Category Archives: cafes and restaurants

The top ten best places to eat in Greater Kennington – no. 7 – Taro

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As habitués to the Runoff are aware, one of our missions is to get people out of the house and live by experience. In our current climate this might not be the best thing to do, but we have chosen to persist with our top ten list nevertheless. With the rest of the list we’ll let you know if they deliver, and we also suggest going for an early or late dinner if possible. And of course, you can always make a note of the venues in your little pocket diary for future reference.

Part of the Greater Kennington firmament for over a year now, Taro has secured the #7 spot by its consistent delivery of authentic ‘Izakaya’, (roughly meaning ‘pub food’) very similar to  the food you get in Japan, and is good value for money. They also have a menu more diverse than most Izakaya places (not always a good thing but it is in this case), which caters to varied tastes.  Believe it or not there are a number of Japanese joints in our area, but this is acres above the lot.

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We were in Japan before our Taro visit last year and went to Taro with our friend Mark, who lived in Japan for years and served as our culinary attaché. We had sushi (both tempura-maki and other maki) which was fresh and generous on the fish side. We also had fried chicken (above), which was crunchy and equally meaty. For a veg angle we also indulged in juicy tofu steak, with a surfeit of ginger and wasabi. For sides we recommend onshinko pickles and gyoza dipped in soy vinegar. Both veg and meat gyozas are great. The salmon teriyaki bento box at the next table also caught our eye.

Taro can be delivered to your door via Deliveroo,  and you can pop in and take it away. They curiously don’t have a website, but are located at 414 Kennington Road, close to the park.

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The top ten best places to eat in Greater Kennington – no. 8 – The Tommyfield

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The number eight position goes to central Kennington stalwart The Tommyfield.* The Tommyfield is the Kennington outpost of swish, small south London chain ‘Three Cheers Pubs’. Most of their other pubs are in Clapham and Battersea and have a similar cohort of punters.

The Tommyfield is the pub of choice here at Runoff HQ as it is just down the road and we have therefore tried just about everything on the menu. This isn’t too difficult, mind you, as we wouldn’t exactly call their menu ‘dynamic’. However, what they stick to they manage to do very well. We like the pies (steak and ale/chicken and leek) which are very rich, heavy on the meat, and the puff pastry flaky and buttery with pureed potatoes. The fish and chips are also to be lauded, and they have a reliable number of veggie options (but not vegan).

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The place is usually pretty full at weekends and they do a mean trade in Sunday lunch. The roasts are huge (we’re talking car tyre huge) and you can see the chefs undertaking their handiwork in the open kitchen (and yes, they make their own Yorkies). The ribeye steak is also something that we’ve had on a Sunday and it’s up there in Michelin star category and seasoned to perfection.

The Tommyfield is one of the few places in our area the accepts Tastecard (but not on Sunday) and they provide two for one mains if you have one. Perfect for those ‘I don’t feel like cooking’ nights or if, at this rate, there is soon to be nothing left on supermaket shelves but cat food.

For dessert we almost always plump for the banoffee pie, which is delicious.

*If you’ve been knocking around SE11 long enough to remember its previous incarnation as ‘La Finca’ you get a prize. Or something.

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Collective in Kennington Park

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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.

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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.

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Lunch Box – Kennington Tandoori

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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.

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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.

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Italo Delicatessen Vauxhall

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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.

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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.

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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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Didi and Franc

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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
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Winter Interest

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It’s a bit unorthodox to be writing about gardens in the bleak midwinter, but we all need a bit of greenery in our lives, especially when the sky matches the grey Kennington pavements.

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Harleyford Road Community Garden in Vauxhall wsd created by the demolition of a terrace of Georgian properties in the 1970’s which featured inordinately large front gardens. In 1984 the progressive residents of nearby Bonnington Square agreed to work in partnership with Lambeth to turn the site into a place of quiet refuge amongst the nearby smog and snarl.

 

 

 

 

The arboreal product of the partnership  created 36 years ago persists to this day, and even in winter offers a great place for the public to stroll, eat a sandwich, reflect, or just experience an element of silence. The garden is divided into several different areas and includes a children’s play area, lawns, benches, picnic areas, and a mossy green pond. It prides itself on being the only accessible wildlife site in the area.

The Garden is still maintained by volunteers from Bonnington Square,  and it without question possesses the quirky,  ‘planty’. and independent aesthetic of the Square. This is evident in the mosaic wall and paving stones implanted with chipped china  and rocks. In reality the entire layout of the Gardens are the masterwork of Bonnington residents, and well done.

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With no small amount of surreal irony our quiet, pastoral refuge is sponsored by the rather notorious nightclub ‘Fire’. As intrepid and responsible local journalists we approached Runoff management about getting to the bottom of this relationship (in a strictly professional capacity of course) by actually going to Fire at 3am last Saturday. We were rapidly rebuked and informed that this would be ‘inappropriate’ and ‘compromise the ethos of the site’. Well lets see about that and watch this space.

The Gardens are very kid friendly and also placid and safe for people on their own who seek solace and serenity. Enjoy!

Longdan Supermarket…Our Local Asian Superstore

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If it isn’t on your gerbil trail then you’ve probably missed a very unique place at the top of Walworth Road called ‘Longdan’. Longdan is a pan Asian supermarket with a very tasty Vietnamese street food restaurant attached called ‘Aobaba’.

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We know that some of you sit up at night wondering just where you can source dried lotus seeds and 50 kilo sacks of jasmine rice. Well, now you’re in luck. Longdan specialises in hard to find products from Japan, Vietnam, China, Thailand and Malaysia, among other places. The hard to find products are perfect if you are feeling inventive, want a bit of culinary inspiration, or just want a browse. For the cautious sorts much of their fresh exotic goods are sold frozen and can be kept for the long haul.

 

One thing Longdan does very well is condiments (and who among us doesn’t favour a nice condiment?) and you can bag a range of soy and chili sauces, bean curd, stir fry mixes, and good old fashioned Siriracha. Recently we bought banana leaves to remind us of the time we were in Kolkata (oops, better pick up that name we just dropped!) in a sad effort to resurrect our curry meal there.  Having said that, our favourite bit is at the back, where they sell a variety of Asian kitchen products which are largely impractical for western chefs but a great way to make you feel like a cooking pro.

 

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As for Aobaba, it offers cheap and delicious Vietnamese fare to eat in or take away. In the past we’ve enjoyed summer rolls, Banh Mi (baguettes), grilled pork and beef noodles. At the time of writing they didn’t do Pho, but our capital certainly isn’t lacking in those joints…

 

 

 

 

So, if your gerbil trail  leads inexorably to our depressing ‘Shipping Container Tesco’ then try moving in another direction for a bit of a culinary challenge. Cabbage roots, anyone?

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I Due Amici for a Change

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On Christmas Eve we experienced an existential crisis as Loose Women wasn’t on, so we decided to fill the gaping Northern Line Extentsion sized hole in our lives by exploring the lunch items at local institution I Due Amici. We’re also aware that our annual ‘top ten restaurants of Kennington’ posts are coming up* and we need to make up for lost time by stuffing our faces.

I Due Amici is owned by the unflappable Houman Meskati, who also owns ‘Amici’ and the gone but not forgotten Persian/Vodka joint ‘Doost’. As Houman is himself Persian we decided to get our chops into Due Amici’s Persian stews, which are definitely the best things on the menu. Your intrepid writer had the khoresh ghormeh (number 1) which consisted of lamb, kidney beans, and fresh coriander. Served with basmati rice, the lamb was very slow cooked and virtually fell off my fork. The seasoning was a bit off but a good balance of other herbs were present, including fenugreek.

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My dining partner noshed on the khoresh gheymeh (number 3) which was also less slow cooked lamb but also with potatoes `and split peas. It had a nice thick, split pea yellow consistently with some interesting herbs in the mix.

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While not quite up to the Persian standards of Doost, the stews offer a real variety in central Kennington that is needed in terms of lunches. Due Amici also has your standard fare of sandwiches, salads, vegan food and even, bizarrely, burritos. It is at 310 Kennington Road.

*shameless plug.

Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Free Pastis

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Two upcoming free, fun events in Vauxhall and Walworth to sink our little SE11 (and 17 and 1) teeth into to get us into the Christmas spirits, folks! Tomorrow night (Monday) London’s Night Czar and all around good egg Amy Lame will be switching on the lights of the Vauxhall Christmas tree at around 6pm with a little help from a serenading London Gay Men’s Chorus. And you know how we get about freebies, there will be free (no way) pastel de nada (Portugese custard tarts..stick with us) and hot chocolate provided by our friends at Maderia Cafe in Vauxhall… Don’t be late!

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We often have ‘London Guilt’ about not finding time for the great bi annual events at Pullen’s Yard over in Walworth, but this year we’ll be all over it like a Berkeley Homes bulldozer with planning permission. Pullens Yard is an artistic enclave of 60 artist studios set in a Victorian cobbled mews. Over the next week they will be flinging their doors open to show what they do and will have a variety of art and objects to sell. But will there be free tarts, I ask you? If not, our friends at cool The Electric Elephant  will feed ya. Details below….

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