Kennington Tandoori v. Ghandis?

Posted on October 17, 2023 by Kennington Runoff

The lively debate throughout Runoff Towers is frequently ‘when in Kennington Cross is it Kennington Tandoori or Ghandi’s’? While we do enjoy the retro kitchness of Ghandis with window photos of celebrities from a different era (Richard! Judy!), we equally appreciate the low lights, dark wood and high server to diner ratio on offer at KT. But we’re here for the food, so purely for our Top Ten list © research purposes, we recently paid KT a long overdue visit.

New recruit Gaz from the tech team chose the biryani for his mains and was pleased to see this arrive with an intact thin pastry top. Keen to impart knowledge in the real world, he noted that the pasty wasn’t really for eating (although can be) but instead for sealing the flavour during a gentle cooking process, giving it a super delicious taste. Gaz opted for the lamb version (chicken or vegetable also available). As his mouth was full of rice and Cobra beer, he proffered a thumbs up to the generous chunks of lamb in amongst the rice, vegetables and spices. When he was able to speak Gaz encouraged folks to add a serving of dahl for that rice-and-lentil magic.

Your scribe opted for the Bombay parsi chicken dansak. It was a spicy and sweet balanced chicken, cooked very slowly and mixed with jaggery (Indian cane sugar), lentils, garlic, roasted cumin and sprinkled with kaffir lime leaves. A good degree of spice warmth came through as did the tang of yoghurt for a soft, fragrant dish. Overall very warming and pleasing for a rainy autumnal evening. And we started the affair with chicken stuffed momos. As they are from Nepal they have nothing to do with Indian but as what KT serves is north Indian food we thought ‘close enough’. And Gaz was in agreement as he was getting a free meal out of the equation.

As frequent readers are aware we often complain about the (first world problem alert) extortionate price of wine in restaurants. At KT you can bring your own for a £10 corkage fee, which isn’t great but if you can stand a £6 bottle from Tesco you’ll find yourself quids in. As for the KT versus Ghandi’s debate, in order to ascertain our pick we’re afraid you’ll need to wait until our highly subjective yet totally scientific Top Ten list © is unveiled in February.

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Kennington Tandoori

Posted on December 8, 2021 by Kennington Runoff

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.

St. Anselm’s Festival

Posted on September 6, 2021 by Kennington Runoff

We don’t have a great degree of inside intel on the St. Anselm’s Festival, but we are aware that it is this Saturday, 11 September, in Cleaver Square. If it is the new iteration of the Cleaver Square Festival, and we think it is, then it’s certainly a highlight on the Greater Kennington social calendar. Recently this magical and hilarious festival has transported us to some mythical location 200 miles and 20 years from from Greater Kennington. A tipsy Vicar! A tombola! A wholly inappropriate Punch and Judy show! Kate Hoey giving out Brexit Flyers! Posh dudes in Barbour jackets slurring into their fifth Pimms!

But aside from all the side splitting antics outlined above, it looks like the day will feature loads of great stuff for kids, a dog show, music and good food. But most importantly, it will likely feature local small businesses and people selling their wares (Kennington Tandoori and Bee Urban usually pop over) and people selling homemade cakes and pies. The Festival is from 12 to 4, and there is a Festival church service from 10 to 11 at St. Anselm’s itself with refreshments (probably not involving Pimms, but one lives in hope).

The top ten best restaurants in Kennington – no. 9 – Gandhi’s

Posted on February 18, 2019 by Kennington Runoff

Positives: Kennington Tandoori gets most of the press, but its problems with customer service linger despite the business being handed on from one generation to the next. What edges it for us is Gandhi’s extraordinarily cheap vegetable thali and particularly the dal – simply the best we’ve ever had. They don’t do the thali for takeaway but if you ask them nicely, they might.

Negatives: Kennington Tandoori has nicer premises, especially in summer when its front can be opened. If you want fancy and modern and you don’t mind playing by their rules, go to the KT. Gandhi’s is more of a traditional curry house and menu.

Kennington Tandoori weekend breakfast & brunch

Posted on February 8, 2016 by Kennington Runoff

The Kennington brunch revolution continues! As of the weekend just gone, Kennington’s finest Indian restaurant Kennington Tandoori is serving breakfast and brunch from 9am to 4pm every Saturday and Sunday.

Naturally we were there on the inaugural day to see where the KT ranks in the league of Kennington brunches, and the answer could be straight in at number one. If we compare it to our previous favourite The Tommyfield, the food is as good – maybe better – and the menu is longer and more adventurous. It’s a “white linen” brunch which feels very civilised, and the room smells nicer than the Tommyfield.

KT offer three items under “fruits, grains and seeds” – granola with yoghurt, passion fruit coulis, plum compote and honey for £7.95, Madagascan vanilla porridge with mixed berries and a side of honey, also for £7.95, and these moist, flawless blueberry pancakes with caramelised bananas and maple syrup for £8.95:

The Indian influence shows through more in the mains, which range in price from a paneer salad for £7.95, up to black truffle folded eggs with wild mushrooms on sour dough for £14.95. More unusual options include The KT Octopus Temptation (we weren’t tempted) and Lamb Shank Nihari (we were very tempted but managed to resist for now). They also offer Eggs Florentine and Royale, a beefburger, and this avocado and sourdough toast with poached egg, feta cheese and KT tomato salsa for £10.95:

Full menu here, which says “We’ve loads of ideas for future brunches. Why not tell us yours?” via their Facebook or Twitter. As KT are renowned for their love of feedback, there is just one thing we’d change – they should serve what is surely the ultimate Indian breakfast drink – mango lassi.

Kennington Tandoori is at 313 Kennington Rd, London SE11 4QE.

The top ten restaurants in Kennington – those that didn’t quite make it

Posted on June 7, 2015 by Kennington Runoff

Mamuśka slipped out of our top ten this year as we have had occasional stodgy dishes there, but those dishes may well have been authentically Polish, and if you’ve never been, you really should go for the experience and the atmosphere.

Emanuel also has a great atmosphere and feels authentically Peruvian – maybe a a bit too authentic at times.

We’re reasonably regular visitors to Amici, at the junction of Windmill Row and Kennington Lane, which is a decent, friendly Italian. They have outdoor seating in the courtyard which is great when the weather’s good. To us Amici represents the old Kennington where the likes of the Duchy Arms, Brunswick House and Doost (from the same owners as Amici) represent the new, but long may it last.

We have a soft spot for Brasserie Toulouse Lautrec and we’re grateful there is live music (mostly jazz) in Kennington every night, but we’re bigger fans of their brunch than their bistro evening menu.

The food at Kennington Tandoori is a cut above your average curry house, and probably marginally better than Gandhi’s (who are also very good and do a great value vegetable thali). KT have nice bright premises with a front that opens onto the street – pleasant in the summer months. But we’ve talked before about their “customer is always wrong” attitude. We had another run in with them this year where we complained, they rather aggressively told us we were wrong, so we provided proof to back up our complaint, which was met with silence. We don’t want to give any more details for fear of being banned. And it’s not just us – see their Tripadvisor page for some real pearls.

Anyway, we’d love to see all these restaurants burst into the top ten next year, and would welcome suggestions of any we’ve missed.

The Top Ten Best Restaurants in Kennington: 2015

Posted on March 26, 2015 by Kennington Runoff

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

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

Posted on February 23, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

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

Kennington curry houses

Posted on September 6, 2013 by Kennington Runoff

We can highly recommend two curry houses just outside the borders of West Kennington: Mumbai Delight on South Lambeth Road which makes a point of using natural ingredients and has a good vegetarian selection, and Hot Stuff on Wilcox Road, a family-run, BYOB restaurant that gets very busy thanks to the reputation of its food and its low prices.

Kennington itself has two renowned curry houses: Kennington Tandoori and Gandhi’s. Both trumpet their celebrity fans. Gandhi’s displays Seb Coe, Richard & Judy (whose Channel 4 show used to be filmed in Kennington), regular Kennington Oval visitor John Major, Kennington residents Ken Clarke and Jack Straw, former Kennington resident Geoff Hoon, Gordon Brown, Jerry Springer, Neil and Christine Hamilton, and a former prime minister of Bangladesh in its window.

Kennington Tandoori has a more discreet rotating selection featuring Matt Lucas, Jon Bercow and various cricket players. The whole front of the restaurant opens up which is welcome on a warm evening. And the owner responds to criticism on TripAdvisor which makes for an interesting read.

A plot to oust Gordon Brown as prime minister is believed to have been hatched by Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt in a private room at Gandhi’s, which perhaps inspired its new colour scheme of black and blood red, not to mention the LOOK RIGHT sign on the pavement outside.

Kennington Runoff

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

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