Category Archives: top 10 best restaurants in Kennington

Kennington Tandoori

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We recently visited local stalwart Kennington Tandoori for a bit of North Indian action. We always had a soft spot for KT before it went all swishy a few years back, so our visit this time was to ascertain value for money. 

Your scribe started with four Momos (think Himalayan gyoza) filled with chicken and a very spicy and pleasing dip.  My dining partner modestly proclaims themselves to be an *coughs* onion bhaji connoisseur, describing their starter as ‘first class’. They were huge (were talking tennis balls) which gave them a great chew offset with external crunch. It was also served with a delightful hot sauce. And to soak up our mains we had an Afghan naan with onion seed hot out of their on-site tandoor. 

  • Tennis, anyone?

For the mains your scribe consumed the king prawn bhuna which consisted of four huge prawns in a tomato sauce with caramelised onion. There were added chilies for a kick with a very well measured amount of kaffir lime leaves. My dining partner felt a bit disappointed with their aubergine and potato masala mains, describing it as a bit bland and not well seasoned. However, this was compensated by the tarka dhal with its rich, warm spices. And of course the Cobra beers just emerged after each course, but we can’t imagine why.

  • Prawn
  • Aubergine

As with so many restaurants, KT is one that appears full even when it isn’t. When our food took a while we initially queried this but when we witnessed the volume of ‘Just Eat’ bags going in and out we realised that much of their custom is virtual, so prepare yourself.  Other than the helmet clad couriers the crowd is a good mix of younger and older locals.  On a visit a few years ago we had the sublime honour (or horror, depending on your persuasion) of sitting between no less than Anne Widdecombe and Ken Clarke. We can’t guarantee that your visit will reach such giddying heights/lows, but you are within the division bell so you never know.  

Is it good value for money? We would err on the side of nearby Ghandi’s, but if variety is what you are after it’s a good change. 

The Three Stags Sunday Roast

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Last weekend the Runoff visited celebrated Lambeth North pub The Three Stags for a long overdue visit to check out their Sunday roast. As part of our contract with management we work on only limited hours at weekends so we arrived at a venue not yet full of patrons, but when full is a good mix of locals, groups, and confused tourists who were led to believe that the pub is actually in Waterloo. The atmosphere is kind of punky with a huge range of music and, on our visit, loads of Halloween decorations and very spookily attired yet well informed bar staff. On that subject, the slightly morbid Chaplin corner is where Charlie last saw his dad alive.

My colleague had the free range pork belly which was a generous, fat and meaty balanced slab with loads of gravy.  The roast hit all the main points well and was a very solid effort. All roasts come with a Yorkshire pudding, which gets a big tick. The roast potatoes were flavourful with a soft middle and some crisp edges, similar to how our bodies have evolved since the pandemic.  The star veg was some cabbage, with just enough bite and surprinsingly very peppery. 

  • We’ve said it before, but
  • taking pictures of food isn’t easy!

Your scribe had the chicken which was a mighty leg and thigh. The stuffing was a bit on the mean side, but was nice and flavourful.  The honey glazed carrots and parsnips weren’t too strong in the honey notes and were so plentiful that we had to leave some on the plate, and  cooked just this side of firm. And the roasts were topped with, um, watercress.  Everything seemed very much home cooked, and that is what you want from a Sunday roast at a good price. And no to mention, they have a good selection of ales.

Although we were certainly carnivorous on this visit, The Stags takes pride in ‘ethical food with an emphasis on more veg and better meat’. And apparently they are South London’s most sustainable pub. In fact, the menu indicates that in order to protect the rainforest they no longer serve beef.  If you’re a true Sunday roast purist, we suggest the Jolly Gardeners in Vauxhall or the very ‘cheffy’ 24 The Oval. But if you live in Lambeth North and want a well priced, dependable,  sturdy and fun roast you could do a lot worse than The Stags. And if your tastes extend to listening to Lionel Ritchie while sitting under a picture of Sid Vicious you’ll fit right in. 

Paladar

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The extremely hip restaurant ‘Paladar’ has been on our radar since it opened in 2018 but our attempts to review the place have been consistently rebuffed by Runoff senior management.  They’ve alternately stated that it’s too expensive, that it’s not technically in Greater Kennington, and then tried to maliciously insinuate that we weren’t ‘hip enough’. When they relented last week we grabbed our chance. 

Paladar is a Latin American fusion restaurant in St. George’s Circus near Elephant & Castle/Lambeth North. The restaurant doubles as an art space, and on our visit featured work by Ecuadorean artist Ulises Valarezo. The crowd is more West End chic than we would expect in these parts, and in fact we were sat next to ‘Leave a Light On’ pop star Tom Walker and loads of people laughing while flicking their hair. 

  • Pork belly
  • Lettuce hearts

The menu is, you guessed it, sharing plates and five items served two people just fine. We were served by a precise, chirpy and professionally drilled service staff who knew quite a bit about what they were serving and actually spoke Spanish to one another.  Highlights were  texture rich tuna tartare tostadas accompanied by a fragrant salsa which  reminded us ever so slightly of a delicious, yet expensive, hand soap. The pork belly tacos had an interesting Chinese crispy duck sticky quality and were wrapped in lettuce leaves as opposed to a tortilla. On the veggie front, we enjoyed compelling, deep fried tapioca croquettes which were savory but just verging on being sweet. We also indulged on chargrilled lettuce hearts with a nut based topping.

Croquettes and Tuna

It is rather amazing that restaurants such as Paladar survived the Covid maelstrom, which partially explains why they send you about a dozen confirmation emails after booking. With a bottle of wine the total bill came to £84 which is by no means cheap but it will teach the management team a thing or two before they accuse us of being less than cool. Money well spent even if you don’t get the chance to sit next to a minor pop star in a bobble hat. 

Paladar also sell South American wines in their adjacent wine shop.  We enjoyed a divine £26 Montes Colchagua Valley Merlot which was less than a tenner more than was going in the shop. 

Theos Pizza and Tiramisu

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Pizza helped us in many ways during lockdown. For some it was like a familiar blanket in troubled times. For us it reconfirmed that we can no longer pull off skinny jeans. We at Runoff Towers find that by a mile the best pizza in Greater Kennington is Theos up in Elephant. Our opinion has been seconded by no less than Vogue Magazine (which might not be an accolade as I doubt their readers actually eat pizza).  And now they feature award winning Tiramisu. 

  • Gorgonzola
  • Anchovy

On the pizza front my colleague had the aubergine and Gorgonzola. An adventurous choice, the aubergine was very soft and this was offset by the sharp hit of pecorino followed by the blue hit of Gorgonzola. Your scribe had a ‘my pressure needs to be checked’ salt kick of an anchovy, capers, olive and mozzarella pizza. All the salty elements were balanced well, and the best element of these pizzas is that they are served on a sourdough bread that is blistered on just the good side of being burned. 

Indeed, Theo’s has just won an award for best Tiramisu in London, and in our opinion it is well deserved. It ticked all the boxes of ‘Italian almost trifle’ with a perfect balance of strong coffee, dark chocolate, creamy mascarpone and served between layers of soft cream. 

Upon hearing about this accolade some female members of the Runoff team, and a surprisingly large number of men, implored us to include a picture of the man behind the triamisu. When we observed that this serves no purpose other to objectify this young man they said ‘yeah, and what’s your point’? So in order to avoid industrial action please find his photo below. 

400 Rabbits

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We’ve done a lot of soul searching and have decided to embrace our inner hipster and allow the top knotted dinizens of the Elephant Park development into the Kennington Runoff catchment area. One reason is the good places to eat which can be found there. A recent discovery is the delightful ‘400 Rabbits’, a south London based pizza, craft beer and gelato micro chain that has recently emerged next to the spiffy Elephant Park park itself. Like it’s neighbour, Theo’s Pizzeria, it is all about the sourdough at 400 Rabbits and theirs is a slow fermented sourdough affair that is thinner and crispier than Theo’s but without the burnt blistering which we happen to love. 

The first thing you should know about 400 Rabbits is that it’s seriously cool. We’re not talking mismatched cutlery here, more like vintage toilets. We went on a weeknight and it was very quiet, and we attribute this to lingering hesitancy of eating out and also the inexorable rise in home deliveries. My work associate had a £4 negroni cocktail and ‘The Chorizo’ pizza. The nice base was offset by a good tomato sauce and decent mozzerella and chili and basil, with the chorizo supplied by Brindisa. 

  • Chorizo
  • Anchovy. Photograpphing food is hard.

Your scribe had a craft beer and ‘The Anchovy’ which featured a parsimonious amount of the little fishies and the salt kick was supplemented by a load of capers. Also featuring was red onion and a very dominant presence of earthy rosemary, which is not often encountered in a pizza. To top it all off our chirpy server then said ‘would you like some dips with your pizza’. We have no idea what this means but, feigning a kind of hipster confidence, we replied ‘ta, we’re good thanks’. 

400 Rabbits also prides itself on the gelatos and they did look splendid but after the pizzas, gelato wasn’t on the top of our list. The interior is fresh and bright with green highlights, a stone fired oven and open kitchen. 

Mama Thai in the House

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When your brain thinks ‘I really want a quiet meal out tonight’ the first thing that pops into your head hopefully isn’t ‘Walworth Road’. And it wasn’t ours until we got wind of a delightfully and totally old school Thai joint called ‘Mama Thai’ that reminded us of a Thai place that you might see off a night market in Bangkok. 

We got there early

My associate had the Pad Prik Khing. Now this might sound like a name you’d call a psycho ex-boyfriend, but it was in fact a stir fry with chicken and aubergine which had a big red curry kick and fairly heavy on the fish sauce saltiness. Nice big flavours that paired quite well with a generously proportioned coconut fried rice for some sweet and salt balance. 

Your scribe had the Baikapraow with chicken. It was a very pleasingly stir fry affair with loads of chili and loads of holy basil. Also mixed in was fish sauce, onion, ginger and a ‘don’t kiss me now’ amount of garlic. For a starter we shared spring rolls which we are pretty sure were home made and delicious. 

On of the best things about Mama Thai is that it is BYOB and there is a handy Tesco Metro across the street. Apparently its Pinot with Thai. So with two starters, one main and two rice dishes the total came to well under £30. 

Whilst eating our old school Thai we were entertained by some very pleasing mid naughties Ibiza chill out music. When paying the bill we told the endearingly grandfatherly proprietor that we enjoyed the music and it was unique to hear in a Thai restaurant. Without missing a beat he replied ‘I love techno and dance music and it really makes people happy. I’ve been to Buddha Bar in Paris a few times’. Wow 

If that comment doesn’t make you love living in Greater Kennington then we don’t know what does! 

Gandhi’s and a Vegan Surprise

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Gandhi’s in Kennington Cross is like a dear old aunt to us; always available for sustenance and forever reliable. But, much like that dear old aunt, if we don’t look after it well, it might just kick the bucket and be consigned to history. Or worse, become a Foxtons. So last night we swept away our football related cobwebs of gloom and gave auntie a face to face visit. 

On our visit we were surprised to see that Ghandi’s has really upped it’s game since our last visit in the flesh.  There are now a whole range of vegan dishes,  and from that menu we treated ourselves to a very rich spinach and potato starter. There were also vegan versions of other staples such as Biryani, Balti, Bhuna, and Jalfrezi. We’re used to pure veg South Indian, but vegan Indian is a whole new kettle of tofu. 

My associate had the Lamb Tikka Biryani, and it packed quite a flavour punch. The lamb was spicy and slow cooked in the tandoor and there were generous amounts of it. Mixed into it was rice that was infused with the flavours of the cooking, with additional spices. This came with an accompanying vegetable curry which was adequate, but not a spot on the lamb itself. 

Your intrepid scribe had Chicken Shaslick, which were succulent and dry cooked in the clay oven. There were an array of spices in evidence but the most dominant was cumin. There were also grilled tomatoes and onions thrown in for good measure. It was far from a curry and more like a kebab. 

As you can see by celebrity strewn pictures in the window, if its good enough for Richard and Judy, Neil and Christine Hamilton, and some lady who’s a dead ringer for Hyacinth Bucket then it has to be good enough for us mere mortals.*

*If you’re lucky enough to be under 30 ask your parents who these people actually are. 

Conuco Venezuelan

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Venezuela has been in the news for all the wrong reasons recently, but not due to their cuisine. We recently took a break from the incessant drone of faxes, dial-ups, mimeographs and the background clatter of ‘Loose Women’ at KR towers to take in a leisurely lunch at new joint ‘Conuco’ in Oval and we’re here to give you the score. 

  • We were there before 12!

The specialities of Conuco are arepas and empanadas. Arepas is a kind of one handed sandwich made of ground maize dough and can be filled with meat or veg, and at Conuco stuffed with cheese. Empanadas are more well known in the UK (especially if you’ve been to Borough Market) and pretty pervasive at the moment. For those not in the know, they are fried turnovers stuffed with a variety of items such as cheese, chorizo, chicken or shredded beef.

On our visit we had a arepas with pulled beef and a white cheese called ‘costeno’. As you can see, the sandwich was rammed with dripping, shredded beef and towards the end we had to deploy the use of a fork. As it was a hot and sweaty day we had the local drink ‘papelon con limon’, which was a pleasing lemon/orange. A very spicy and peppery sauce and a green sauce with coriander were served with it either to dip or slather over the meat. 

The total came to just over £7, and filled us up until dinner. Conuco has wifi and has a good relaxing vibe and very friendly staff. Eat in or if it’s nice take your grub to Kennington Park. That way if your stuffing falls out you don’t have to clean it up and you’ve just made friends with all the local pigeons and dogs who will soon swirl around you. 

We’re messy eaters. Don’t judge us.

The Jolly Gardeners

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Some of you might remember a curious German themed sports pub called ‘Zeitgeist’ at the top of Black Prince Road. We reviewed it last year and described the fare as ‘food best consumed when you’re not entirely sober’. Shortly afterwards it went under. It has now been resurrected in its original guise –  ‘The Jolly Gardeners’. We had a clandestine and very pleasing meal there a few weeks ago and then caught up with the current proprietors to find out how they plan to please us Greater Kenningtonians. 

The Gardeners was purchased late last year by five mates from Essex, Dan (who now lives next to the Gardeners), Nick, Jonathan, Ryan, and Rob. All come from different professional backgrounds but are rooted in running restaurants and pubs. As the pub is enormous, I asked one of the guys how they plan to use the space. They explained that part of it will be a reservable restaurant in a ‘family sharing vibe’ (think Sunday roasts, bloody Mary’s, scotch eggs, etc.) the other 70% will be more of a traditional pub. They’ve also built an outside area (which rather resembles a ski lodge) which will be useful in the summer, if that ever happens.

On the food and drink front, the boys informed us that over 50% of the food items will be vegan but ‘more interesting than you might think’. They are trying to source things locally and are tapping into local producers. On the subject of tapping they are not tied to a brewer and are trying to use localish brewers such as Coalition. Pub snacks will also be on the menu, featuring items such as confit potatoes and cauliflower wedges. According to the boys, they acknowledge that dining and drinking habits have evolved over the past 18 months, for instance with more people working from home, and they are keen to address this.  

One of the issues with the Gardeners is that it does not have a great deal of footfall and people might forget that it exists. When I asked the guys how they plan to address this niggling issue they replied ‘by serving excellent foot at a reasonable price point so people don’t forget us. 

The menu below might have changed but gives you a sense of what they do. The pub is open now for drinks and food. Even if all the boys aren’t locals, lets embrace them as one of our own! 

Amici and Their Popup

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In the approximately 15,000 years that have elapsed in the past 12 months we’ve learned a few things, so let’s have a rundown. We now know what to do in those awkward seconds after you say goodbye on Zoom and actually log off. We’ve learned just how much work you can complete while wearing just a onsie and no bra. And third, that  ‘meal boxes’ are really just posh takeaways.  We recently decided to explore the third when we revisited Kennington Cross fixture ‘Amici’.  

Back in the days when it was purely Italian we became somewhat disillusioned with the quality of the food at Amici. Shortly before the world imploded they had a menu overhaul (and presumably a chef overhaul) and now serve Meditteranean and Persian fare – the Persian coming from their much missed restaurant ‘Doost’. Your scribe started with beef carpaccio. It was a large and very finely sliced piece which came with a slightly sweet blueberry vinigrette, dabs of asparagus and thinly sliced cashews. For the mains I had calamari. It came with pureed and whole peas and had a whole sweet/briney thing going on, with a hit of black olives. The calamari was stuffed with herb encrusted Panko breadcrumbs. Both dishes were mighty fine. 

And with recyclable boxes, to boot

My associate opted for the Persian fare, and for the starter s/he had the smoky, roasted aubergine mixed with tomato. It came with a haltingly generous serving of proper Persian bread. For the mains, said associate had a generous and well cooked duck breast smothered by a silky  pomegrante and walnut sauce. It was as rich as it sounds and a taste sensation as the slight bitterness of the walnut contrasted nicely with the sweet pomegranate. It was served with saffron rice, and Amici/Doost have pretty much always known how to nail a rice. 


The total came to £46, which ain’t cheap for a takeaway but hey, what else are you spending your dosh on at the minute? 

What really put Amici firmly back in our field of vision is their new pop up shop, which covers the whole restaurant. On sale is fresh pasta, cakes, wines, herbs, beers, curry paste (?) and Italian beans, amongst others.