Tag Archives: Kennington

Let’s Get Moving!

`Here in the office we’re always saying to one another ‘wow, how can we all stay so thin when we’re eating out ALL THE TIME’? Well, it’s finally caught up with us, and post holidays we’re all about as wide as a swollen pigeon and sweating like we just stumbled out of Ministry of Sound at 6:00am. So we are determined to solve this dietary dilemma by going on a series of healthy walks around our anointed shire, and maybe you can as well. We hope you find our little guide to local walks healthy both for your backside and your brain.

Kennington General (3 ½ miles. This is a more general walk and is perfect if you are new to the area and want to know more about Kennington, Vauxhall and Oval).

A Chaplin in Kennington Walk (2 miles, ends Waterloo)

Through Vauxhall and Pimlico (4 miles, and it shockingly takes you north of the river).

A Walworth Walk (4 miles. A bit confusing but worth it)

A Lambeth Walk (4 ½ miles. This is more Waterloo but you’re allowed out of Kennington if you ask nicely)

A Green Lambeth Walk (This is in six sections and the Greater Kennington element starts at the Imperial War Museum in section three).

And this probably not the MOST appropriate time to post this, but our ’10 Best Restaurants in Greater Kennington’ countdown starts next month!

Rare Burger Co

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The Hangout cafe was the previous occupant of this site (on Kennington Green at 344 Kennington Road, next to Papa John’s), which was derelict for years prior to that. Although The Hangout seemed fairly popular, we weren’t entirely surprised when it closed down as the manager and the chef were having a stand-up row throughout our visit, and when our food eventually arrived, we could understand why.

Rare Burger Co outdoor seating - kenningtonrunoff.com

The new arrival is Rare Burger Co. which very much looks like a chain-in-waiting in the vein of Honest Burger et al. But haven’t we already passed peak gourmet burger in London? Quite possibly, but whether Rare Burger Co. turns into a successful chain or not, we’re tipping the Kennington branch to last a good while.

Rare Burger Co counter - kenningtonrunoff.com

First of all, there’s nothing like this in the area – Dirty Burger is the closest thing, but that’s more of a shack in the middle of a gyratory, and we think we’re right in saying that Black Acorn at Artworks is no more.

Rare Burger interior - kenningtonrunoff.com

Rare Burger’s proprietor is friendly and modest, telling us they want to perfect what they do before doing any marketing. They’ve done a good job on the interior and branding.

walls of Rare Burger Co - kenningtonrunoff.com

Most importantly their burgers are great. The shrimp burger was seriously indulgent for £8.80, and this beetroot burger (£7) was delicious and moist.

Beetroot burger at Rare Burger Co - kenningtonrunoff.com

We didn’t stay for dessert but people on Facebook are raving about their cheesecake (£3.50). We’ll be back there soon to give it a try.

They also serve brunch options like avocado on sourdough and various eggs options.

Address: Rare Burger Co, 344 Kennington Road, London SE11 4LD.

two of Kennington’s finest institutions are under threat

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Both of these institutions are magical, unique and irreplaceable. The area will be much worse off without them.

See our original piece about the Bonnington Cafe here.

Bonnington Square Cafe - kenningtonrunoff.com

See our original piece about the Cinema Museum here.

The bar and shop at the Cinema Museum - kenningtonrunoff.com

Yoga at The Tommyfield

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The Tommyfield has cranked its boutique hotel credentials up a notch with an intimate in-house yoga session every Monday evening from local teacher Tim Mosley.

Tim offers a dynamic vinyasa flow class in the first floor Master Room. It’s a nice, calm space, usually used for the ABC comedy night or private events. You may even find a sprinkle of 40th birthday party confetti alongside your mat as a neat reminder of why you’re there in the first place. We have been along a couple of times and Tim is attentive and will provide a quick head massage at the end of the class if he thinks you’ve been spending too long at the blogging coalface.

Kennington is pretty well-served for yoga, including long-standing favourite Yogabelle at the RIBA Award-winning Siobhan Davies Studios, and Kennington Osteopaths for a gentler class (that is a bit of a tight squeeze – not one for the claustrophobic yogi).

yoga

Yoga @ The Tommyfield

Every Monday 6.30-7.45 pm

Limited mats available, £10 per class

Tim Mosley is also available for private lessons.

The Top Ten Best Restaurants in Kennington – no. 2 – The Duchy Arms

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Positives: Some of the best pub food around, cooked by Prince Charles’s former chef. Great, hand cut chips. Get in quick before the hordes discover it.

Negatives: If you’re looking for a light bite, you’ve come to the wrong place. This is their fish pie for two:

Hygiene rating: TBC

Address: 63 Sancroft Street, London SE11 5UG

Come back next Sunday to find out the number 1.

The Boule-In

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Brocket Gallery now occupies the whole of The Boule-In’s site and Peter and Cathy are focusing on their original Suffolk business.

We’re starting to think we can make things happen in Kennington just by writing down our wishes and posting them on the internet. When works started at the site of the former ASM Music shop at the junction of Windmill Row and Kennington Road, we asked on Twitter what it was to become and Kennington’s leading celebrity tailor Earl of Bedlam replied “an architect”. We responded “Not a lifestyle boutique then?”. Pure wishful thinking – but here’s how it came true.

Cathy and Peter Bullen are the couple behind Kennington’s most exciting new shop, The Boule-In. Having lived in Provence for a spell, Cathy started selling French antiques and vintage goods from her barn and garden in Bildeston, Suffolk in 2011.

So how did they end up opening their second shop in Kennington? Their artist son Jack studied at Kennington’s own City & Guilds. Cathy and Peter have a flat in South Kennington and were having a coffee in Sally White (where else?) while pondering how to secure permanent premises for Brocket, Jack and his partner Lizzie’s contemporary art gallery which had been temporarily located above The Three Stags. They looked straight in front of them and saw the former music shop being converted, so crossed the road and met the owner who happened to be there supervising the works.

Our friends at Earl of Bedlam were right – it was supposed to be an architect’s office, but that wasn’t permitted under planning regulations, so Peter and Cathy snapped up the ground floor for The Boule-In, and they’re currently converting the basement for Brocket’s gallery (watch this space for more on that once it has opened).

Back to The Boule-In. Cathy and Peter travel to France regularly and source all their stock over there – mostly vintage collectables, homewares and textiles from France, but some from Italy and beyond.

~~The prices are a fraction of what you’d pay at LASSCO, and the Kennington shop has already been so successful that they’ve had to head back to France and restock.~~

~~They’re open Tuesday to Saturday from 10am till 6pm. If you go on a Saturday you’ll probably find Peter and Cathy themselves there and keen to chat – they are very friendly.~~

As our Central Kennington predictions for 2015 stated, we’re anticipating “The Boule-In Effect” taking hold in Windmill Row and its surrounds, with a number of ever-so-tasteful boutiques opening up in the coming months, diluting the high concentration of estate agents that dominate Kennington Cross. We can’t wait.

our central Kennington predictions for 2015

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The Boule-In, the new French vintage homewares boutique at the junction of Kennington Road and Windmill Row, will be a great success. Watch this space for more on this.

“The Boule-In Effect” will see further exciting boutiques opening up in central Kennington, joining Sally White, Kennington Bookshop and Windmill Flowers. Windmill Row will become the new Redchurch Street.

Lambeth Council will finally get their way and kill the Tree of Heaven behind Durning Library, which will help the Green Party in their surge across Lambeth (OK, not everyone agrees about the tree’s heavenly properties, but it’s called the Tree of Heaven – let it be, for heaven’s sake).

Property prices across Kennington will continue to outperform other parts of London. ~~Despite this, no new estate agents will open in Kennington~~. Yet another estate agent will open on Kennington Road – Lauristons is coming soon – grrr.

2015 will see the return of Kennington’s own Florence Welch. She will be sampled by Rihanna and spotted in Sally White. Will she release a new album? Never mind that – the question on everyone’s lips is when will she start her guest column for Kennington Runoff?

Florence Welch at South London Pacific

Check back tomorrow evening for our predictions for North and East Kennington (formerly known as Elephant & Castle and Walworth).

Russell Brand tours Kennington

Another of our Kennington predictions for 2014 comes true – Russell Brand tours Kennington from 3 minutes 30 in this video:

Invader in Kennington

Is this a genuine Invader piece above an estate agent at Kennington Cross?

How long has it been there?

Some kind of trailer for the Damien Hirst Gallery perhaps?

And how about this huge one above the Windmill Pub in North West Kennington, just behind Albert Embankment?

The Dog House’s hay bales

~~We have been critical of The Dog House under its new management so we thought we should point out one thing they’ve got magnificently right for summer: hay bales!~~ The hay bales have disappeared since we wrote this post. Ho hum.