Category Archives: cafes and restaurants

My Chaii..The Anti Pret

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We hope all of you people had a lovely Christmas and have now returned all the gifts you didn’t want. We were unsure how to spend our Christmas bonus, but when the bonus amounted to a handful of Milk Tray being thrown into our cubicle by the CFO, that decision was more or less taken out of our hands. 

We recently paid a visit to the adorable community café ‘My Chaii’, which is located in Opal Street just off Kennington Lane. My Chaii is Halal, with a menu to veers toward Indian, which is just fine with us. The extremely friendly server walked us through all of the options and your scribe settled on the kebab wrap. It seemed a bit more like a hoisin duck but was very tasty and well proportioned with a good meat to veg ratio. Perfectly lunch sized.

  • Yes, I nicked Brenda’s samosas

Brenda from the mailroom chose the chicken biryani. This was nicely homemade, moderately spicy with pieces of marinated chicken tikka throughout. The generous portion came served with a small lettuce salad on the plate, and at £5 this was the bargain worth going for. Brenda also took a side order of vegetable samosas. These again tasted homemade, with a very light and crisp pastry. An array of sauces were offered and we opted for a chilli chutney (blow your head off spicy) and a sweet kebab sauce.

All of the food outlined above, with two Coke Zeros, came to the grand total of £12.50. And from 5 to 7pm My Chaii has their Happy Hour, which means you get a free chaii with every main. Of course when we were talking about happy hour, Phil once again fell out of this chair and exclaimed ‘happy hour? What? Where? Can I come?’. Calm down Phil, this only involves a cup of tea. So if you want to give back to our community as opposed to the multinational that owns Pret, here you go! 

Our New Neighbour

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Eagle eyed and long term readers aware that for several years we’ve taken a keen interest in the developments in an around the newly created Oval Village, which we call ‘UptownKenVo’, and here’s the latest. 

The Applegreen petrol station in Kennington Lane has now gone to that giant, fossil fuel cloud in the sky and is no more. Also sadly departed is our only Greggs, which is now on an adjacent, probably sausage roll shaped cloud.  They are to be replaced by a nine storey, 185 bed block of student accommodation. There will be commercial space on the ground floor.

We took particular interest in the press release stating that there will be a ‘fantastic rooftop garden with amazing views’ as when we were students the best view we had was looking out of a dirty window in a pub that smelled of wet cat hair. But times change…

The Dragon Castle Experience

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Whoever said that dining can’t be fun? If you’re looking for a group Christmas meal or just for two of you, we love Dragon Castle in Elephant because it reminds us of the kind of mega restaurants that you actually see in Beijing. If what you want from a dining experience is Chandeliers! Plastic plants! Sullen staff! Lazy Susans! A water feature! Then Dragon Castle can deliver the immersive fun that might be missing in your life. Its also a nice escape from the impending dreary winter nights in Greater Kennington. 

On the food front, it isn’t better than any other Chinese out there so we haven’t photographed the dishes but  we can recommend their dumplings, which are a speciality. Chinese beers are on offer in addition to wines and spirits and this is a good thing, as it helps to be not entirely sober during your Dragon Castle experience. But with Christmas around the corner that should be rather easy. 

On a weekend expect a chaotic yet endearing mix of Chinese families, people on dates, kids running around, and locals all with a great deal of mirth. A trip to Dragon Castle is as close as you can get to the sights and smells of a Beijing mega restaurant. The only letdown is that when its done you’re face with the sights and smells of Walworth Road. 

用餐愉快！
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The New Gallery at IWM

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Last week we attended the gala opening* of the spanking new Blavatnik Art, Film and Photography Galleries at the best museum we bet you’ve never been to, our very own Imperial War Museum. This permanent gallery is a valued addition to the Greater Kennington cultural landscape (it’s a thing, trust us) and includes works by Henry Moore, John Singer Sargent, Walter Sickert, Cecil Beaton, and Wyndham Lewis to name but a few. 

The galleries are laid out by themes and are chronological, from WW1 to 21st century conflicts. As with the other display areas at IWM, these new galleries don’t seek to glorify war but rather to explain it and how it can be avoided. This is achieved by a captivating mix of propaganda posters, photographs (the gallery own 12 million),  armaments, film clips, cameras, and first hand accounts. But the great achievement here are the paintings, with the highlight being the recently restored work ‘Gassed’ by Sargent (below). We could have probably spent several days in the gallery’s two screening rooms but the Runoff overlords would have none of it. The reel of clips range from footage of the D-day landings to advice about how to make a wartime compost heap. 

Gassed

Rather than being a historical record, the galleries include current work showcasing the conspicuous talent of artists such as Steve McQueen (the Oscar winning artist, not the formerly living action hero). He’s represented here by his artwork ‘Queen and Country’. Also in the mix are descriptions of anti war protests, marches, and attempts to avoid war. This is interesting in its own right, but especially when  considering the complex dynamics of what is transpiring in Gaza and Israel at the moment. But a celebration of war artists and photographers is the beating heart of these expansive and well thought out galleries.

You might be reading this and thinking that the IWM is nationalistic and not your cup of chai. We get that, but we are duly challenging you to get your Guardian reading, tofu buying  selves over to the IWM when you have a spare hour of two.  And as you’ll be in the neighbourhood anyway, why not check out the fascinating exhibit about spies and deception that we wrote about a few weeks ago? Did we mention that they have a stonking café with pretty cakes and sarnies? 

*We coincidently pitched up the day it opened 

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Ever Tried Laotian?

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Poised at the northern precipice of the KR catchment area, we recently paid a visit to PSV café near Lambeth North tube. The café serves Laotian and Thai food but, as we’ve all had Thai a million times, we came ready to inspect the Lao food, which is a very hard to come by option in London. PSV is located above a delightful, down to earth local pub called the Crown and Cushion which is well worth a visit in its own right. The punters at PSV café were a mix of locals and perplexed  tourists who, when they booked their hotel around the corner, could have sworn the website said it was in Waterloo.  

Gunther from our graphic design department chose the Laab Ped, a spicy duck dish. This was marked on the menu as “two chillies” hot which he thought was fair: spicy, not burning. Interestingly, the duck was almost minced in very small pieces and apparently contained liver and gizzard. It had an earthiness from these, paired with the chilli garlic kick and garlic. The inclusion of ground roasted rice created a surprising, but fun, crunch element. All of this came with some salad and raw vegetables. Gunther thought it a hit, especially for lovers of chicken liver (even if this was duck!), even if his gratitude for being given as free meal was a bit, shall we say, paltry. 

  • Beef
  • Salmon

Your scribe consumed Goi Pa, which consisted of sweet and sour raw salmon cured and briefly marinated and served as a very spicy salad. It was seasoned with the magic of chili powder and added to the mix was mint, coriander, spring onions, roasted rice, red onion, and lifted up with the addition of fish sauce and lemon juice. The mix of mint and fish sauce was particularly interesting, as was the heat of the overall dish. If you’re unfamiliar with Laotian fare, think of it as a hybrid of Chinese and Vietnamese. Both dishes included sticky rice served in a fetching basket/handbag contraption.

On the drinks front, Singha beer is the only option which is perfectly understandable. The cheery and well drilled staff pointed out that drinks can be purchased at the bar and brought upstairs. Of course, we will allow you to have Thai at PSV if you insist (but don’t) but we suspect that serving Thai food is more of a side hustle to get people in the door, and their real passion lives in their Lao food which is hearty, healthy and spice tastic.

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Kennington Tandoori v. Ghandis?

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The lively debate throughout Runoff Towers is frequently ‘when in Kennington Cross is it Kennington Tandoori or Ghandi’s’? While we do enjoy the retro kitchness of Ghandis with window photos of celebrities from a different era (Richard! Judy!), we equally appreciate the low lights, dark wood and high server to diner ratio on offer at KT. But we’re here for the food, so purely for our Top Ten list © research purposes, we recently paid KT a long overdue visit. 

New recruit Gaz from the tech team chose the biryani for his mains and was pleased to see this arrive with an intact thin pastry top. Keen to impart knowledge in the real world, he noted that the pasty wasn’t really for eating (although can be) but instead for sealing the flavour during a gentle cooking process, giving it a super delicious taste. Gaz opted for the lamb version (chicken or vegetable also available). As his mouth was full of rice and Cobra beer, he proffered a thumbs up to the generous chunks of lamb in amongst the rice, vegetables and spices. When he was able to speak Gaz encouraged folks to add a serving of dahl for that rice-and-lentil magic. 

Your scribe opted for the Bombay parsi chicken dansak. It was a spicy and sweet balanced chicken, cooked very slowly and mixed with jaggery (Indian cane sugar), lentils, garlic, roasted cumin and sprinkled with kaffir lime leaves. A good degree of spice warmth came through as did the tang of yoghurt for a soft, fragrant dish. Overall very warming and pleasing for a rainy autumnal evening. And we started the affair with chicken stuffed momos. As they are from Nepal they have nothing to do with Indian but as what KT serves is north Indian food we thought ‘close enough’. And Gaz was in agreement as he was getting a free meal out of the equation. 

As frequent readers are aware we often complain about the (first world problem alert) extortionate price of wine in restaurants. At KT you can bring your own for a £10 corkage fee, which isn’t great but if you can stand a £6 bottle from Tesco you’ll find yourself quids in. As for the KT versus Ghandi’s debate, in order to ascertain our pick we’re afraid you’ll need to wait until our highly subjective yet totally scientific Top Ten list © is unveiled in February. 

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Fridas

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Kennington Cross has recently been endowed with our area’s second local outlet of micro chain Mexican Fridas. Eagle eyed readers will be aware that there is a second one in Vauxhall at the base of one of those hideous dominant buildings in Albert Embankment and we reviewed it last year. And if you live in one of those buildings we hope you’re very happy. 

Your reporter is a particular fan of a meaty burrito, and what was chosen was the free range chicken option. On the plus side, it was stuffed with mounds of fresh chicken and some spicy pico de gallo. One could say that the copious amount of rice could have been replaced with more creative additions or cheese, but that’s just us. A real standout for both the burrito and the tortilla chips was the addition of real, straight from the avocado guacamole with a kick of coriander and lime. We can affirm that it was made fresh as your reporter accidently stuck their neck into the food prep area. 

As Phil from accounts is finally meeting his targets, we treated him to the cochinita pork pibil tacos, which he sparingly described as  ‘excellent’. They consisted of two yellow corn soft tortillas profusely topped with a modestly spiced slow cooked pork (think pulled pork but spicier), along with a small amount of grated red cabbage and carrot and a dollop of sour cream. The tops were adorned with pink picked onion and coriander, creating a delightfully colourful concoction. It’s £11.50 for two, but they are of a size where that seemed reasonable.  The burrito came in at £11.90.

Fridas is owned by the same people who ran Rare Burger Co. on the same site and are evidence that running a restaurant is no mean feat, so they could use our support. They’ve given an admirable stab at transforming a burger joint into a maximalist, slightly bonkers yet endearing Mexican canteen, and on a previous visit we hugely enjoyed their cocktails. We can particularly recommend their cruise ship potency/stumble-down-the-road-afterwards margaritas.  

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Amici Summer Party

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At the Runoff we pride ourselves on making our reviews totally anonymous, sometimes to the frustration of business owners, and don’t ask for freebies. So we lay our cards on the table and admit to kind of knowing Houman and Seti who run Kennington Cross restaurant staple Amici, and we’re here to tell you about their upcoming summer party because it’s fun and good value for money. 

Let’s face it, few restaurants in Greater Kennington appear to be flourishing at the minute and Amici is no exception. Amici has survived the dual indignities of a pandemic and a basement flood (three if you count the time they decided to sell clothes and jewellery) resulting in its closure for almost two years, leading to it almost going under. They’re back with a mixture of Mediterranean and Iranian dishes and a few events to get more people through the door. 

The Amici summer party is on Thursday, 21 September at the restaurant and costs £10. We think this is good value for money as it gets you two drinks in their cute pop up stalls in the back previously sponsored by Lillet and Beefeater, but apparently now with a rum twist. Houman and Seti will also be walking around with some of their Iranian greatest hits.* Additionally there will be a band and a host of neighbours to talk to. Tickets can be purchased here and the fun kicks off at 7pm. Your ticket also entitles you to 25% off future meals.

*We stand casually yet strategically near the kitchen to grab said delicacies as the platters emerge. 

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Cue Point London @ Orbit Brewery

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Frequent Runoff readers are aware that we have our own micro independent brewery right here in Greater Kennington (Walworth) and we’re fans (Read our review here). Mind you, we could be bigger fans of their tadziki flavoured beer but you can’t have everything in life and we respect that culinary endeavour. Orbit has rotating guest chefs and for quite some time the kitchen has been home to Cue Point London, an acclaimed and delicious street food brand specialising in Afghan BBQ and brisket.  

Under the sobriquet of ‘gorgeous and very hungry members of the public’, KR staff got chatting with chef and Cue Point founder Mursal Saiq and she informed us that she was born in Afghanistan, lived in India, and is now based in the UK. Her menus embrace these backgrounds with huge inspiration from recipes passed down from her mother. Everything is made either on site or in a nearby kitchen (including the to die for naan bread), and Mursal added with enthusiasm that one objective of Cue Point is to help refugees and immigrants in the hospitality sector. We’re hooked already, so let’s eat….

Cedric, our office junior who needs to work on his timekeeping, went for the headline item on the menu: 14 hr Oak Smoked Beef Brisket Steak served with Afghan naan, jalapeño jam and Chef’s pickles. Cedric claims to have travelled extensively in the southern US and noted that the four large slabs of brisket, showing good bark (burned edges), resembled closely what he had seen in the BBQ joints there. The meat was very moist from a long, slow cooking. The Afghan twist was in being served on flat naan and with a spicier sauce than you’ll find in Texas. 

Your scribe had the naan taco mix featuring thee tacos presented in naan bread. The vegan taco was based on a smoky aubergine and pickle and Mursal informed us that she even makes her own vegan mayo. The other was generously crammed with the brisket that Cedric ordered, and a surprisingly smoky and almost sweet chicken was the main feature of the third.  Thoroughly yummy, including the little pickles to cut through some of the richness. At £15 these mains were good value: higher quality than, say, Bodean’s yet at a lower price.

To add to our carnivorous evening we had cheese and herb croquettes and cheesy potato skins, which weren’t skins as much as they were giant potatoes anointed with gooey cheese. Cue Point make all their sauces in house, and they’re all great. Double down on the Afghan chutney, jalapeno jam, and aioli for dipping everything in. And in the unlikely event that there’s any left over, take the sauce home but you’ll probably be drinking it by the time you get to Kennington Lane. But don’t take our work for it, as even foodie god Jay Rayner is in on the act.

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Theo’s in Elephant

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At the Runoff we take our annual top 10 Best Places to Eat © rundown very seriously. So purely under the guise of quality assurance and not as a flimsy excuse wolf down pizza on a weeknight,  we return to Theo’s in Elephant to see if it still deserves it’s #2 ranking.

Our marketing intern Millicent ordered one of the specials: the Fugazzeta. It was  topped with mozzarella, gorgonzola, onion, olives, garlic and parmesan. Millie is proving to be an intern without a great eye for detail, and had not read that it was in fact a “white” pizza, ie without tomato sauce. Luckily, the well drilled staff at Theo’s heeded her request to throw some sauce on top and probably upset the chef in the process. Moving on, there was no stinting on the gorgonzola, so not for the fainthearted. The result was a super cheesy-oniony topping,  complemented by plump olives and subtle garlic. And of course the usual top-notch, chewy, blistered Neapolitan-style base.

  • The not so white pizza
  • Sausage and Tropea

Your scribe had another special, the sausage and tropea onion pizza. We had frankly never heard of a tropea onion, but it was delicate, sweet, and quite tender.  The yellow tomatoes were a treat as was the inclusion of a cheese not often seen on a pizza, pecorino. But what made this pizza were the sizeable chunks of fennel sausage. And again, the sourdough and slightly scorched base finished it off perfectly. And for £12/13, it seemed pretty fair to us and in our less than humble opinion Theo’s remains the best pizza in Greater Kennington, and that is no mean feat in these parts. 

On the drinks front, Theo’s has a good selection of Italian wines and beers at good prices.  Millie was a bit alarmed that the carafe of wine ordered was solely for the consumption of your author. But if you’re reading this Millie (and if not you really should be) at the end of a day you’re just an intern so content yourself with that Pepsi Max and a made up pizza.