Category Archives: cafes and restaurants

Kachori, Betty & Joan

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Karchori 

It is now established dogma that a place is in trouble when they start to have bingo nights. And they’re in even more trouble if anything they do involves a drag queen. So when our friends over at Kachori, the newish Indian in Elephant Park that we checked out last year, announced they will be having a drag bingo night, we knew that something very dire was happening and here’s how you can help. 

Drag bingo is hosted by Party with Ginger and for £45 a head you have a two course, drag inspired meal (???!!) with free flowing prosecco. On top of a £10 admission this comes up to £110 a couple. Now we would never tell you how to spend your dosh, but for that kind of money we reckon you could get Ginger herself over to your gaff to rustle up a few curries while shouting out numbers. However,  this for a good cause so please support them if you can by popping in for a poppadum or a drink. Drag Bingo at Karchori is on 30 October and tickets can be grabbed on their website. 

Another reason we can’t allow Kachori to fall by the wayside is that its perhaps the only restaurant in London where you can eat the table wear. We kid you not. 

BETTY AND JOAN

Staying in Elephant Park and remaining on drag, a new bar and comedy club is opening and we couldn’t be more excited. The bar is listed as being gay, with cabaret and drag, but if that’s not your handbag the comedy appears to be more mixed. They’re having an opening party on 11 December and if you want to join the waiting list then enter your details over on their website. They fling open their majestic doors later this year, so stick that in the little sparkly diary we’ve been telling you to buy for ages. 

Chocolate Dino Company

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Chocolate Dino Company is an independent bakery/sandwich joint/cocktail bar (whew) in Kennington Road. Owned by two local guys who live behind the place, we last visited Dino for a sweet treat during their embryonic opening days. Now that they’re established we’re revisiting for their savoury options….and of course to enjoy another giant cookie.

When entering their very stylish premises, what you initially encounter are voluminous offerings of croissants with various fillings, brownies, muffins, cookies, and things made to look vaguely healthy by the inclusion of a piece of fruit. But we were here for savoury fare, and Karen from Finance chose the bacon and egg bagel with cheese, which she excitedly chose to have toasted. It was presented with two omelette style eggs and the bacon was proper and crispy. The sauce was in a Dino manner properly inventive and involved sweet onion jam and Sriracha mayonnaise. 

Your scribe enjoyed a pastrami bagel with caramelised onion, pickles, and a mustard/mayo sauce. It was generously stuffed and kept us going through the endless stream of faxes received later in the day. These particular bagels might not be available when you visit, but they will doubtless have other offerings and the boys can talk you through the options. And as we have the discipline  of an unneutered cat, we of course had a white chocolate cookie with an strange looking yet delicious smear. Heated to perfection. 

We tried to upload images of our bagels but they rather looked like snaps from a prison canteen. Please enjoy these stock photos from their Insta feed.

Dino is an independent bakery/restaurant/bar and they’re throwing everything they can to exist in a very crowded and increasingly uncompetitive market. Their price point for baked goods (£5 for an eat in cookie) puts them very much at the ‘gourmet’ end of the market, but you can easily pop over for a coffee or something at the lower end of their price spectrum. And in a way a trip to Dino can be quite efficient, as where else can you knock out two sins by eating a cookie and drinking a glass of wine at the same time?

Chocolate Dino Company is open Thursday to Sunday. Check out their socials for the precise timings. 

Collective in Kennington Park

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With a sense of unencumbered shock we recently realised that it’s been over four years since KR visited the pizza and cake establishment Collective, which occupies the lovely cottage at the back of Kennington Park and owned by three locals. So we recently made another trip in order to see how they size up to the increasingly competitive Greater Kennington pizza market.  

The day in question was ‘stapling day’ for Karen from Finance, so we asked her to join us to break up the tedium and avoid RSI. . She chose the Tuxford Tommi blue, perhaps the most indulgent pizza on the menu featuring tomato sauce, quality mozzarella, Napoli salami, Tuxford Tommi blue cheese, garlic and Bee Urban (which is behind Collective) rosemary. Organic, sustainable and free range are all buzzy words for Collective so you can tell the focus is in ingredients, and we found that to be true with the pizzas that we enjoyed

Your scribe ordered the Napolitana, which was an umami kick of anchovies, capers and black olives, augmented by mozzarella and tomato.  It was a proper, thin Neapolitan crust with raised blistered edges, almost to the level of Theo’s, which KR adore. All ingredients were good quality and this creative combination worked very well, provided you like a pizza with a bit of punch and salt. 

We also ordered a Caprese salad. It was very generously sized and one could be shared. It offered abundant segments of tomato, combined with torn buffalo mozzarella pieces, basil and olive oil. The tomatoes were slightly, lets say ‘Tescoesque’ (even if organic) and the buffalo mozzarella less creamy than some, but overall with the basil and olive oil it hit most of the right notes and was good alongside the top notch pizza. 

Collective if you are reading this (and why wouldn’t you?) we love your, well, collective nature as its nice to see a place where folks can easily work on their laptops, catch up with friends, and where dogs are celebrated. However, what we don’t love is your lack of recycling bins. We were compelled to schlep our recyclables back to Runoff towers, but others were just chucking their cans in the bin. So we’re wagging our oily, pizza engorged finger at you! 

Collective is open daily and until 20:00, so is a viable dinner option. The pizzas are midsized, mostly individual affairs, so Karen and I could have our own. And of course, if you don’t fancy pizza they also have a keen looking selection of pastries. 

SKVP (Shree Krishna Vada Pav)

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Here at the Runoff we pride ourselves on promoting small business, and while new arrival SKVP in Vauxhall may be the most recent outlet of a small chain, we’ve paid them a visit because a) we all need to be eating more vegetarian food and b) it is located in what we call a jinxed property and we feel sorry for them. Plus, anywhere that has a Bollywood movie corner with a VHS machine (kids, ask your parents what this is)  can’t be all bad. 

Considering the petite nature of SKVP, the length of the menu is mind bending. Gwen the intern pondered and then went for the Weekday Deal of vada pav and pav bhaji The pav was a delicious spicy fried potato fritter inside a soft toasted dinner roll, served alongside a bhaji: a traditional Mumbai street food of mashed spiced vegetables again with what looked like school dinner rolls. Research tells us this is actually authentic, but next time Gwen wants to seek out an option with what we understand better to be Indian breads, such as paratha or roti. Please do this in your own time, Gwen. 

Your scribe opted for the mutter paneer with rice an and added soft drink. The mutter paneer was a good example of this rich, spicy pea and Indian cheese favourite and the rice was fluffy, as it should be. And it gave your scribe a flimsy excuse to eat cheese in the middle of the daytime. You might want to research the menu ahead of time so as not to panic when confronted with so much choice. 

We hope SKVP succeeds in spite of its funny name and jinxed location along from the Nandos in Vauxhall. You might recall that location was a Dirty Burger and a sub sandwich place, among other things. And on most Sunday mornings where you can find people crawling out of nightclub ‘Fire’. We call them ‘Fire Damage’. 

Metropolis London

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If you dare venture into other neighbourhoods, you might have detected that big venues full of small eateries are now well established. An example is Market Place in Vauxhall which we reviewed in 2022. With  Railtrack’s mission of gentrifying the gays out of the Vauxhall arches now nearing it’s completion, we felt compelled to visit enormous Metropolis London in Albert Embankment.  While Metropolis itself is far from independent it’s food stalls definitely are, and here is what we found.

We took new intern and overall zippy gal Beth for a working lunch. As Beth is on a health kick, she headed over to the Curry Club  and chose the dahl with spinach and paratha. At £6.99 this has to be one of the bargains of the Metropolis food options (which aren’t exactly cheap). As you can see, it was a small but adequate serving of a luscious dahl with good spice and coconut coming through and it is served with two whole parathas, providing plenty of that flaky, stretchy Indian flatbread to soak everything up. She pronounced it to be very good indeed and a terrific lunch option.

Your scribe headed for the curiously named Uzbeki place ‘Shpaz’, which Beth observed is the sound that a tiny dog makes when it pops out of a posh lady’s handbag and sneezes. For £10 we had the Lag Nam chicken noodles. Served in a rich broth, this healthy option featured hand pulled noodles, carrots, celery, peppers and what tasted like barberries and dried coriander. Very light and satisfying.   Other cuisines at Metropolis include Italian, Thai, burgers, pizza, Japanese and Greek. And of course poke bowls, as it is now illegal to have a food village without one. 

We are aware that these look like dishes that could be served in a prison canteen but….
photographing food is very difficult!

Metropolis occupies two huge arches and there are plenty of tables both outside and in. Outside features a cute coffee/pasty hut which also serves pints. The second arch is dominated by a massive bar and a stage to appeal to an evening crowd. While it is very sad that thanks to Railtrack independent LGBTQI+ assets such as Above the Stag theatre have gone to that giant curtain call in the sky, at least there are some independent shops of a fashion opening up in their place. 

Pullens Yard Open Studios

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As frequent readers are all too aware, we here at the Runoff love nothing more than anonymously sticking our noses where they don’t belong. And you too can take part in our passion/dysfunction by attending the great Pullens Yard Open Studios weekend taking place on 7-9 June 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. We once bought moth balls disguised by little knitted mice.

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 creative 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 bumped into neighbours. In 2022 we went on a wet Friday night which proved particularly evocative. 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.

And if you’re hungry or want some tea, check out the great and very quirky Electric Elephant Café. 

Walcot Stores

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In Greater Kennington we are blessed with a complement of independent coffee shops such as Change Please in Elephant Park, Kennington Coffee Shop, Urban Botanica, newbie Capheum, and of course the mighty Bouquets and Beans. We’re proud to announce another has joined our serried ranks and is located in an oft looked overlooked part of our area, at the top of Walcot Square near Brook Drive. 

We made our surreptitious trip to Walcot Stores coffee shop on a Sunday morning. On the Lords’ day it’s difficult to entice Runoff staff to work, so we asked our accounts guru and self confessed party boy Phil if he’d like to join us for ‘a drink or two’ on Sunday morning. He arrived looking confused and crestfallen, but willing to act as our additional pair of eyes. Walcot is very clean, bright, and inviting. They sell gift cards and crafting things, with chirpy owner Millie defining her gaff as a ‘creative café’. She also confirmed it as a place where people can take a break if they want to work outside of the home. Dogs are allowed. 

We came for a caffeine kick, and Phil had an Americano which he described as rich and smooth, and your scribe had an Earl Grey. A variety of milk and substitutes were also offered, and presented in 60’s retro crockery. Of special interest were the fresh and tasty pastries. Phil had the GF coconut and almond ‘mini mouthful’, where your scribe opted for a blueberry oat crumble bar. The bar was moist and sweet with a big hit of ground almond. There were a range of good looking pastries with Millie explaining that savoury items, such as overnight oats and foccacia bread, are also available. Isn’t this sounding so of the moment! 

Walcott Stores is located in an old neighbourhood grocery shop and we have stolen unearthed a photo from its earlier incarnation, below. Walcot is a fine place to work, catch up with friends, or grab a quick coffee/bite on the go. And Phil, if you’re reading this, we hope you’ve taken away a valuable lesson from this experience, as things aren’t always what they appear to be. Except quality coffee.   

Shopping and (kind of) Dating

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We’ve been big fans of Solo Craft Fair since they opened in Elephant Stores (in Elephant Park) a few years ago, and were here to tell you about an upcoming yummy event. In case you don’t know, Solo is a collective of 60 mostly female owned small businesses selling all sorts of things you don’t really need but must have, from earrings to gift cards to candles.

On 31 March, Solo will be having another instalment of their Blind Date With a Book event. This got us very excited as many of us in the office have vast experience of blind dates (and on a number of those we wish we’d been blind ourselves) However, when we reached out to SoLo they explained that there is no actual dating involved. What it cleverly entails is selecting a wrapped up book with written clues about the book on the wrapping, and you select based on your moods. One might contain a £10 voucher. You then take the book away and go on dates with it by reading it. A lot cheaper than dating an actual human with no worries about drunken date photos popping up on Instagram. 

As dating can be emotionally and physically draining, you could do a lot worse than grab a toastie or hot drink at Little Louie, also in Elephant Stores. And while you’re there why not pick up a a French school desk or a giant reclaimed letter ‘A’? 


Ten Best Places to Eat in Greater Kennington – The Roast

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+ One Sunday Roast

24 The Oval – Best Sunday Roast

We’re taking a break from our highly subjective yet profoundly moving top 10 list to announce that the best Sunday roast in Greater Kennington is, for the fourth year in a row, the very cheffy 24 The Oval. It was also once again almost knocked off this spot for crimes against viniculture but we’ll get to that later. 

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 things. 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 in 2023 and they sell 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 fanatic 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 go in for none of that ‘small sharing plates’ malarkey, the real star of the show being the very well cooked veg. In addition to those served with the roast, we were presented with so many additional veg items that they almost fell 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 chin wag. An unexpected mystery guest for us were Jerusalem artichokes. The mains run between £22.50 and £26 which ain’t cheap, but we feel is worth it once in a while and the portions seemed endless.

24, 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 £30, which is almost 225% above the retail price. Granted, this is unchanged from 2023. We are letting you off the hook as there is a cost of living/wine crisis but we’re watching you *wags finger*! Otherwise you make a mighty fine roast and you know it. 

Ten Best Places to Eat in Greater Kennington # 10

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+ One Sunday Roast

TARO

The number ten spot has been grabbed by the Japanese canteen Taro at the bottom of Kennington Road. Part of the Greater Kennington firmament for over five years now, Taro consistently delivers 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 reams above the lot, and militantly avoids fusion cuisine. 

  • `Taro 2022
  • Taro 2024, still consistent!

Some Runoff staff have been to Japan and on a previous Taro visit we took KR freelance journalist 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.

And if you’re lucky, Taro himself will be on hand to guide you through his dishes and can remind us all that sushi should never be served cold. And yes, Tesco have been tagged in this post.