The Top Ten Best Restaurants in Kennington – no. 5 – Counter Brasserie

Posted on May 3, 2015 by Kennington Observer

Sadly Counter closed down in June 2017. Let’s hope they reopen.

Positives: Great food at brunch, lunch and dinner. Friendly service. There’s always a nice buzz in this huge new restaurant right next to Vauxhall station, plus live music and art. And, uniquely for a Kennington restaurant, Counter is almost always open (Monday to Thursday 7am to 12.30am, Friday 7am to 1.30am, Saturday 8am to 1.30am and Sunday 8am to 12.30am).

Negatives: Their aesthetic is esoteric – they served us coq au vin in an awkward shaped bowl which was worthy of We Want Plates. We’ve had various minor issues with service including the “lunch rapide” taking forever to arrive, but it’s nothing you wouldn’t expect from a busy, large-scale new opening, and we’re confident all this will be resolved before long – they seem like they care a lot.

~~Hygiene rating: TBC.~~

~~Address: Arch 50, 7-11 South Lambeth Place, London SW8 1SP.~~

~~Come back next Sunday to find out the number 4.~~

The Top Ten Best Restaurants in Kennington – no. 6 – Adulis

Posted on April 26, 2015 by Kennington Observer

Positives: Eritrean food is delicious, unique and great fun for parties. We’ve been to a lot of Ertitrean and Ethiopian restaurants and Adulis might be the best of the lot.

Negatives: Occasionally sketchy, but friendly, service. The coffee ceremony basically involves burning the beans – that’s the Eritrean way – and will keep you awake for a week or so. And the food, although delicious, ain’t photogenic:

Hygiene rating: 4 out of 5

Address: 44-46 Brixton Road, London SW9 6BT.

Come back next Sunday to find out the number 5.

The Top Ten Best Restaurants in Kennington – no. 7 – Bonnington Cafe

Posted on April 19, 2015 by Kennington Observer

Positives: It’s cheap and BYOB. All the food is vegetarian and freshly cooked that day. The atmosphere is invariably great. There is often live music. It’s situated just off Bonnington Square, the most unique and vibrant of London’s residential squares, which, like Bonnington Cafe, has its roots in the squatting movement. There’s nowhere else like it.

Negatives: The quality of the food depends on which of the many volunteer chefs is cooking that night, and the service can be somewhat emotional, but it’s all part of the fun of the place. It’s cash only and you should call the chef to book a table – the rota is on their website.

Hygiene rating: 4 out of 5

Address: 11 Vauxhall Grove, London SW8 1TD

Come back next Sunday to find out the number six.

Old Paradise Yard

Posted on April 15, 2015 by Kennington Observer

We finally visited Old Paradise Yard for the first time after a tip off from the Earl of Bedlam. What an interesting hive of activity!

It used to be a school for the children of the families of Lower Marsh traders, then became a Tibetan Buddhist centre. Now it’s a community of artists and creatives such as these:

From cycling clothing to sewing lessons to 3D printing to an Academy of Electronic Music, plus two places we’re planning to write more about soon: i’klectik – a vegetarian cafe and live music venue – and Gabriel Fine Art gallery.

Whoever is based in this building, we are jealous:

There will also be a church-affiliated community farm soon, for at least five years until the extension of a children’s hospital is built on the site:

Old Paradise Yard is located along the north side of Archbishop’s Park, at 20 Carlisle Lane, SE1 7LG, the other side of Lambeth Palace Road from St Thomas’s Hospital.

The Top Ten Best Restaurants in Kennington – no. 8 – Doost Persian Grill & Vodka Bar

Posted on April 12, 2015 by Kennington Observer

Positives: Persian food is really nice and distinct from other cuisines. Doost do it well, with a menu that offers a lot of explanation of the dishes. It’s also a vodka bar (these were widespread in Iran before the revolution). And they have a very cheery sign outside:

Negatives: It’s fairly pricey for Kennington, with mains ranging from £10 to £19.90. And, while the restaurant is classy, the website is not.

Hygiene rating: 5 out of 5

Address: 305 Kennington Road, London SE11 4QE

Come back next Sunday to find out the number seven.

Mazí Mas at the Ovalhouse Theatre

Posted on April 7, 2015 by Kennington Observer

Over Easter Weekend we went to Mazí Mas, a roaming restaurant that’s currently resident at Ovalhouse Theatre, and we were blown away.

We’d never plucked up the courage to go to Ovalhouse before and, arriving after the performance had finished, we were pleasantly surprised by how vibey the bar is on a Saturday night (it got even busier later). And they serve Effra Ale which is no Kernel but it’s pretty good.

The restaurant’s adjacent to the bar and was also full – they say there’s no need to book but we had to share a table with another couple.

Mazí Mas is a social enterprise whose chefs are female migrants and refugees from Brazil, Iran, Ethiopia, Turkey, Senegal and Peru, cooking recipes from their home countries. When we went, Roberta from Brazil was cooking and the food was delicious.

These are Roberta’s pao de quiejo (Brazilian cheese bread) and they taste as good as they look, plus they only cost £4 for five:

They use local, seasonal, sustainable ingredients and sure enough, everything tastes fresh and home-cooked. This is a main of pumpkin moqueca in coconut milk with lime (£7); they were also doing the same dish with white fish (£8) – both were great:

This is a dessert of passion fruit mousse for £4 (possibly not sourced locally but still):

The menu changes daily depending on who’s in the kitchen, although the cheese bread and passion fruit mousse seem to be permanent fixtures. Check their Twitter to find out what they’re cooking each day.

Their crowdfunding campaign is about to close and one of the offers is a meal for two for £25 which would work at as good value.

They will be at Ovalhouse every Tuesday to Saturday from 6pm to 10pm until May 30th. After that, we’d love to see them find a permanent site in Kennington.

Ovalhouse Theatre is at 52-54 Kennington Oval, SE11 5SW.

The Top Ten Best Restaurants in Kennington – no. 9 – Aobaba

Posted on April 5, 2015 by Kennington Observer

Positives: Great, affordable, fast Vietnamese street food, bánh mì, bubble tea and Vietnamese beers.

Aobaba food - kenningtonrunoff.com

Negatives: It’s a bit of a sterile environment, being one side of an oriental supermarket on Walworth Road. Not recommended for dates.

Hygiene rating: 4 out of 5

Address: 128-132 Walworth Road, London SE17 1JL

Come back next Sunday to find out the number eight.

The Top Ten Best Restaurants in Kennington – no. 10 – Dirty Burger

Posted on March 29, 2015 by Kennington Observer

Positives: One of the best, juiciest beef burgers in London. It lives up to its name, and it tastes better than it looks:

Negatives: The short menu doesn’t have much to offer the mushroom-hating vegetarian. Plus they gave us a discount card when they launched, and now look at it with incomprehension every time we present it. Oh, and it’s in the middle of a gyratory – albeit a gyratory that’s earmarked for improvement, and is becoming something of a hotspot for foodies.

Hygiene rating: 5 out of 5

Address: Arch 54, 6 South Lambeth Road, London SW8 1SS

Come back next Sunday to find out the number nine.

The Top Ten Best Restaurants in Kennington: 2015

Posted on March 26, 2015 by Kennington Observer

By popular demand we are updating our Top Ten Best Restaurants in Kennington list for 2015.

There have been several new arrivals since last year’s list – where will they rank? Will The Lobster Pot retain the top spot? How long will it take The Friends of Kennington Tandoori to file a complaint? Find out from Sunday when we will announce the number ten.

This year we will only be including restaurants that are open in the evening, but don’t despair Sally White and The Ragged Canteen, we are also planning a Top Ten Lunch Spots in Kennington list.

last year’s no. 1

brunch at Counter Brasserie

Posted on March 15, 2015 by Kennington Observer

Sadly Counter closed down in June 2017. Let’s hope they reopen.

~~The Kennington brunch revolution continues as new arrival Counter offer all-day brunch until 5pm on Saturdays and Sundays.~~

~~We made it along recently and were impressed by the quality of the food despite a few teething troubles.~~

This is banana stuffed French toast, crispy bacon, and maple syrup. Our waiter told us it couldn’t be served without bacon, although he later conceded it could. Plus the bacon wasn’t really crispy after all. But the French toast was great and definitely New York-style in the sense that it was more of a loaf than a slice:

~~This is buttermilk pancakes, blueberries, creme fraiche and vanilla syrup. Yes we got a bit over-excited and started eating before taking the photos:~~

~~This is habanero scramble, brioche, pumpkin seeds, spring onions and chilli ketchup. Tasty:~~

Another small gripe: they claim to serve fresh mint tea but actually serve peppermint teabags which is very different. Message to Counter: fresh mint tea is just fresh mint and hot water – you can do it.

~~But we’ll forgive them because the food is so tasty and there was live jazz on a Sunday:~~

~~For more info on Counter see our original piece here.~~

~~They serve some of the brunch dishes for breakfast on weekdays. Menus here.~~

The Kennington Observer

Surreptitiously observing Kennington, including the suburbs Vauxhall, Oval, Walworth, and Elephant since 2012

Category Archives: cafes and restaurants

The Top Ten Best Restaurants in Kennington – no. 5 – Counter Brasserie

The Top Ten Best Restaurants in Kennington – no. 6 – Adulis

The Top Ten Best Restaurants in Kennington – no. 7 – Bonnington Cafe

Old Paradise Yard

The Top Ten Best Restaurants in Kennington – no. 8 – Doost Persian Grill & Vodka Bar

Mazí Mas at the Ovalhouse Theatre

The Top Ten Best Restaurants in Kennington – no. 9 – Aobaba

The Top Ten Best Restaurants in Kennington – no. 10 – Dirty Burger

The Top Ten Best Restaurants in Kennington: 2015

brunch at Counter Brasserie