brunch at Counter Brasserie

Posted on March 15, 2015 by Kennington Runoff

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.~~

Counter Brasserie

Posted on February 8, 2015 by Kennington Runoff

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

Counter is the biggest, most exciting restaurant opening in the Kennington area since Brunswick House. The founder Philip Reicherstorfer, a local resident, has been working on this for three years and was initially looking at the site now occupied by Nando’s, before deciding that a different set of railway arches would be better suited. The entrance to the Counter brasserie is on South Lambeth Place, next to the Sainsbury’s Local that is next to Vauxhall station, in what briefly claimed to be VX1 Gallery (we never found it open).

Right now the brasserie is open for soft launch with half price food (you may need to book online to take advantage of this offer, which will last until Tuesday). Their advertising says “Fully open from February 14th” but we went on Friday and it was seamless, with excellent, friendly service and delicious food.

They describe the food as “New York-style French” but it’s more diverse than that – we had a starter of chili blanco, warm tortillas, and avocado salsa (normally £6.50, currently £3.25) – very tasty.

The main course of sole with brown butter, capers, confit potato and spinach (normally £17, currently £8.50) was one of the most flavoursome, succulent fish dishes we’ve ever had – even better than The Lobster Pot’s skate wing equivalent. Thank-you, head chef Dan Blucert, formerly of The Big Easy in Covent Garden.

~~Butternut squash hotpot, tomato and ancho chili (normally £14, currently £7) was also full of flavour, although the cornbread dumplings were rather dry.~~

We had a decent desert of New York cheesecake with blueberry compote, and they do their own dark and sophisticated Counter lager, brewed in the Netherlands, plus a wine list that is exclusively American and French, and plenty of cocktails and mocktails.

The clientele was nicely mixed, from Friday night revellers to middle aged gay couples to a family with a toddler. The restaurant is big (175 capacity) but was already looking pleasantly full. Ask to be seated in a booth for extra privacy and comfort. The decor is “Deco meets Disco” and will not be for everyone, but if it’s not for you then Brunswick House and Bonnington Cafe offer polar opposites just yards away.

For the rest of us, Kennington finally has a quality restaurant that’s open just about any time you’d want to go – Monday to Thursday 7am to midnight, Friday 7am to 1am, Saturday 8am to 1am, and Sunday 8am to midnight. They do all day brunch on Saturdays and Sundays till 5pm – more on that soon. Counter already looks like being a great success and will contribute a lot to the revitalisation of West Kennington.

Also, Counter’s premises will soon stretch a mammoth 60 metres back, all the way to the other side of the arches near Dirty Burger on South Lambeth Road – BackCOUNTER will open on February 12th and will be open Thursdays to Sundays at least, plus private hire. It seems aimed at a gay pre-clubbing crowd but it’s still a building site at present.

~~Here’s an architect’s sketch of the whole premises:~~

our West and North West Kennington predictions for 2015

Posted on January 25, 2015 by Kennington Runoff

2015 will put North West Kennington on the map. This is the area south of Westminster Bridge Road and west of Kennington Road, and it is arguably the least visited, least known part of central London, despite some lovely buildings and smaller parks, Lambeth Palace, and Beaconsfield. Plus it’s yards from Parliament and it has the Thames running down one side.

Old Paradise Gardens, North West Kennington

2014 was already a big year for North West Kennington with tonnes of new riverside developments plus the new look Duchy Arms. 2015 will be even bigger thanks to the opening (finally) of Damien Hirst’s Newport Street Gallery. The gallery will feature works from Damien’s collection including artists such as Francis Bacon, Banksy, Tracey Emin, Jeff Koons, Sarah Lucas and Pablo Picasso. Entry will be free of charge. More info here.

Under the leadership of the entrepreneurial Justin Welby, surely this will be the year that Lambeth Palace opens to the public all year round.

West Kennington (previously known as Vauxhall) will also experience another year of change and growth. We are cautiously optimistic about the plans for the gyratory. New housing developments will lead to more scenes of sheikhs looking bemused as clubbers pass them on the way home.

Watch out Russell Norman – Counter – a new restaurant in the arches near Vauxhall station – will open soon and looks set to be a new entry in our Best Restaurants in Kennington list.

Come back tomorrow for our central Kennington predictions for 2015.

last minute Christmas shopping ideas, and the qubes at Marcel & Sons

Posted on December 21, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

If you have left your Christmas shopping to the last minute but don’t fancy leaving Kennington for the madness of Oxford Street then fear not, we have suggestions for you.

Sally White are doing Christmas hampers containing six mince pies, a Christmas pudding, a Christmas cake loaf and a robin (not a real one) for £37. They’re open tomorrow and Tuesday daytime.

The Beefeater Gin Distillery’s visitor centre is open every day except Christmas Day and has an extensive gift shop for the patriotic gin lover in your life.

Windmill Flowers have a range of Christmas gifts for plant lovers, plus chocolates and toiletries, and they’re normally open on Christmas Eve although we haven’t checked that.

We buy loads of gifts from the Kennington Bookshop and their Twitter has lots of ideas for presents. If you want to avoid buying from Amazon, they can normally get any book in the next day, but you’ve missed the boat for that this Christmas so you’ll be limited to what they have instore. They also sell wrapping paper.

LASSCO is open until 5pm on December 23rd and they have gift ideas for here for under £300 (if that sounds expensive then bear in mind this is the shop where an antique bath could set you back the best part of £10k).

And in our rave review of Marcel & Sons, we barely mentioned that as well as serving delicious Mauritian street food, they double up as a showroom selling a range of interesting artisanal gifts on behalf of boutique start-ups. They’re open until 9pm tonight, Tuesday and Christmas Eve (they’re closed on Mondays).

These are their “qubes” – they have 48 of them – 40cm cubed shelf spaces available to rent from £10 a week:

They also have six cases for jewellery and other valuables:

Get them to give you some Mauritian biscuits with your purchase. They’re like mini sponge cakes:

Finally, if you’d like to give something to those less fortunate then get along to Waterloo Foodbank, at Lambeth Mission St Mary’s, 3-5 Lambeth Road, SE1 7DQ on Tuesday from 11am to 1pm. They’re looking for donations of in-date, non-perishable foods.

Good luck and have a happy Kennington Christmas.

Ice Skate Vauxhall – 2 for 1 tickets tonight

Posted on December 17, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

Vauxhall Spring Gardens has now reverted to its earlier name, Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, and this Christmas it’s starting to live up to its name again as it plays host to a big ice rink, Ice Skate Vauxhall:

When we went on a cold Sunday night it was a bit of a ghost town, but it has had a lot of press since then so might have started to fill up. Anyway, we used to skate at Somerset House most years but it has been too full in recent years to really enjoy the skating, so there’s something to be said for a modestly popular skating rink.

If you go tonight, December 17th, you can get two for one tickets by entering 241VX1 into the ‘promo code’ box when booking tickets at www.iceskatevauxhall.co.uk.

There is also the UK’s largest real Christmas tree maze, which costs £4.50 to enter, so we didn’t:

And there’s a bar with outdoor seating, selling much needed hot spiced cider and mulled wine:

There are various food options including a converted Routemaster bus selling fish and chips, and The Swing Grill selling toffee apples amongst other things:

It doesn’t get much more Christmas-y than that.

Kennington architecture features in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition again this year

Posted on August 10, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

Apartment tower, West Kennington, London by Keith Williams Architects. Behold those children transfixed by its beauty:

The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition is open for another week, until August 17th.

Here was Kennington’s contribution to last year’s exhibition, which is being built at present.

Kernel beer now available at your place

Posted on July 11, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

We love Kernel beer. It has only been around since 2009 but it has pretty much revolutionised London’s brewing scene in that time, inspiring other new breweries along the way. They mostly make pale ale, using different hops each week. And the beautifully designed label on each bottle names the hops contained within. So Kernel geeks like us end up buying the beer all year round just to find out how the Centennial hop tastes when combined with the Amarillo – very good by the way.

Check out their domination of Ratebeer’s list of the best beers brewed in England. You haven’t tried pale ale until you’ve tried Kernel.

Until recently, the only place you could buy Kernel in Kennington was Italo Deli, but now Hubbub (another of our favourite companies) have added Kernel as one of their shops. Hubbub is a food and drink delivery service like Ocado, but instead of getting all their products from supermarket warehouses, they get them from your local shops. So you can get your Kernel straight from the brewery in the same delivery as some cavolo nero from Ted’s Veg in Borough Market, some comté from Franklin’s Farm Shop in Dulwich, and some general smugness from L’Emporio Fine Foods.

Or, if you a fancy a Saturday morning excursion out of Kennington, you can visit the Kernel Brewery under a railway arch in nearby Bermondsey every Saturday from 9am to 2pm, and sample their latest brews on bierkeller-style seating. Grab a waffle from Waffle On at Maltby Street Market on your way home.

n.b. We have not been compensated for this post but we would like it to be known that we would basically do anything for a crate of Kernel – even be nice about Clapham.

Morrissey’s Kennington song

Posted on June 1, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

It samples the documentary We Are The North West Kennington Boys. It’s taken from the album West Kennington & I which is reissued tomorrow. Could Spring-Heeled Jim by Morrissey be the most Kennington song of all-time?

http://youtu.be/0AzZls49cts

new Lebanese deli on Kennington Lane

Posted on March 3, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

And the best restaurant in Kennington is… Not this, or not as far as we know – we’re announcing our no. 1 on Wednesday.

This is a new Lebanese delicatessen that has opened near Mimosa at the West Kennington end of Kennington Lane. Unlike Mimosa, it’s open seven days until 10pm. Or so it says on its sign, but when we tried yesterday afternoon, the door was locked and a young child was sat behind the counter. Nonetheless, we’re excited by the prospect of homemade Lebanese bread, humus and cakes, and fresh fruit and veg. Others may go for the halal meat (there was a chicken spit roasting in the doorway yesterday).

We are big fans of Lebanese food – Le Comptoir Libanais is the one chain restaurant that we would welcome to Kennington, but hopefully this will do in the meantime.

Has anyone been when it’s open? And does anyone know what it’s actually called?

Kennington Runoff

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

Category Archives: West Kennington