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Surreptitiously observing Kennington, including the suburbs Vauxhall, Oval, Walworth, and Elephant since 2012. We're fiercely independent and never boring.

The top ten best places to eat in Greater Kennington – no. 10 – Cafe Van Gogh

Posted on 03/07/2020 by Kennington Observer

PERMANENTLY CLOSED. SADFACE!

Welcome to our almost annual run down of the best places to eat in Greater Kennington. Let us start with a few caveats. You might notice that we generally give good reviews to eating places here. This not due to lack of scrutiny as we eat out in Kennington all the time. Rather, we choose to promote the places we enjoy and feel passionate about, as opposed to the places which aren’t up to standard (and you know who you are..we can hear your microwave humming). Also, there are many places which we know are wonderful (such as Bonnington Cafe) but we just haven’t been able to make it there recently, so we apologise if your favourite hasn’t made the cut.

Number 10 is Cafe Van Gogh. a glorious vegan cafe on cusp of the KR catchment area in Brixton Road. Not afraid of being lauded, it was recently anointed as one one of the Guardian’s best vegan friendly restaurants in London . We visited on a weekday during half term, and the place was full of people working on laptops and folks with kiddos. We chose the vegan mac-n-cheese partially as a challenge, as it is pretty hard to pull off in a vegan joint. Our server explained that the cheese is achieved by a mixture of mustard, garlic and onion powders. We were very sceptical about this but the result was delicious. Those around us had a butternut squash pasta dish and a plant based based burger with chips. On the other table a mum told us that she just had an aubergine stuffed chapatti with dhal. It should be noted that the menu is concise and well curated.

Cafe Van Gogh is a not for profit social enterprise who work in conjunction with a range of local Kennington/Oval/Brixton charities. They provide paid employment for people who have faced challenges in life and who want to get back into the realm of employment. We are not vegan ourselves, but having lunch here was a truly delicious eye opener and even more valued with the knowledge that we’re giving something back to the more vulnerable in our shire.

Vincent himself was not present for this dining experience, but if you want to experience his work without even seeing anything he actually painted, then you might want to check out the totally bonkers Vincent Van Gogh experience just up the road at the Southbank..

Greater Kennington in 1970 – And the Upcoming top 10

Posted on 03/03/2020 by Kennington Observer

We’re still in Cuba where disaster has struck..The umbrella has just fallen out of our cocktail….But in the meantime please titillate yourselves with this British Pathe video from 1970. The clip starts at minute 11, on top of a bus going down Baylis Road towards Lambeth North and the spire of Surrey Chapel (now Oasis Hub), then various other clips past St. George’s Circus (?) toward the Elephant. The estates created in the 50’s ands 60’s still look new, and still in evidence are signs of bomb damage…The video then moves on to less interesting places like Westminster.

In a few days we will awe you (or depress you) with number 10 in our annual roundup of ‘top ten places to eat in Kennington’. Unlike in years previous, this list will cover both dinner and lunch venues and could even include the odd pub or two. The reason for this is because ~~our predecessors ate out a lot more than we do~~ we appreciate that people work at different times of the day or their free times vary.

Marks to Prove it

Posted on 02/26/2020 by Kennington Observer

The secretive mandarins at Kennington Runoff finally signed our leave card so we are currently in Cuba. Of course we would never leave our readers without top flight infotainment, however, so if you’re lonely please watch ‘Marks to Prove It’ by the Maccabees from a few years ago. The fascinating video was shot almost entirely in Elephant and Castle. If you don’t fancy the sound of young white guys screaming, you can mute it and catch Elephant Park being built, our our soon to be dematerialised Elephant Shopping centre. If you’ll look closely you’ll also see Waterloo, and perhaps where you live!

Now where’s my mojito?

Collective in Kennington Park

Posted on 02/21/2020 by Kennington Observer

The café in Kennington Park has experienced a number of permutations over the years, almost to the point of us assigning the designation of it being a ‘jinxed property’. It was resurrected in July of last year as a lunchtime pizza place called ‘Collective’. We went for the pizza, but as they open at 10am they also have croissants, coffees, muffins and teas. If the mood takes you, you can even have, umm, a morning ice cream.

Pizza seems to be the current vogue in Greater Kennington (with barbershops a close second), supplanting estate agents, which is a good thing. We’ve been meaning to visit Collective since last summer but gave it a miss as it interferes with ~~Loose Women~~ our healthy daytime regime. It bats above it’s weight from the outset by having a large, wood fired pizza oven.

A good pizza is all about the base, and we had a basic marinara to maximize the experience. The dough is definitely sourdough, and thin almost to the point of being transparent. True to Neopolitain pizzas, it is blistered and slightly charred, but not to the finger blackening gorgeousness of Theo’s in Elephant. The marinara was good but we encourage you to branch out to the ‘spicy boy’ or the several veggie options. Vegan cheese is also available.

The place is especially good for kids as it is spacious and the kiddos can even run outside without the fear of the number 3 bus mowing them down. If you’ve been in a coma for the past 5 months and you’re presently reading this in July, the outside space is great and even BYOB. In our estimation the only downside is that many people do not want to devour an entire pizza in the middle of the day so it might be bountiful to invite your colleagues or take some home, which is an option. They are also open at weekends. Very good, but will it be in our top 10?*

*The final plug, honestly.

Lunch Box – Kennington Tandoori

Posted on 02/17/2020 by Kennington Observer

The street food project at the Dog House has yet to materialise, but as we had our sights set on Kennington Cross today we decided to tick off tick another institution off our list, Kennington Tandoori.

KT has been entertaining the taste buds of local folk and Westminster glitterati since 1985 and we’ve been going for years. You might be aware that they had a foray into breakfast food a few years ago which didn’t go so well, and they are now trying their hand at the very competitive Kennington lunchtime trade with their £7.95 ‘lunch box’. Their dinners are so successful that they might even make our top 10 in a few weeks (last shameless plug alert), so we decided to check it out at noon.

First off, the reason why KT is undertaking a ‘lunch box’ is pretty apparent when you collect your meal; the place is a ghost town mid day. There are four options (one veg) for the lunch box and we opted for the tamarind chicken. It had a very good balance of sweet and tangy with a bit of spice offset with caramelised onion in a rich tomato sauce. The onion bhaji was very big and tasted more like cauliflower, which was also good. There good have been a bit more rice but that is a small matter.

KT is a very solid and filling lunch option in central Kennington if you are looking for an alternative to sandwiches and quiche. If you find the excessive packaging an issue (and we did) then you can always achieve maximum confidentiality by having a seat with and being the only punters in the room.

Italo Delicatessen Vauxhall

Posted on 02/12/2020 by Kennington Observer

This is the first in a series of waistband expanding, tedious and delirious posts about local places to stuff yourself silly. This presages the annual Kennington Runoff ‘Ten Best Places to Eat’ which we will reveal in March. *

Italo Delicatessen is a locally owned, pint sized breakfast and lunch joint nestled in Bonnington Square and has been an institution since 2008. They serve fresh pasta, salads, and even beer and gelato. They also sell more random products like Italian cheese, wine, and even local honey.

The breakfast options looked very tasty indeed and primarily involve egg dishes (sorry, vegans) such as fried egg with cheese, with relish, and with ham. We however came for a lunchtime sandwich. As with all of their sandwiches, it was made on the spot and involved artichoke and tomatoes on bread from Kennington Bakery. Ham is a big feature with these hearty offerings, but as the menu changes often you’ll need to leave it to fate as to what’s being sold. The only downside about Italo is the seating situation, which can get a bit cramped inside.

If you’re a regular reader then you know our unhealthy obsession with ‘ghost signs’. Italo is very lucky to have one on the back of it’s building, below.

By the way, if you are wondering why the Dog House Pub is closed and looking even more ragged than usual, that’s because they are having a major refit. The kitchen is being converted to accommodate a series of pop up menus, and apparently the first on offer is Mexican. We will be of course on tap with a full review (unless it’s crap, in which you’ll receive no review).

*Shameless plug

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Getting a Bit Gassy in Oval

Posted on 02/05/2020 by Kennington Observer

As your devoted public servants, last night we popped over to Montford Place with our almost alliteratively titled ‘Gasholder Building Public Consultation Invitation’ to meet with a group of chirpy Millennial Berkeley Homes Reps and one rather grumpy architect.

Regular Runoff readers are probably aware that we are closely watching and musing over the inexorable rise of ‘Uptown KenVo’ in Kennington Lane, and this consultation was about the high rises which will be erected inside the largest gasholder, located just behind ‘shipping container Tesco’. The other two gasholders will be pulled down in March (read about them here) and will be the site of the first stage of the development which will eventually have 1300 (!!!!) homes.

There will be 225 flats inside the gasholder, and grumpy architect mentioned that the plan had recently been altered to provide more green spaces for residents. Also, the building will have an arc shape which will reflect the very fine looking arc at the north side of the Oval. The gasholder will not be dismantled, and apparently construction materials will delivered underground (!!!!).

Screenshot 2020-02-05 at 17.01.58

When completed the whole site will be set between Kennington Lane, Montford Place, the Oval and Vauxhall Street, which is pretty huge. Apparently the elevation to Vauxhall Street will be retail, as will a strip that runs through the gasholder itself (at bottom). At this point a Millennial Berkeley Homes Rep joined the convo and this is when we decided to get a bit subversive. The conversation went accordingly:

Berkeley – We’re thinking that there could be some locally owned cafes in there, or maybe a crèche

Runoff – Or there could be a Starbucks

Berkeley – Umm…or there could be a library in there.

Runoff – Or what about a Pret INSIDE a Starbucks?

Berkeley – Err….

If you want more information or your own chance to be a bit subversive, the next consultation is this Thursday (6 Feb) from 6-8 at 37 Montford Place. If you choose the subversive route you first might want to pop into the Pilgrim Pub for a swift one.

Screenshot 2020-02-05 at 17.00.52

Didi and Franc

Posted on 01/31/2020 by Kennington Observer

We were frankly devastated when Oddbins Kennington closed last year. Lord knows we tried our best to keep them open, morning, noon and night. Our loss is what’s commonly referred to as a ‘first world problem’.

Courtesy of our friends at Vanilla Black, the site is about to be reborn Phoenix like as a wine and cheese shop called ‘Didi and Franc’, also billing itself as a ‘deli/wine/bistro’. This information was garnered from Instagram, where they have established a presence.

We contacted Didi and Franc about their opening date and they conservatively replied ‘spring’. We will have a full, in-depth and extremely positive review after we receive an invitation to their launch party*

*This never works

Classical Vauxhall

Posted on 01/22/2020 by Kennington Observer

We don’t know a great deal about classical music, but we do know a thing or five about having a good time in Greater Kennington. If you have the time you could do a lot worse than check out the upcoming ‘Classical Vauxhall’ series. It promotes itself as embodying ‘drama and emotion of classical music in three of Vauxhall’s most quirkiest venues’. This has KR approval stamped all over it, especially when you add in that there will be a bar and a chance to meet lovely locals.

ClassicalVauxhall_Hero_2 The fun kicks off on Thursday, 6 Feb. in St. Peter’s Church in Vauxhall. If you’ve never been then you should check it out anyway as it’s a beautiful great mammy of Victorian Gothicness with what we imagine are pretty fine acoustics.

Thursday 6th Feb, St. Peter’s Church – Quatuor Zaide & Fiachra Garvey

On Friday, 7 Feb. the classical fun continues at that playground of Georgian reclamation, Brunswick House (home of LASSCO). Now you might be thinking ‘I never really intended on spending my Friday night in a traffic roundabout in south London’ but LASSCO is worth it, if for no other reason then see the amazing if wildly unattainable objects on sale.

Friday 7th Feb, Brunswick House – Sean Shibe

Moving northwards and forwards, on Saturday 8^th Feb the classical wave vibrates on to a KR fave, the fascinating Gardening Museum located at the side of Lambeth Palace (also Lambeth’s oldest building)

Saturday 8th Feb, Garden Museum – Adam Walker & Fiachra Garvey

While you might not know a great deal about classical music either, imagine the fun you can have impressing your friends with a conversation along the lines of this:

SALLY – Hey Paul, get up to anything musical this week?

PAUL – Thanks for asking Sally. Well, I figured out that the giant Daisy on ‘The Masked Singer’ is probably Charlotte Church. You?

SALLY – I went to a classical concert at Brunswick House

drops mic

The Elephant in the (Colombian) Room

Posted on 01/19/2020 by Kennington Observer

Last night we navigated our way through Elephant and Castle shopping centre to have dinner at Colombian diner ‘La Bodeguita’. Latin and South American fare have come in waves in recent years (Mexican then Peruvian then Chilean) and we predict that Colombian will be the next. In fact it is already one of Colombia’s best known exports after Shakira and, well…that other thing.

You might have never heard of La Bodeguita but you’ve certainly seen it looming sentinel like over a corner of the shopping centre. From the outside it looks like a nightclub (which it becomes later), but at other times it is a friendly diner with mostly Colombian customers (tick) and is apparently an epicenter of the Colombian community (tick again).

We found that the best items on the menu were the starters. One of our party had the meaty chicken croquettes with chipotle mayo. Another the Chorizo con Arepa (arepa is a kind of tortilla). The highlights of the mains were ‘Bandeja Paisa’ and ‘Arroz Especial a La Bodeguita’. Your writer had the Arroz and it was a seasoned rice based seafood dish with prawns, calamari and plantain. It was delicious, with plenty of fish and a good rice to prawn ratio.

The Bandeja is the national dish of Colombia and is best described as a ‘Colombian mixed grill’ consisting of chorizo, black pudding, beef, egg, plantain (LOTS of dishes have plantain) and beans. The combination worked well but was at times a bit stodgy. The chorizo was definitely unique and the portion could feed a Colombian family.

Keep in mind that a trip to La Bodeguita is more of an experience than an undertaking in ‘haute cuisine’. One of the glories of our community is that you can experience areas and feel that you’re in a different culture entirely, such as Elephant street behind the station which is heavily Colombian (ok, and a bit sketchy). A trip to the shopping centre itself is also a nod to a part of our community which, sadly, won’t exist in a few years.

A meal for four with a few beers came in at £135.

The Kennington Observer

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

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