La Chatica Colombian Café, Deli & Bakery

Posted on April 6, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

Back to London’s Latin American Quarter to visit La Chatica, a Colombian cafe, deli, bakery, and bar on Elephant Road in North Kennington.

La Chatica seems to have started as a business importing Latin American food before opening this cafe. They “use the finest South American ingredients” to make their version of the “much-loved” Pan de Bono (cheese bread), Pan de Yuca (another type of cheese bread) and Empanadas (the Latin American equivalent of a pasty).

So how does Latin American food shape up? Mexico and Argentina are justly famously for their cuisines. Brazil has some great restaurants. But elsewhere in the continent, it can be hard to find great food besides meat, fish, rice and salad. So La Chatica definitely feels authentic, with its baked goods wrapped in cellophane, rich in sugar and caramel. But if you don’t fancy those, you can just window shop the product displays. You’ll soon forget you’re under a railway arch in London:

La Chatica is open seven days a week, and they serve 100% Colombian coffee, freshly squeezed orange juice, freshly made baked goods every day, and they have free wifi.

Save Our Subways

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

There are plans afoot to fill in the subways at the north roundabout in North Kennington. With our focus on the finer things in Kennington life, you might think we’d say good riddance to subways. You’d be wrong. Subways provide extra space for pedestrians. Without them, locals will face long waits at pedestrian crossings or, more likely in our case, dangerous dashes across up to six lanes of traffic. Where they’re confusing or aesthetically challenged, let’s have more signs, more lighting, and a fresh lick of paint rather than filling them with tonnes of concrete.

So we’re backing the Save Our Subways campaign.

This is our biggest foray yet into campaigning, but we’re brimming with confidence following the success of our campaigns to bring veggie burgers to Honest Burger, Waitrose to Kennington, and mindfulness to Sally White staff. Only this time we need your help.

Have a look at the “Boris Bodge” proposals here and register your opinions here, paying particular attention to question 4.

Photo courtesy of saveoursubways.org

Kennington guerrilla gardening

Posted on March 16, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

The nice people at Kennington Flowers have made Kennington Cross even more colourful by planting flowers in the tree pit in front of St Anselm’s Church. Perhaps fuelled by Coffee Mob coffee, they’ve broken away from the staid confines of traditional garden design and gone for something akin to a Skittles spillage:

While we’re on the subject of guerrilla gardening, would anyone like to claim responsibility for the cyclamen in the tree pits further up Kennington Road? North Kennington is home to the founder of GuerrillaGardening.org Richard Reynolds (Britain’s 24th most influential gardener), but we’re assured these cyclamen are not his handy work.

Anyway, well done everyone – keep planting.

the best restaurant in Kennington

Posted on March 5, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

Firstly, honourable mentions to other places that received votes: Mumbai Delight and Pizza Pazza are just outside the borders of Kennington, and we must visit Pico and revisit Koza – watch this space.

But the winner is…

1. The Lobster Pot
pros: one of London’s best seafood restaurants. It’s great fun from top to bottom and there’s nowhere else like it; you even get a special bib if you order the lobster
cons: it’s not cheap
hygiene rating: 5

The top ten best restaurants in Kennington – numbers 10 to 8

Posted on February 23, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

The votes have been ~~ignored~~ counted, so now we begin our countdown of the top ten restaurants in Kennington:

10. Mamuśka
pros: it’s great fun and cheap
cons: Polish milk bar food can be somewhat utilitarian
hygiene rating: 5

9. Gandhi’s
There are two renowned curry houses in Kennington – Gandhi’s and the Kennington Tandoori. Both do good quality food but we prefer Gandhi’s for their vegetable thali and their social media strategy (which is non-existent so preferable to Kennington Tandoori’s).
pros: you might see someone famous
cons: it will probably be a senior politician or Professor Green
Gandhi’s hygiene rating: 4
KT hygiene rating: 5

8. Bonnington Cafe
pros: this would be no. 1 for atmosphere
cons: the vegetarian and vegan food is inevitably hit and miss due to the rota of volunteer chefs
hygiene rating: 3

what part of Kennington should you live in?

Posted on January 21, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

What could you eat forever?

A) coconut and tamarind fish curry
B) double Ginger Pig-bred cheeseburger in a brioche bun
C) ceviche
D) lemongrass sesame pork rice vermicelli
E) quinoa and camargue red rice salad
F) spicy hot beef and okra stew on injera
G) McDonald’s happy meal

What is your jam?

A) Heaven Is A Place On Earth by Belinda Carlisle
B) Slave To The Rhythm by Grace Jones
C) Windowlicker by Aphex Twin
D) Pass Out by Tinie Tempah
E) Vindaloo by Fat Les
F) You Got The Love by Florence & The Machine
G) Timber by Pitbull feat. Ke$ha

Which is your favourite Kevin Spacey?

A) House of Cards Kevin Spacey
B) LA Confidential Kevin Spacey
C) The Usual Suspects Kevin Spacey
D) Seven Kevin Spacey
E) Late night dog walking Kevin Spacey
F) American Beauty Kevin Spacey
G) K-PAX Kevin Spacey

What’s on the top of your Kennington bucket list?

A) watching Florence from Florence & The Machine do an impromptu drunken covers set at a tiki bar
B) dancing till the sun comes up then comes down again
C) going to Radiohead’s Boiler Room takeover at Corsica Studios
D) exploring urban forests and soaking up ruin porn before it’s too late
E) attending a private view at Damien Hirst’s new gallery
F) going to a test match
G) watching Millwall play at home

How did you score?

Mostly A’s – you should live in Central Kennington
Mostly B’s – you should live in West Kennington (formerly known as Vauxhall)
Mostly C’s – you should live in North Kennington (formerly known as Elephant & Castle)
Mostly D’s – you should live in East Kennington (formerly known as Walworth)
Mostly E’s – you should live in North West Kennington (formerly known as Lambeth)
Mostly F’s – you should live in South Kennington (formerly known as Oval)
Mostly G’s – you should not live in Kennington; would suggest Fallujah, or Clapham

Kennington Runoff is dreaming of a White Christmas, just like the ones we used to know

Posted on December 25, 2013 by Kennington Runoff

The cannons outside the Imperial War Museum in the snow:

Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park and Lambeth Road in the snow, with Perspective Building in the background, a building which is heavily inspired by ski jumps.

West Square in the snow:

Happy Christmas to all our readers.

Emanuel Peruvian restaurant

Posted on October 13, 2013 by Kennington Runoff

Big things are happening with Peruvian cuisine in London – Soho’s Ceviche now has its own cookbook, and Fitzrovia’s very fine Lima restaurant was recently awarded a Michelin star. But fear not – North Kennington, AKA London’s Latin American Quarter, has its own Peruvian restaurant, Emanuel on Amelia Street (in fact it has more than one, but that is for another day). We’ve never been to Peru but based on dining experiences elsewhere in Latin America, we suspect Emanuel is a lot closer to what you’ll find in Peru than Lima is. It’s not much to look at inside or out, but go there for the food and the atmosphere. We went on a Sunday lunchtime when the kitchen is open until 3pm, and it was packed with Latin Americans, including one birthday party.

While you’re waiting for your food – and it could be a while if they’re busy – they will bring you toasted chulpe corn, AKA cancha salada, Peru’s all-time favourite snack, which is like crunchier popcorn:

Ceviche (pretty different to what you’ll get in the Soho Ceviche):

Paella (pescatarians will do fine at Emanuel; vegetarians less well):

And to drink, how about an Inca Kola, a Peruvian national icon containing lemon verbena, or Cristal, a Peruvian lager (not to to be confused with the Chilean or Cuban beers of the same name):

Actually, before you order the Kola, check the nutritional advice:

Elefest

Posted on October 1, 2013 by Kennington Runoff

Elefest is the festival for North and East Kennington and runs from October 4th to 6th. In previous years we’ve enjoyed the The StockMKT, a night market on Friday and Saturday from 5pm-10pm with great food, craft beer, arts and crafts, live music and DJs.

This year you can also go on a tour of the subways under the north roundabout with David Bratby, the artist who painted the murals on their walls, and there’s an art exhibition in the old doctor’s surgery on the soon-to-be-demolished Heygate Estate which has got to be worth a visit for lovers of ruin porn. There’s a screening of The Harder They Come, which features one of the Kennington Runoff’s favourite records, Many Rivers To Cross by Jimmy Cliff, followed by a DJ set from Don Letts.

More Elefest events here.

The Elefest branding is really great this year, and will be even better when the festival is given its rightful name, North Kennifest:

Two more photos of wonderful things from the Cinema Museum

Posted on September 23, 2013 by Kennington Runoff

Stakeout on Dope Street at the Odeon Elephant & Castle:

In case you can’t read the dialogue:

“You’re peddling the stuff, aren’t you?”

“You got a connection? We can get plenty – all you can handle!”

“You squares stay pure – not me! This is a round-the-world ticket!”

Kennington Runoff

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

Category Archives: North Kennington