(+ One Sunday Roast)
Beza Vegan Ethiopian
The number eight spot has been procured by Ethiopian Vegan hotspot ‘Beza’ in Elephant and Castle. It was recently lauded by the Guardian as one of the best vegetarian restaurants in London, and a few weeks ago by the same publication as one of the best restaurants in the UK run by immigrants. The review below is from last spring but we went again last week and the standard remains. If you want to make a night of we suggest popping into the fun sports bar ‘Tap Inn’ to experience their complex and well selected range of beers and ciders. And yes, this is probably the first and last time the Runoff will ever recommend a sports bar, so truly something to tell your grandchildren about.
The jury is still out as to whether the mind bending juggernaut that is Elephant Park is actually in the Kennington Runoff catchment area (if you live there don’t get your hopes up). But for the purpose of this review lets just say it is. Beza Vegan Ethiopian started its local life as a pop up in Elephant and Castle shopping centre in 2016. It was one of the many establishments that were kicked out when it closed and it has certainly landed on its feet. It now has a spiffy new premises very close to the new ‘so hip it hurts’ dining area Sayer Street.
If you don’t know a great deal about Ethiopian food they make it easy for you as there is only one thing on the menu, and the very friendly Ethiopian staff can tell you all about it. The food is served on a giant platter and is intended to be eaten without cutlery by means of a glorious bread called injera. Injera has a slight tangy flavour to it and they will bring you as much as you want. On the platter we had red lentils with garlic, sautéed mushrooms, chickpeas, spinach, beetroot and cabbage cooked in a variety of ways. The heat level was moderate but if want to ramp it up we were given some condiments that would set your toenails alight, mitigated by free minty water. All extremely pleasing.
We went to Beza on a cold Saturday night but we were provided with little blankets to drape over ourselves. All in all we felt very healthy when we left, other than the bottle of wine that we managed to neck in half an hour. And at only £28 for two people it was certainly good on the wallet. They also serve an even larger (were talking car tyre size) portion for four people for £44! አስገራሚ!