Surreptitiously observing Kennington, including the suburbs Vauxhall, Oval, Walworth, and Elephant since 2012. We're fiercely independent and never boring.
In our furious pursuit of gastronomic excellence ahead of our Top 10 Best Places to Eat in February, we’ve decided to visit a fast food joint in Elephant and Castle. Filishack is a Filipino street food outfit in Sayer St. The tale begins with two brothers and a food truck situated outside Peckham library in 2014. After seven years of serving Fili burritos to passing pedestrians they opened their first bricks and mortar in 2021 followed our branch in 2024. 2025 has even seen them opening at White City, which we hear is a shopping mall. Or something.
Joining us was our in house Ombudsman Diane, who selected a burrito on the basis that she enjoys Mexican food and wanted to see if the Filipino take on a burrito was any different. Diane proclaimed regally, after her signature hair flick, “while this conforms approximately to the size and shape of a Chipotle style mega-burrito (burritos are not a particularly Mexican thing but Diane didn’t need to know this), this Filipino burrito has a distinctly different flavour profile”. Diane put this down to her choice of chicken adobo filling. Generous chicken thigh pieces were smothered in a prolific spicy sauce with a slight vinegar and soy kick. If that sounds odd, it’s actually delicious. Some salad and garlic rice filled out the burrito but it was the abundant chicken adobo that dominated.
Your scribe opted for the grilled chicken inasal ricebox. Inasal is a Filipino chicken that’s been marinated for hours giving it a distinct orange hue and a citrussy, almost lemongrass hit. You can choose from a range of salad additions including onion, cucumber, and lettuce. And of course the sauce on top is king, and a yougurt/garlic was chosen. Everything mixed together swimmingly and was almost too much to consume. At £7.95 for a medium box or burrito, this is very reasonable. Going for the large is unnecessary unless you haven’t eaten in a couple of days or have a tapeworm. And if you want to research ‘inasal’ by Googling, try to be VERY careful how you spell ‘inasal’ as the results might be more than you bargained for.
Looking into our cracked Observer crystal ball, we have a feeling that once the shopping centre opens the rents in Sayer Street with skyrocket, pricing out small businesses such as Filishack. But of course, if having two outlets of ‘Joe and the Juice’ in the same street is your vision of paradise then you might just be in luck.
It’s the weekend after Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring as they’ve had too many Ferrero Roche, Lambrini, and M&S mini chorizo bites. Well were going to get that metabolism going again by taking a stroll down the fascinating Renfew Road on the Kennington/Elephant border. Care to join us?
On the eastern side of Renfrew Road there remains a cluster of buildings which reflect a variety of life in our patch in the late 1800’s. The first offering off Kennington Lane is the Grade II listed old fire station. Built in 1868, the station served an area which was by that time bursting with industries that needed fires, such as kilns. In an era before IPhone 17’s and Snapchat, a turret was the quickest way to detect a local flame and it still exists. Although expanded in 1897, by 1920 there must have been a few too many fires in Greater Kennington as it was abandoned and used by the Guardians for the Poor in St. Mary’s Parish. Presumably to assist those who had been turfed out of the recently closed Workhouse next door (we’ll get to that).
Next we move merrily along to Lambeth Magistrates’ Court, which from 1978 has been home to Jamyang London Buddhist Centre. Built in 1869, it’s also Grade II listed, designed in the Gothic Revival style, and is the earliest surviving example of a Criminal Magistrates Court in London. In the 1960’s it was converted to a maximum security court for special remands, including IRA terrorists, the Kray twins, and members of the gang who seized the Iranian Embassy. If you look closely you can still see bars on some of the windows (not used for unruly Buddhists). Some might recall that in 2021 part of the courthouse housed a lovely café owned by the folks who run Little Louie in Elephant Park. We reviewed glowingly it in 2021 and it then promptly closed. We like to call this the ‘Observer effect’.
Moving on, behind the Courthouse we see the remains of the once mighty Lambeth Workhouse. It moved to Renfew Road in 1871 and was once the home of Charlie Chaplin and his mum. The place was a refuge, especially for women, and in spite of its reputation provided healthcare and job training. However, many tasks were degrading and intended to get people out of the Workhouse as quickly as possible. The former Governor’s house remains and is now home to the delightful Cinema Museum. The water tower which remains was built because such institutions needed water storage in the event of fire. Its unrecorded how the poor firemen next door felt about this. The tower undertook a bonkers renovation in 2012, and was featured on Grand Designs. In the video the new owner speaks lovingly about jumping off the building if it doesn’t work. We would too if we had to walk up 100 feet to get to our living room. For a deeper dive into the Workhouse we wrote about it in 2019.
This is not the actual house, just A house in Vauxhall
Vauxhall of the 1880’s was a functional and dirty place; where London relegated the things it didn’t want but nevertheless needed. This included timber wharves, vinegar works, potteries, breweries, and lead works. In a true example of history repeating, Vauxhall is once again filled with things it doesn’t need in the guise of £15,000,000 flats, but we digress. And a dark and wet Vauxhall in 1880 is the perfect guise for a Christmas ghost story. We bring you The Old House in Vauxhall Walk.
For those of you who prefer your ghost stories on the move, it’s also on Spotify. For a more immersive experience, listen to it while walking in front of Fire nightclub in Vauxhall at closing time, where you can also see hallucinating, ghostly figures emerging and stumbling into the night. And we hope your Christmas is more prosperous than ours, as when we inquired about our Christmas bonus, head of Finance Steve lobbed a handful of Celebrations into our cubicle and proclaimed ‘there’s your bonus’.
Orchestral music is often inaccessible to many people for a variety of reasons, but this weekend we’re about to be blessed yet again in the Brandon and China Walk estates for Christmassy concerts which are free and open for everyone (that means you)!
Brixton Chamber Orchestra is a diverse group of 25 Brixton based instrumentalists who provide and create music across a range of genres including…wait for it….classical, disco, gospel, grime, rap, swing, pop, drum & bass and others, and often have guest vocalists. They usually ply their trade in community halls and churches in Brixton, but two times a year they hoist their trumpets northward to grace our soil.
Funded by Arts Council England and, surprisingly, by Lambeth Council, BCO is in the midst of a Christmas estates tour of 11 estates in Lambeth. They will be gracing us with their presence on Saturday at Jack Hobbs Hall in Brandon Estate (those large buildings at the back of Kennington Park) and inside Chandler Hall in Lambeth Walk.
BRANDON ESTATE Sat 20th December @ 3:00 PM Jack Hobbs Club Hall Maddock Way, London SE17 3NH
CHINA WALK ESTATE Sat 20TH December @ 7:00 PM Chandler Hall 15 Lambeth Walk, London SE11 6DU
These events are indoors but might be chilly so dress accordingly and buy your warming tipple from a local corner shop.
We attended this event in 2023 and it was great fun. Each show is unique and they’ve been known to feature guests musicians. They also encourage folks to get up and sing along, which should be made easier with that bottle you bought from the offie. And if this is sounding like a kids event, trust us it isn’t. Not that there is anything wrong with kids, as a few Observer staff were once kids themselves. If you can’t make it or shockingly don’t live in Greater Kennington there are more dates on their website.
Did we mention it’s free? Did we add that we love free? The clip below is the streetband gigging around Brixton recently, which we equally love.
If you like carols, or indeed if your name is Carol, you’ll be please to know that the annual Cleaver Square ‘Carols in the Square’ takes place this Tuesday (16th) from 19:00 and the best part is that you don’t even have to live in Cleaver Square to take part! Or even look like you live in Cleaver Square. It is open to everyone and has raised over £10,000 over the years for local charities, so bring a few extra pounds if you can, but they also have a card reader. Also bring your mug to save the hard working volunteers a bit of time.
We attended the Carols last year and it was great fun. We were treated to homemade mince pies, mulled wine, and sang along with the lovely Fever Pitch choir, who will be performing at 19:30. One of the traditions at the Cleaver Christmas Carols is funny hats. We’ve used funny hats and glasses to deflect from the tedium and underpayment of Observer life for years, so you can imagine we’ve accumulated quite a few. Office staff will be sporting these on the night so good luck spotting us. If you’re struggling locate the team, one of the hats retains bloodstains from last week’s Christmas ‘do when Phil from accounts face planted in Kennington Lane after downing five Spicy Palomas.
Before we commence our mega mix of how you can buy gifts for people you love/put up with this Christmas, let’s think about the Greater Kenningtonians out there who are struggling to put food on the table in these difficult times. This year we’re again supporting the Secret Santa campaign run by our friends over at the Kennington Association. Last year KA raised funds to give shopping vouchers to 140 local households, with the families chosen by local early needs professionals. To find out more and to donate, click here. If you like the more hands on approach, Tesco in Kennington Lane has food and collection boxes located handily next to the exit.
FOOD AND DRINK
Italo Vauxhall and Nosh at Marcellos (formerly Mimi’s Deli) both have a range of Italian foodie gift ideas including wines, beers, spices, panettone (that’s Italian for ‘stale cake’), oils, spirits, cheeses and even posh sauces. Mimi’s and Italo also can concoct a mean Italian lunch if you’re shopping feet get tired. Mimi’s also do custom made hampers. As you can see below, both joints are rammed with goodies.
Oval Farmer’s Market Ever thought about buying an edible Christmas gift from our own beloved country market? They stock many things that won’t perish under the tree such as chorizo, chocolates and wine. We’re also concerned that the Market is kind of dying and we need to prevent this. You have two Saturdays before Christmas!
Beefeater Gin Distillery has a lovely but totally deserted gift shop offering unusual, limited run gins and gin accessories. You can also buy a gift voucher to tour the distillery (we can confirm it’s great fun). Perfect for your loved one who likes a nice holiday tipple or to get your annoying uncle Fred to nod off before the turkey is served. We understand Beefeater’s parent company Pernot Ricard is the opposite of independent, but it’s Christmas so don’t judge us.
Orbit Brewery is our own hidden away little gem of a brewery in Walworth. Online or in person you can buy a range of their lagers, cioders, ales, porters, and even socks. And the rumour is true, they sell tzatziki flavoured beer that we can only describe as, well, ‘adventurous’.
Didi and Franc have gone full tilt in 2025 and are selling custom made hampers to fill with their gorgeous goods. But if, like us, you don’t fit their demographic, you can just buy one of their baskets and fill it with things from the corner shop. And while you’re there you can pick up a panettone at I due Amici next door. Panettone being of course the food that you never actually eat, but just regift at a Christmas party you’ve been invited to.
NON FOOD
The Book Elephant For those of you young enough to never buy anything in an actual shop, new kid the Book Elephant in Sayer Street can probably get a book in quicker than you can buy it online. Its also a fun place to get inspiration. Plus they also sell coffee and wine. Need we say more?
Castle Square When you think of Christmas shopping the first thing that springs to mind probably isn’t ‘ooh, lets go to the place behind Elephant Station where they keep the bins’. But if you venture there you’ll discover a clutch of independent shops that used to exist in the shopping centre. Great for your younger folk looking for baseball caps, hoodies, clothes, or undergarments to make your bum look either smaller or larger. While there pop over to the retro video game emporium 4 Quarters?
SoLo Craft Fair is a collective of online artists and creatives who run a bricks and mortar shop in Elephant Park. Sixty small businesses have their work shown on rotation and in 2025 they are again stocking affordable jewellery, handbags, baskets, cards, scarves, bath salts, prints and T-shirts. And as Elephant is now trendy in a non-ironic way they even sell Elephant and Castle merch.
Hound Hut TRIGGER WARNING. If the dog in your life is vegan or interested in becoming vegan then this not the place for them. Known by us as the ‘Harrods of doggie treats’, here you can treat your pooch to doggie spag bol, camel wraps, cow hooves, snouts, and the deliciously sounding bladder twists. And they also have a lot of leads and things to throw at/to your pooch. And for those who obtained a pooch during lockdown but now find they have to be in an actual dog free office, there is doggy daycare.
Pretty Shiny Shop sits next to the Hound Hut and they swaggeringly claim to be Greater Kennington’s Christmas Shop (steady) and they stock a range or cards, houseware items, and Christmas tree goodies, and small pieces of jewellery. It’s like a giant Christmas explosion in that place. They have loads of fun, subversive Christmas cards.
Windmill Flowers stocks not just flowers but also collectables and houseware accessories and Mary is in charge to show you the way forward. Mary also has some Christmas trees and accessories for those who haven’t got their s*it together quite yet.
Jumping Bean is another gift shop new to the 2025 Greater Kennington scene and a great place to inspect for gift inspiration. They have everything from Christmas baubles to clothes, toys, pencils, games, cards, more toys, hand cream, self heating patches, and cheesecake nail filing sets. Whew.
The Cafe @ Park College is a little known veggie lunch spot that we visited a few months ago. it resides inside Park College next to Kennington Park. The cafe is staffed by young people with additional needs such as autism, and they have an adorbs selection of homemade cards and other crafts on sale. And you only THINK you don’t need a handbag fashioned from Walkers Crisp bags. They’re also having a Winter Fair on Friday (the 12th) and we’re all invited.
Vanilla Black in addition to books also has some nice gift ideas such as cards and stockings and a few food items. We think VB secretly hate us but we’ve moved on with our lives and are plugging them anyway because this is the time for charity. Or something.
QueArts is a sterling little arts and crafts store across from Kennington Park and they also undertake framing. Great for your creative or just bored friends.
Bee Urban is bee based charity in the middle of Kennington Park (behind the cafe) selling all sorts of honey and honey related things such as candles, fragrances, soaps and even cards. An interesting place to check out even if you don’t buy anything. And they sell Kennington honey!
Walworth Garden and Urban Botanica While perhaps not the easiest thing to wrap, have you ever considered the gift of houseplants? The charity and juggernaut of horticulture, Walworth Garden are selling cacti, cards and other things in their geodesic dome. While over in Kennington Cross, UB is one of the few places on earth where you can sip your Minor Figures chai latte while browsing Boston ferns.
Umber Works We’ve never seen an actual human being inside Umber Works in Kennington Park Road, but accordingly to their website they run a range of pottery workshops and offer gift vouchers. Of course, the downside of this is that you might be getting useless ceramic ashtrays for the next five years.
If there’s one phrase we love to hear in the office it has to be ‘free wine tasting’. On Monday, 8 December, Friends of Durning Library will be hosting a festive wine show judged by Stuart George, MD of Arden Fine Wines. This will accompany a blind wine tasting competition and a Christmas raffle that may or may not involve wine. We can think of fewer classy things to do than sip a festive Malbec in a library while saying ‘Hmmm..I’m getting notes of citrus and sweaty socks left on a hot radiator’.
The event is 6:45 for 7:15. While this event is technically free, they suggest a £3 donation and considering that £3 will just about buy you a Coke Zero at the Tommyfield it’s a pretty good deal. Plus, money raised supports the library and the many fine things that they do. Like just staying open, which is a perpetual concern. You can book a place here.
Stuart can’t sell wine on the night but we’re sure he can guide you into what to buy and where for a perfect pairing. Of course we always accept free gifts and bribes, if only you knew who we are.
As frequent readers are all too aware, we here at the Observer love nothing more than anonymously sticking our noses where they don’t belong. So why not join the merry ranks of middle class white people and partake of our passion/dysfunction? We’re talkinng, of course, of the great Pullen’s Yard Christmas Open Studios weekend taking place on 5-7 December (that’s this weekend, folks) in Walworth.
Pullens Yards (Clements, Peacock and the large Iliffe Yard) are an amazing collection of 1880’s workhouses which were originally designed for the people who lived in the nearby Pullens Estate. We wrote about the fascinating squatting history of the estate a few years ago. Instead of being converted into luxury flats, the Yards serve the same purpose as they did 140 years go, and the cabinet makers and blacksmiths have been replaced by potters, jewellery makers, card makers and folks who make things that smell nice or wrap up for a gift. We once bought moth balls disguised as little knitted mice. And as we know crystals are just rocks, but the stall holders might just convince you that they have the power to heal.
The studios at Pullens Yards are usually not open to the public, but twice a year they fling their doors open to give us a glimpse into their creative universe. The artists are more than happy to show you what and how they create, and of course you can buy what’s on show. And buying is by no means compulsory, as at the end the day these folks just want to show off how clever they are and it’s totally free. Have we mentioned how much we love free?
A visit to the Yards is a fun way to spend a morning or a late afternoon searching for quirky and unnecessary things. In the past we’ve encountered live music, food for sale, a bar provided by Orbit Brewery(!) and live music. A wet Friday night is a particularly evocative time. And who knows, you just might discover a previously unrealised desire to own a necklace made out of forks or a room deodoriser fashioned as a piece of cheese.
Pullen’s Open Studios is open Friday evening and in the daytime over the weekend. And if you’re hungry or want some tea, check out the great and very quirky Electric Elephant Café. And no, its not a charity shop. It just looks like one.
Nothing quite says Christmas more than sipping cocktails in the midst of farmyard animals and hay. After all It worked for Jesus (maybe without the cocktail). This Saturday (29 November) and the two Saturdays afterwards Vauxhall City Farm are hosting ‘Nana’s Nightcap Bar’, with the Café decorated to look like Nana’s front room in the 90’s but presumably without the smell of wet cat hair and mothballs.
Nana’s bills itself as a night to catch up with your mates, exchange secret Santa gifts, and have a good sing song. This festive indulgence can be enjoyed in several ways. For £6 you get a drink, £8 a special cocktail, or most intriguingly for £15 you can nab a drink and a ‘Christmas jacket potato with all the trimmings’. We have no idea what this means but envision people merrily dancing away to ‘Love is All Around Us’ while simultaneously holding a potato filled with stuffing and boiling gravy. Other food is also on offer.
And for you crazy kids more interested in how you look on Instagram than actually experiencing something, for a fiver you can enjoy their nocturnal winter night trail. This brought to mind the notorious dark walk of the 18th century Pleasure Gardens that existed across the street, but without the outdoor sex element. Or maybe with it, as this could be a good way to get more punters in.
So if you and your mates were considering a festive night at the *coughs* Slug & Lettuce, spare a thought for the good folk over a City Farm and all the cute critters that this charity supports and who knows, this might just be your key to a heaven surrounded by farm animals and jacket potatoes. Tickets can be nabbed here.
When this event came across our desk it left us feeling perplexed. It is in a church, so is this something for children? We then followed the booking link which proudly states ‘Calling All Friends of Dorothy’ and we figured it out. Mince Pies! Wine! A Film! Possible Singing! In a church! What’s not to love?
We know very little about the oddly named Deptford Film Club other that they’re based in Kennington and in the past curated a night dedicated to cat videos, so they must be OK. We reached out and they confirmed that the night is not for children, and by no means just for Friends of Dorothy. We double checked that wine will indeed be sold. We’ll be sending our very underused and not very qualified Diversity lead Marcus to this event, whose claim to diversity is that he once had a Dutch boyfriend for a month.
Wizard of Oz will be screened on Friday, 5 December at 7:30pm at St. Anselms in Kennington Cross. Tickets can be scored here.
