street and it wasn’t pretty.

Daebak is at 316-318 Kennington Lane

Pros – It has wide open doors overlooking Vauxhall

Cons – It has wide open doors overlooking Vauxhall

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Adulis – A Mighty Fine Eritrean Joint

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We are spoilt for choice when is comes to Eritrean/Ethiopian food in greater Kennington, and there a number just on our outskirts. We have tried them all as we have a problem with binge eating  care about or readers. The best of the lot is called Adulis and is at the top of Brixton Road. It grabbed  the #7 spot in Jamie’s pick of ‘best of Kennington’ earlier this year on the Runoff and is certainly on our long list and has been for a while.

As with any cuisine that might be new, if you’re not familiar with the cuisine the best launching point is a sampler plate. At Adulis it is the ‘Kirchat’ (and there is a vegetarian version). It is fundamentally a selection of their best meat and veg dishes served on a platter usually including Kifto, which is tender meet in Ghee and to die for. All of the dishes haver have a sweet and sour, almost vinegary tinge to them. They gladly pimped our 2 person serving up to 3 as we had a third diner, and the pic is below.  Please don’t let my bad photo below put you off, as not all Eritrean dishes look like cat food.

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This dish is served on a platter with a base of bread called ‘injera’, which is a leavened pancake made with sourdough (and if you run out you can get more for free). Almost all meals here are served with it and the whole shebang is to be eaten with your good hands. One speciality of the house is their Adulis honey wine. We’ve had this previously and lets just place it in the category of ‘experimental’. Since then we’ve stuck to the Kenyan beer ‘Tusker’ or South African whites.

 

Adulis has a slightly retro Eritrean feel to it with memetoes both current and from the past. The staff are very friendly and a good chunk of the punters are (tick!) Eritrean themselves. The place also wafts with the aroma of their coffee (and popcorn) ceremony. Tsibuk E’dl!!!

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