Tag Archives: Bonnington Cafe

Christmas Fun in Bonnington Square

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Yes, dear readers, we are notifying you of two Christmassy happenings in a row. We only have the press release to go by, but we are all invited to ‘Christmas at Italo’, a celebration sponsored by Italo Vauxhall in Bonnington Square. For those not in the know, Italo is a locally owned, pint sized delight of a deli, sandwich and Italian food shop. On Wednesday it will be open until 20:00.

From Italo – 

‘On Wednesday 21st December, Winter Solstice, there is a big local party. Starting at 4pm with country dancing in St Annes Hall, on the corner of Vauxhall Grove and Harleyford Road, 2 minutes walk from the shop. Then there will be the usual solstice pagan carols outside the shop, officiated by our local pagan priest David Spofforth, from 6.30… with mulled wine. Then there is a ‘Bring Food (Vegan and Vegetarian only) and Drinks to share” community party in the Bonnington Centre. Then upstairs at the Bonnington Centre. And everyone is very welcome to come, and bring many family and friends…’

We’re acutely aware of the renegade tendency of Runoff readers, so we implore you to respect the solstice, pagan and vegetarian nature of this event. To put it bluntly,  don’t pitch up in a nun’s habit with a giant gravy double bucket from the new KFC in Vauxhall.   We will certainly plan to abide by this. 

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Restaurants in your Home

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One silver lining of not being able to eat out much in Greater Kennington in 2020 is that you didn’t miss a great deal. Due to restaurants being closed there haven’t been any ‘breakout’ cuisines such as, for instance, a CBD infused poke bowl doughnut ramen taco with a Korean twist. But as 2021 dawns you may nevertheless be yearning for restaurant food that is a calibre apart from the standard takeaway, and we’re here to help. 

A good place to start is with our ‘Top Ten Best Places to Eat in Greater Kennington’ list from March 2020. A few places from the list are remaining shut for the time being, but others have their kitchens open and they need our business or they’ll close forever. Or worse, become estate agents.  Each of them is open for collection, and most also use those home delivery companies which are evil but paradoxically manage to keep us safe.  We hope you find this useful…..

Adulis – This glorious Eritrean in Oval nabbed the top spot in March and they are now open. Available on Deliveroo.

Theos – The best pizzas in Greater Kennington grabbed our number two in March. Available on Deliveroo – Keep an eye on their Instagram for specials.

Prince of Wales – Open for pre order drinks only on 020 7735 9916. This explains the reemergence of people walking around Kennington Cross with milk containers containing what at first looks like pee.  

The Coriander – The best Indian in Greater Kennington grabbed our number four in March.  Available on Just – Eat 

Daebak  –  The quirky Korean in Vauxhall snatched our number five slot in March.  Available on Deliveroo

Kuma  – The Korean/Japanese in Kennington Cross dropped by to visit number 6 in March. Available on Just – Eat 

Taro – The real deal in Japanese canteen food joint devoured our number seven in March. Available on Ubereats and Deliveroo

The critically acclaimed restaurant ‘Louie Louie’ in Walworth Road has just gone vegan and is available for takeway and delivery. And they even deliver cocktails (we’re not sure how this works exactly, but it sounds fun).  Available on Deliveroo

Local institution Bonnington Café in Vauxhall will be cooking again next week, and are open for collection. 

Ok, we’ll throw one takeaway into the mix. Also in Walworth Road is the delicious and slightly bonkers ‘Shawarma Hut’ (below). Picture multiple swirling doners set to house music. We think it’s the best shawrma/kebabs around by a mile and they make their own bread and falafel on site. Available for takeaway. Mexican kebab, anyone?

The top ten best restaurants in Kennington – no. 4 – Bonnington Café

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Positives: We were recently asked to recommend places for a group of Spanish art students to go when visiting London and Bonnington Café was the only place on our list. It’s off Bonnington Square, a magical, unique place which is surely the crowning achievement of the squatting movement in London (the café was originally a communal kitchen for the squatters, many of whom didn’t have functioning kitchens of their own). The food is crazy cheap and it’s BYOB. It has always been vegetarian and nowadays seems to be vegan as well. Best of all is the atmosphere – never not joyous.

Bonnington Square Cafe - kenningtonrunoff.com

Negatives: The chefs and waiters are keen amateurs on a rota so don’t expect fine dining, but do expect wholesome, tasty vegan food, generally served very quickly if rather eccentrically at times. The café was briefly “threatened with closure” but like 6 Music, this only served to make it stronger. Viva Bonnington Café!

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

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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

Bonnington Square Cafe - kenningtonrunoff.com

Come back next Sunday to find out the number six.

The top ten best restaurants in Kennington – numbers 10 to 8

The votes have been ignored counted, so now we begin our countdown of the top ten restaurants in Kennington:

10. Mamuśka
pros: it’s great fun and cheap
cons: Polish milk bar food can be somewhat utilitarian
hygiene rating: 5

9. Gandhi’s
There are two renowned curry houses in Kennington – Gandhi’s and the Kennington Tandoori. Both do good quality food but we prefer Gandhi’s for their vegetable thali and their social media strategy (which is non-existent so preferable to Kennington Tandoori’s).
pros: you might see someone famous
cons: it will probably be a senior politician or Professor Green
Gandhi’s hygiene rating: 4
KT hygiene rating: 5

8. Bonnington Cafe
pros: this would be no. 1 for atmosphere
cons: the vegetarian and vegan food is inevitably hit and miss due to the rota of volunteer chefs
hygiene rating: 3

Bonnington Square Cafe - kenningtonrunoff.com

Bonnington Cafe

Bonnington Cafe has been a mainstay of Bonnington Square since the squatters moved in in the early 1980s. At that time, many of the houses didn’t have functioning kitchens, so members of the community took turns to cook for each other in the communal cafe, using ingredients either bought from or scavenged from the nearby Covent Garden food market.

Bonnington Square Cafe - kenningtonrunoff.com

The cafe still operates in this way, run as a co-operative, with a different chef cooking every day, but it’s now open the wider public as well, and it’s a truly magical place to spend an evening. Needless to say, the food can be a little hit and miss depending who’s cooking, and there are generally just two choices of starter, main course, and dessert, all vegetarian and some vegan. But the food is cheap, it’s BYOB with no corkage charge, and the atmosphere is invariably great, with candles, occasional live music, a wood fire on cold nights, and above all, a real sense of community (the cafe doubles as a community centre). Just don’t ask for the “special stuff”.

Here’s a video about the Bonnington Square squatters, including plenty about the cafe (thanks to @taxbod for the link):