Tag Archives: Sunday roasts

Ten Best Places to Eat in Greater Kennington

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+ One Sunday Roast

#8 The Jolly Gardeners

The number eight spot goes to the only pub in our countdown, The Jolly Gardeners in Vauxhall. The Gardeners sprang to life in 2021 and now occupies the same kitchens formerly used by a German themed pub, which we once correctly described as ‘food best enjoyed when you’re not entirely sober’. But fear not, the Gardeners boys and their sustainable and well sourced kitchen know what they’re doing. And it’s 50% vegan. 

The menu at the Gardeners changes periodically, but at the time of writing (March 2023) we’ve enjoyed a cauliflower wings (a bit of a staple), lightly grilled leek with almonds, and the breaded cod filet swimming in spinach cream sauce with kale. The format in this huge pub is that it is 50% is set out as a dining room with the other half as a pub, but food can be consumed in both. The pub also features an outside dining/drinking area that rather reminds us of a ski lodge or sauna. 

While it might have missed out on the top spot in terms of Sunday roasts, we can definitely recommend the Gardener roasts. As the food keeps coming it almost has an ‘all you can eat’ element to it. In the past we’ve enjoyed the silverside beef and Dorset lamb. Also keep your eagle eye out for their spicy peri peri fries and mustard green salad. On the drinks front, they work hard to source from local breweries such as Coalition or even closer ones from Brixton. 

The Gardeners guys also operate a zippy little sandwich place two doors down called Simply Bread. When asked if one of the sandwich makers is none other than Mick Hucknall himself, the 20 something employee replied with a perplexed stare. 

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Lightnin’ Hot Things @ Orbit

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We recently paid a visit to Greater Kennington’s (Walworth) own local brewery ‘Orbit’ on a hot sunny day to inspect their Sunday roast offerings. The roast and indeed all the food on offer at Orbit are provided by the chefs of ‘Lightnin Hot Things’ (below) who run a very experimental kitchen in one corner of the brewery. It’s actually quite remarkable that they produce such a range of food in such a proscribed space.  We sampled some of their other offerings a few months ago and you can read about them and the beers here. 

There were four of us on our visit but it was almost three, as Doug from IT was pretty sure the guy in the middle of this photo was the same person who mugged him in Soho in 2018. When we convinced him that this was pretty unlikely we had enough people to enjoy a variety of the roasts on offer.  Our booked table was initially outside, but when we pointed out that we’d rather not end our meal resembling their acclaimed pickled beetroot, the chipper barman moved us indoors and with its makeshift plywood seating created a distinct elbows on tables experience. 

Doug opted for the lamb shoulder which was generous, soft, flavourful and dolloped with mint sauce. All roasts come with an enormous Yorkshire pudding, and owing to its juicy and crispy quality it hadn’t been anywhere near Aunt Bessie. Other sides were great too – its always good to see Savoy cabbage, tasty roast carrots too and caramelised onions on a plate. And the confit garlic was a nice surprise touch. 

  • Chicken
  • Beef
  • Lamb

Your scribe indulged in the herb fed chicken topped with two chunks of chicken crackling. The chicken was moist and bountiful- just about cooked perfectly.  From the gravy I received a distinct hit of rosemary and garlic,  and  given its meaty and flavourful nature obviously owed none of its heritage to Bisto and a kettle. The sides were the same as Doug’s with the addition of what seemed like a very nutty butter puree. Another of our party had the rump of beef roast, which had obviously been slow cooked and melted in the mouth. Overall these were well worth the £18.50 price. 

If you don’t fancy the Sunday roasts, the Lightnin’ Hot Things boys offer up some pretty avant garde fair during the week such as octopus salad and curried coconut. We’ve commented on the beers in previous posts, but as its summer the current favourite at the moment is, hang on……tzatziki flavoured beer. We tried some and it had zesty, cucumber notes and it rather reminded us of cider. With this observation the chipper barman became slightly less chipper, saying ‘no, this is not cider’. 

The Best Sunday Roast in Greater Kennington

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24 THE OVAL

We would like to take a pause from the nail biting and profoundly moving Top 10 list to announce that the best Sunday Roast in Greater Kennington can be found at the very cheffy ’24 The Oval’. The runner up is new kid on the Vauxhall block ‘Jolly Gardeners’ which almost knocked off ’24’ for reasons petulantly outlined at the end of this post. 

What immediately strikes you about 24 is that it is truly a temple to good food and quality ingredients. The wait staff know about the food they’re serving, and the open kitchen is a symbol of their honest approach to food. During lockdown, 24 transformed itself into a farm shop with a sideline in craft bottled beers. We were very pleased to see that this little tradition continues selling everything from Cava to carrots. 

As an ‘amuse-bouche’ each table of two is served with four miniature Yorkies served with a delicious gravy probably made with beef drippings (vegan options abound, however). My dining partner and Sunday Roast connoisseur had the pork belly which was generous and nicely soft and sticky in all the right places. Your scribe had the lamb and the shoulder was served shredded, with the leg served in pink and fatty strips.  As it is one of their specialities, the Yorkshire puddings were large and just the right side of crispy. Both roasts were served with more hearty gravy served from a saucepan.  Also evidenced was pea puree with a pleasing consistency not unlike that of baby food. 

What strikes you about 24 is that they have none of that ‘small sharing plates’ BS.  The real star of the show here is the very well cooked veg. In addition to those served with the roast, you are presented with so many additional veg items that they almost fall off the table. This included cauliflower cheese and roast potatoes which were perfectly crispy but with a soft centre. The carrots possessed an intense roasted flavour and savoy cabbage also popped in for a visit. An unexpected mystery guest for us were Jerusalem artichokes. The mains run between £19 and £23 which ain’t cheap, but we feel is worth it. 

24, if you are a KR reader (and if not you’re really missing out) we need to talk about something. You stand guilty of committing a crime pervasive in London restaurants at the moment. Namely, selling hugely overpriced wine. Your cheapest bottle is a not very cheap £29, which was almost 300% above the retail price. We are letting you off the hook as times have been tough but we’re watching you *wags finger*! Otherwise you make a mighty fine roast and you know it.