The Ship 
The Elephant and Castle
The Black Dog 
The Prince of Wales (takeaway)
The Pilgrim 
The Dog House
The Tankard 
The Duchy Arms
Kennington Pubs Open Up, Tonight
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Category Archives: pubs and bars
The KR Doghouse experiment
Last night we ventured out to local Kennington watering hole The Dog House as a flimsy excuse to get tipsy in the middle of the week means to ascertain how the new Tier 2 system works in pubs. We do suffer for our craft.
We were a group of six so we sat outside. The tables were spaced comfortably far apart and half the tables were not occupied. This could have possibly been due to the fact that it was flipping freezing outside (if you’re reading this, Dog House, you might want to think about heaters). A group of seven men arrived and the staff told them they couldn’t sit at the same table, which was laudable. Tables inside were also spaced about a metre apart.
Now for the interesting bit. You are not able to order a drink before your meal and they must be ordered with the food. The Dog House had an ‘express special’ of a jacket potato at £7 which counted as a mains. We didn’t meander into ‘does a Scotch egg count’ territory. We were able to order more drinks during the meal to our hearts content. Even if it is a technical no no, someone even ordered a drink after their plate had been collected.
So life is pivoting toward a semblance of pseudo normality day by day. And It’s even possible to book the tables outside, just give them a call.
Takeaway Thai at Oaka
Remember that halcyon time when you could go to a place and consume alcoholic beverages with your friends? Well, that ain’t gonna happen right now, but some of these places are still serving food. One is Oaka at Mansion House in Kennington Park Road. We’ve always given the place a wide berth as it reminds us of a cocktail bar in the departures lounge at Luton Airport. We were therefore surprised to discover that they have a pretty tasty Thai menu.
There were three of us eating, and we had two Panang curries (one prawn, one chicken) and two Pad Thai noodles (one prawn, one chicken). The Panang curries were packed with flavour, plenty of hot (not too hotpot) and sharp spice, a warm hint of aniseed and a rich coconut milk based sauce – it’s fairly liquid but great with some jasmine rice – very tasty. With the chicken option there’s more meat to the dish, but the prawns were nice and fat. The Pad Thai had plenty going on with the abundant veg and noodles and possessed a tingling kick. Generous prawn crackers were thrown in as well. The total came to just over £60
All the proof you ever need 
that we’re not food photographers
Running a website which encourages people out of the house when people should be staying in the house isn’t easy. In the past we have pillioried outfits such as Deliveroo and Just Eat as they encouraged people to sit at home watching Selling Sunset as opposed going out and discovering things. However *grits teeth* we now appreciate the role that they play in keeping us all safe, and we will never throw virtual poo their way again. And Just Eat, we’ll even forgive you for that bizarre TV ad featuring Snoop Dogg.
Getting a bit botanical in Montford Place
The Beefeater Distillery became an ‘experience’ in 2014 and since then the Runoff has been keen to visit. However, we rather balked at the notion of shelling out £16 a head to tour what is in essence a factory, even with the added benefit of getting sozzeled in the end. So when we saw that #beinvauxhall were offering two for one tickets we leapt at the chance. We wrote a little missive about the history of Beefeater in Kennington last year.
The Beefeater experience starts self guided, with a very slick history of the sauce, covering everything from the ‘gin lane’ era of Hogarth and unregulated spirits, to US prohibtion and the rise of the speakeasy. Intertwined are fun little videos about how gin is produced and the propagation of gin distilleries in London over the years.
Our enthusiastic Italian tour guide Maria took over for the second part of the tour and put more depth into the gin making process. In the tasting room we sampled different kinds of gin and the botanicals that give different varieties their unique flavour. This included not only juniper but also orange peel, coriander, tea, licorice, and angelica seed. Our only slight digression was when Maria asked ‘so what does that remind you of’ and your scribe shouted ‘Bombay Sapphire’. Moving on…
The last part of our journey was indeed the most fascinating as we had a very informative tour of the stills and learned more about the distillation process. Maria was also able to verify a long held Kennington urban myth-…..only five people are employed and produce all of the Beefeater gin sent around the globe.
The event ended with a G&T in their tasting room and we left with the best of both worlds – feeling cerebrally enhanced and a bit tipsy. With the added benefit of being able to say to our mates with confidence – ‘yeah, I’m really getting heavy notes of angelica seed here’.
The Be in Vauxhall deal runs at least until the end of the year, and details can be found here. Even if Be in Vauxhall is a faceless marketing company they still seem to know what’s going on, so its fun to have a root around their website if nothing else.
Zeitgeist – German beer heaven
If we told you there was a German restaurant in Greater Kennington you’d probably say ‘get the schntizel outta here’. Well there is – and it’s a gastropub called Zeitgeist in Black Prince Road. The Ethelred estate seems like a rather implausible place for a pub geared at the German community, so we donned our Alpine headwear to check it out.
Zeitgest has a host of German beers including Pils, Helles, Hefeweizen, Kolsch and Altbier all on draft, with some bottled beers as well. A pint came gratis with our meal, which was a bonus. Of course eating was involved, and I had the Zeitgeist Flammkuchen, which is a kind of Alsace pizza. The base was extremely thin and crumbly, and the pizza consisted simply of munster cheese with pastrami. I’m not exactly sure why it was served on a piece of torn cardboard but lets just call that ‘rustic’, shall we?
My dining partner had the Jager Schnitzel, which consisted of a generous chunk of veal, well breaded, and a creamy mushroom sauce. The huge pile of chips beneath it, unfortunately, had spent most of their short lives in a freezer.
In summary, let’s just say that eating at Zeitgeist is an activity best undertaken when you’re not entirely sober. But that’s easy, as for the German beers they have 18 on tap varying from the big German brands to the more niche. It’s also a fun environment and usually shows German football and plays 80’s music. The free beer with a mains ends on 31 August so you better get your Gesäß in motion.
Vauxhall Food and Beer Garden
When the Vauxhall Food and Beer Garden opened a few years ago in the bin storage area behind London’s most notorious nightclub, we said to our bemused selves ‘right, so we’re supposed to eat and sip cocktails in an alley behind Fire, surrounded by empty kegs and nitrous oxide canisters?’
Since opening in 2014 the Food and Beer garden has been incrementally upping its game, and last year even started hosting comedy nights. As they’ve been plugging themselves relentlessly on social media recently we went over to inspect. Additionally, we liked the fact that the space allows people to eat and drink more safely by being outdoors (with big marquees if it rains).
We timed our visit to coincide with the ‘after work’ crowd, but when we arrived we realised that the ‘after work’ crowd really doesn’t exist anymore. Undeterred, on our mission we discovered no fewer than 40 beers on tap, with wines also available On the street food front we spotted Greek, Mexican, Chinese, French, Wagyu burgers and ramen. Even if it had been buzzing there was plenty of space to distance yourself. This extended to the toilets, which are the spacious toilets of Fire (but we suspect a lot cleaner).
Before the world turned upside down one of our favourite pastimes was sitting in Starbucks of a Monday morning and watching people falling out of Fire at 9am. We called it ‘Fire damage’.
The Vauxhall food market is open daily from lunchtime to 10:30pm and is great for a quick drink with friends or a ‘I don’t want to cook tonight and I have to get out of the house’ meal. We have also strolled past on a Friday night recently and it is rather lively.
How much has the Kennington pub scene changed?
As much as we’ve cherished the experience of standing in the middle of Kennington Cross drinking takeaway beers out milk containers, we were brimming with giddy thrill when we learned that pubs would be re opening on 4 July. Unfortunately the top brass at Kennington Runoff got wind of our excitement and demanded we work over the weekend undertaking a covert pub crawl. Oh, we do suffer for our craft.
Yesterday your intrepid reporter and three safely selected associates began our journey at the Dog House, as there is outside seating. Ordering is at the bar behind a Perspex screen and you can drink by spaced seats either indoor or out. It didn’t feel different to many other afternoons there, and if anything was more quiet (and they were even showing football). Afterwards we decided to move to the Duchy Arms, as they seem to be the perpetual underdog in the area. With a large garden they are perhaps having their long overdue moment, and the manager at the door explained that they were at ‘safe capacity’ (pic below), which was about 60%. He also helped us to clarify a puzzling riddle we’ve had of late – ‘can you book a table just for a drink’. And the answer is yes.
Dog House 
Duchy Arms
Undaunted, we then moved into Vauxhall and tried to get a table at the ever popular Black Dog. The chirpy doorman explained that they were also at safe capacity and he suggested that we saunter to the other end of Spring Gardens and try the Vauxhall Tavern. The place was very buzzy, gay and straight, and we sat on a table on the stage (!). This was unusually the only place where we needed to leave our name. It also had a very handy method of scanning a QR code and ordering at the table. Afterwards we went to The Pilgrim, but to be honest dear reader this is when our journalistic skills became a bit compromised. But we do remember that people were standing and drinking at the bar, which we’re not really sure is recommended. Hand sanitisers were readily available everywhere.
The Black Dog 
The Vauxhall Tavern
Overall our little tour revealed a pub landscape that, while different, was more normal than we had previously believed. For instance, we thought the toilet situation would be a ‘raise your hand like you’re in year 6’ affair, but it seemed very straightforward. And while people sitting at tables were not distancing, different tables were spaced apart adequately. The success of Kennington pubs and the livelihoods of the people who work there depend entirely on our ability to use them safely, and our verdict is that you can.
A celebration of Kennington pubs
Do you remember a halcyon time when we could go to a place and have a drink with people we didn’t live with? Well those days will be upon us again in some kind of fashion on 4 July. Some of these pubs are gone forever, some others rebuilt, and few looking amazingly familiar. We could stare at the pictures all day, and enjoy….
A taste of takeaways and pubs
We have to face up to the reality that we won’t be eating in a Greater Kennington restaurant any time soon. And when we do, we might encounter the indignity of having to shout ‘hey, can I have some more ketchup please’ from across a socially distanced room. To address this, some local restaurants are offering a takeaway or collection service with a limited menu. The places offering this service generally let you know via social media.
One of our favourite local takeaways is unsung gem ‘Taste of India’ next to the bike shop in Kennington Road. On a recent visit my associate had lamb korai, which was heavy on the lamb and onions but a bit light on the spice. Your reporter had the prawn bunha, which had a very good mix of spices, thick gravy and full of tomatoes. On previous visits we’ve enjoyed the madras and jalfrezi, which certainly delivered on the spice front. Side dishes are always a highlight with Indian food, and we recommend the huge, crunchy onion bhajis, garlc naan bread, and tarka daal.
While it might not possess the Prime Ministerial credentials or razzmatazz of Kennington Tandoori, we think Taste of India *prepares for hate mail* is better. Taste of India doesn’t quite achieve the culinary highs of Gandhi’s, but sadly it isn’t open. And if you don’t fancy Indian food but you still want to sample the fare at ‘Taste of India’, then why not plump for their…..wait for it…….sushi!
Over the past week a few local pubs have also opened offering takeaway drinks and a reduced menu, for collection only. We’re very excited about this development and enjoyed a pint at The Doghouse on Friday night, and then another at The Black Prince. This goes a bit to retaining a sense of normality and also helps these small businesses. We suggest you take your drinks home, however, to avoid being known as ‘that street drinker who lives a few doors down’. Other pubs further afield might be offering this service, so again check them out on social media and eat safely.
Once upon a time in Kennington
Once upon a time it was possible to go to a place and have a drink with other people. One of those places was in central Kennington and called ‘The Tommyfield’ and they had a cracking stand up night called ‘Always Be Comedy’. We wrote about ABC in July and have been regulars since its inception eight years ago. We’re big fans of the evening as it’s always nice to see up and coming comics in addition to big names, and of course they’re honoured to be in our manor.
Last week ABC started a virtual comedy night and we popped along, partially out of curiosity and partially to avoid watching another episode of ‘Tiger King’. They had a few tech problems but considering that they were switching between three comics and the MC, it went pretty well. They have a few upcoming shows and we highly recommend them for a change of pace.
Wed 15 April – Josh Widdicombe and others
Wed 22 April – Sara Pascoe, Nick Helm, and a ‘mystery guest’ (usually a pretty big name)
Wed 29 April – James Veitch and others
Wed. 6 May Iain Sterling (the guy who does the voiceover for Love Island….not that we watch it) and others.
All shows run from about 8 to 10 and the best bit is you can watch in your underwear without being picked on by the comedians. Tickets are a fiver and can be purchased here.
When this mayhem has subsided places like The Tommyfield and ABC will need our patronage more than ever. When it’s possible to go in the flesh again ABC has a good atmosphere with a fun mix of people. However, on your first visit it’s hard to escape the eerie notion that you’ve just stumbled into a reunion of contestants from ‘The Apprentice’.
Hang in there, folks. After all, by invoking that wartime spirit we all got through the great toilet roll crisis of late March.
