Category Archives: Stuffing your face

Independent X-Mas Shopping in Greater Kennington 2024

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From Panettone to Posh Puppy Food

Before we commence our mega mix of how you can buy gifts for people you love/put up with this Christmas, let’s think about the Greater Kenningtonians out there who are struggling to put food on the table in these difficult times. This year we’re supporting the Secret Santa campaign run by our friends over at the Kennington Association. Last year KA raised funds to give shopping vouchers to 150 local households, with the families chosen by local early needs professionals. To find out more and to donate, click here. If you like the more hands on approach there is a food collection box next to the exit at Tesco in Kennington Lane. 

FOOD AND DRINK

Italo Vauxhall and Nosh at Marcellos  (formerly Mimi’s Deli) both have a range of Italian foodie gift ideas including wines, beers, spices, panettone (that’s Italian for ‘stale cake’), oils, cheeses and even posh sauces. Mimi’s has also added to the seating at turned it into a kind of glitter themed pop up Italian accessory shop not visible from the road. They also do custom made hampers. As you can see below, the joint is rammed this year.

The new kid on the Block is Chocolate Dino Company in Kennington Road. Before establishing a bricks and mortar premises they functioned primarily as an online retailer, and you can still buy their cookies and pastries online. Reserve this for someone you have a crush on. as the delicacies aren’t exactly cheap. But we need to support these fellas as they are the bulwark against Gail’s.

Oval Farmer’s Market Ever thought about buying an edible Christmas gift from our own beloved country market? They stock many things that won’t perish under the tree such as chorizo, chocolates and wine. We’re also concerned that the Market is kind of dying and we need to prevent this. You have two Saturdays before Christmas! 

The Market at Elephant Park is another newbie for 2024 and offers items similar to that found in Oval, with the addition of some wooly jumpers and those ponchos that you see everywhere but no one seems to wear.

Beefeater Gin Distillery has a lovely but totally deserted gift shop offering unusual, limited run gins and gin accessories. You can also buy a gift voucher to tour the distillery (we can confirm it’s great fun). Perfect for your loved one who likes a nice holiday tipple or to get your annoying uncle Fred to nod off before the turkey is served. We understand Beefeater’s parent company Pernot Ricard is the opposite of independent, but it’s Christmas so don’t judge us.

Orbit Brewery is our own hidden away little gem of a brewery in Walworth. Online or in person you can buy a range of their lagers, cders, ales, porters, and even socks. And the rumour is true, they sell tzatziki flavoured beer that we can only describe as, well, ‘adventurous’. 

Didi and Franc have gone full tilt in 2024 and are selling custom made hampers to fill with their gorgeous goods. But if, like us, you don’t fit their demographic, you can just buy one of their baskets and fill it with things from the corner shop. And while you’re there you can pick up a panettone at I due Amici next door. Panettone being of course the food that you never actually eat, but just regift at a Christmas party you’ve been invited to.

NON FOOD

 Castle Square  When you think of Christmas shopping the first thing that springs to mind probably isn’t ‘ooh, lets go to the place behind Elephant Station where they keep the bins’. But if you venture there you’ll discover a clutch of independent shops that used to exist in the shopping centre. Great for your younger folk looking for baseball caps, hoodies, clothes, or undergarments to make your bum look either smaller or larger. While there pop over to the retro video game emporium 4 Quarters?

SoLo Craft Fair is a collective of online artists and creatives who run a bricks and mortar shop in Elephant Park. Sixty small businesses have their work shown on rotation and during our journey we saw affordable jewellery, handbags, baskets, cards, scarves, bath salts, prints and T-shirts. Things that smell nice seem be dominant this year.

Hound Hut  The Hound Hut is proof that in Britain dogs are more important that mere humans. Known by us as the ‘Harrods of doggie treats’, here you can treat your pooch to refrigerated dog food too posh to eat yourself. And of course, what discerning doggie in Greater Kennington would be seen without a lamb ear (with hair!) to gnaw on?

Pretty Shiny Shop sit nexts to the Hound Hut and they swaggeringly claim to be Greater Kennington’s Christmas Shop (steady) and they stock a range or cards, houseware items, and Christmas tree goodies, and small pieces of jewellery. It’s like a giant Christmas explosion in that place. They even have a ‘dress your own Harry Styles’ kit.

Windmill Flowers stocks not just flowers but also collectables and houseware accessories and Mary is in charge to show you the way forward. Mary also has some Christmas trees and accessories for those who haven’t got their act together quite yet.  

Vanilla Black in addition to books also has some nice gift ideas such as cards and stockings and a few food items. We think VB secretly hate us but we’ve moved on with our lives and are plugging them anyway because this is the time for charity. Or something.

QueArts is a sterling little arts and crafts store across from Kennington Park and they also undertake framing. Great for your creative or just bored friends. 

Bee Urban is bee based charity in the middle of Kennington Park (behind the cafe) selling all sorts of honey and honey related things such as candles, fragrances, soaps and even cards. An interesting place to check out even if you don’t buy anything. And they sell Kennington honey!

Walworth Garden and Urban Botanica While perhaps not the easiest thing to wrap, have you ever considered the gift of houseplants? The charity and juggernaut of horticulture, Walworth Garden are selling cacti, cards and other things in their geodesic dome. While over in Kennington Cross, UB is one of the few places on earth where you can sip your Minor Figures chai latte while browsing Boston ferns.

Umber Works We’ve never seen an actual human being inside Umber Works in Kennington Park Road, but accordingly to their website they run a range of pottery workshops and offer gift vouchers. Of course, the downside of this is that you might be getting useless ceramic ashtrays for the next five years.

 

The Return of Firecracker

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We have expended an inordinate amount of emotional energy worrying about the former ‘Firecracker’ site in Windmill Row in Kennington Cross. But now, like a phoenix rising from our underground bunker, its back! For those not in the know, Firecracker Chinese restaurant and takeaway in Windmill Row was closed during Covid, opened briefly, and then closed for over three years owing to a pesky flooding issue. We can  officially report that the Runoff loves the new Firecracker. This time around the menu is shorter and cheaper and all main dishes come complete with rice or noodles. Just what one needs for a neighbourhood restaurant or a mid-week takeaway. 

Your scribe went to Firecracker with Bunty from HR.  As Bunty purports to be posh, he resisted sharing a starter. However, after being stabbed with a chopstick and a quick reminder as to who was paying, Bunty relented and we shared a prawn and chive dumpling. These were good quality with plenty of filling inside the glutinous dough and there was range of dipping sauces available. Bunty then went for a char sui roast pork and upgraded the steamed rice for chicken rice (but of course). This dish also came with some pak choi as standard. The pork was delicious and the chicken rice a revelation. Rebecca, our server, explained that this is rice cooked in chicken stock. 

Your scribe had a black bean sauce stir-fry with chicken served with steamed jasmine rice. The intense bean flavour set of the jasmine in the rice very well, with loads of juicy peppers and onions swimming in the mix. For those familiar, inside Firecracker it’s the same vibe as before. There are half a dozen or so tables with comfy seating and it is pleasantly, if a little brightly, lit for people of a certain age. Overall a comfortable place for a casual meal. There is a short wine list and prices are all in the £20-30 range.

We are glad to have Firecracker back and we think the simple and value-for-money menu will be a hit with former and new fans alike. Make sure you give heartly hello to manager/server Rebecca, who owns Firecracker with her family and who lives around the corner. 

Kennington Tandoori and Their Discount

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For reasons relating purely to our highly scientific yet wholly subjective Top Ten Best Places to Eat in Greater Kennington (+ one Sunday Roast) countdown,  your scribe and Karen from Finance made an exploratory revisit to Kennington Cross institution Kennington Tandoori. And to cash in on their 40% discount, but more on that later.  

We love the dark woods, slinky banquettes and high staff to diner ratio at KT, which lives in stark contrast to the kitsch appeal of nearby Ghandis, with their wonderful melange of celebs from a bygone era (Richard! Judy!) in the window. We started with two onions bhajis, which got Karen so excited that she ate both of them. While chewing, she waxed philosophical that this is a dish that demands a balance of crispness and softness, should be made with gram (chickpea) flour, and the added kick of spice was welcome. Karen stayed vegetarian for the rest of her meal, choosing Amritsari chole (a chickpea curry) and a tarka dahl. These both come as side dish sizes but together made for an adequate main. The chole was a particular revelation, medium to hot spice level and a great winter warmer. Tarka dahl is a reliable favourite, mildly spiced. 

Your scribe had the king prawn bhuna, which were cooked Sylhet style with carmelised onions, tomato, chillis and aromatic kaffir limes leaves. All very well balanced with just the right chilli kick. Your scribe experiences an existential, first world crisis when eating prawns in an Indian place. Do you eat the shells or burn your fingers getting them off? From the specials menu, Karen added an Afghan naan: effectively a naan studded with poppy and sesame seeds and was fresh from the tandoor. Your scribe had white rice. 

Until 30 November you too can also live like your scribe and Karen by taking advantage of the KT 40% discount by adding ‘Year40’ to your online booking. While a 40% is nice, what ends up happening with Runoff staff is that we capitalise on said discount by just ordering more items, which rather diminishes said discount. Please don’t turn into us because if you do, you’ll end up in a very dark place. 

Elephant Park Market

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Over the years we’ve seen Oval Farmers Market become smaller and less relevant, which is an inevitable symptom in the evolution of our cherished patch. Well, maybe not so inevitable given that a lot things there are overpriced. So we welcome the new outdoor market that’s popped up in Elephant Park. Elephant Park Market is in the new park located just south of Elephant Road, the home of some amazing South American joints and sometimes home to gentlemen who enjoy an outdoor beverage.

Elephant Park Market is a new neighbourhood market for street food and drink, artisanal food and designer-makers, bringing together and supporting independent, local, ethical and sustainable food producers and crafts traders (yes, we’ve cut and pasted from the press release). On our visit we saw traders selling cards, pastas, biltong, honey, juices, coffee, beauty products and, umm, pencils. We have a particular weakness for those soaps with things stuck in them which look strangely edible, and they’re on offer as well. 

The Market at Elephant Park runs every weekend, Saturday and Sunday from 12 to 5, and features over 20 independent traders. But keep going as there is plenty of room for growth and it appears to be getting larger. 

Mimi’s, now Nosh at Marcellos

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Nosh is one of those wonderfully overstuffed deli/sandwich joints that you really only get in London and New York, with every corner rammed with delicious looking oils, pastas, wines, and cheeses. Located at the top of Brixton Road, Nosh used to be Mimi’s Deli, best remembered  for the giant murals depicting women eating pasta and balancing boiling cups of espresso on their heads. After a brief period of renewal it has now been reimagined as Nosh at Marcello’s. Fear not, dear reader, as Marcello is Mimi’s brother and he has the same enthusiastic fervour for his products as did his sister.

As an Italian deli Nosh sells the usual items of antipasti, meats, cheeses, pastas, wines and coffee. However, Bettina from IT and your scribe came for the sandwiches. It was Bettina’s wish to consume her sandwich at work, but as we’re already struggling to get dust, crumbs and wine stains out of our keyboards she settled for the small yet delightful seating area at the back of Nosh. She had the Italian sausage with roasted peppers, Napoletana sauce and mozzarella. She commented on the generous amount of filling saying it had the flavour profile of a sausage ragu in panini form. It was rich, filling and had a lovely sundried tomato tone to it. 

Your scribe had a tuna melt in panini form which was so well dressed with parmigiana that we thought it had been dropped by accident. It was lightly grilled and served with a salad with balsamic glaze and Italian tomatoes. A lighter but no less filling feed than Bettina’s. At around £8 to £10 we thought it was good value considering that we live/work in central London and it’s independently owned. The café is adorned with some pleasing objet d’arts and is a prime spot for just a coffee or a tempting cannoli that you can inhale with one hand whilst gliding through Kennington Park. 

Nosh also has a tempting array of dried pastas and sauces, oils, breads and panettone that would work well as Christmas gifts. They would also act as suitable pressies for Runoff staff. Just DM us. 

The Tommyfield £20 Roast Deal. But Will It Make the Top Ten?

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In anticipation of our upcoming highly-scientific-yet-wholly-subjective Top 10 Best Places to Eat (+ one Sunday Roast) countdown in early 2025, we recently paid a visit to Kennington Cross stalwart The Tommyfield to inspect their Sunday Roast. The Tommyfield has had a few ups and downs with its kitchen over the years but here at Runoff Towers we think it’s on an up right now. Our last few weekday evening visits have seen us enjoy consistently good quality of output from the kitchen, whether it is the top notch pies or reliable burgers and fish & chips or some of the more adventurous offerings. 

As getting Phil from Accounts to go to a pub in the daytime is about as easy as getting a cat to drink milk, he joined us for our roast experience. Phil had the pork belly and it was generous and nicely roasted, the carrots and parsnips were a concentration of roasted perfection, cabbage still had some bite (good) and the roast potatoes were crispy and neat. The gravy was of a high standard and served in a little jug which we had to remind Phil was not, in fact, a shot glass.  It was thick and poured over the whole plate.  

Your scribe had the chicken roast which was a huge slab of meat with a skin that was satisfyingly cooked almost to crackling stage. It was also served with carrots cooked just to the point of being sweet, roast potatoes, and cabbage. It was dutifully served with bread sauce and gravy. Note that the chicken roast doesn’t come with a Yorkshire pudding but can be ordered at an extra cost *wags finger and points at Tommyfield*, and this was our only gripe as everyone on planet earth loves a Yorkie. 

We don’t see a Yorkie. Can you see a Yorkie?

The Sunday roasts also come in a beef and lentil format and are priced at £19. However, we took advantage of their special offer and for £20 had a roast and dessert. We had very fresh banoffee pies which we managed to convince ourselves was the healthy option as it had a banana stuck into it. The  Tommyfield Roasts are delicious, but is it enough to dethrone 24 The Oval from its longstanding perch as best Roast in the area? All will be revealed in February. 

The Tommyfield is also home to Always Be Comedy; a stonking comedy night that now runs most nights of the week. Over the years we’ve seen (oops better pick up that names we’re about to drop) Harry Hill, Romesh Ranganthan, Sara Pascoe and Joe Lycett, to name a few. And laughing with the people onstage is only half the fun, as all the punters resemble a giant casting call for the ‘Apprentice’. 

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. 

Is Taro Still Tops?

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Taro has been in Kennington for four years now and has established itself as a local favourite, and this was certainly in evidence when we visited on a busy Thursday night.  We’re currently revisiting our ‘Top Ten List of Best Places to Eat in Greater Kennington 2024’ winners to see what has fallen out of favour or improved,  and Taro nabbed the #10 spot.  We love Taro for consistently  serving up authentic ‘Izakaya’ fare, roughly meaning, ‘pub food’, but are they still worthy of their noble accolade? We can imagine they’re shaking in their sushi right now awaiting our answer.

On this visit we focused on the sushi section of the menu. The Taro sushi board offered a great mix of different nigiri and couple of rolls, a great option if you want a variety and feel overwhelmed with choice. We also ordered a rainbow roll, a visually arresting inside out roll with crab. The mango roll was an accidental order, where mango is around the outside of the roll. That’s great if you are a mango fan, less so if you don’t usually mix savoury and sweet. We branched out most with the tempura roll. This was a sushi roll, and in this case with prawn and avocado, delicately friend in a light sushi batter. That sounds heavier than it is and generally got the thumbs up as something different. 

We would definitely advise venturing into the vegetable-focused side dish areas of the menu. The agedashi tofu in soy sauce wass silky and delicate. The seaweed salad was a mix of different seaweeds with a dressing forward in wasabi. We know this reads like we’re binge eating, and you might have a point.

What makes Taro work is its commitment to quality Japanese food at a moderate price point. If you want a big occasion meal, you’ll probably venture that small distance to the West End, and good luck with that. What Kenningtonians demand is something that’s good quality and reliable that won’t break the bank…..Oh, and serves cocktails….

Taro, if you’re reading this (and if not you’re missing out) our only note of guidance is to find a way around the unedifying presence of balaclava hooded ‘Just Eat’ delivery drivers in the restaurant, as it rather cheapens the experience. And no one wants to be cheap. 

24 The Oval…Still on Top?

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As 24 The Oval has maintained the Runoff crown for Best Sunday Roast in our highly-scientific-yet-wholly-subjective top 10 Best Places to Eat Locally list for three years, we recently found it incumbent to pop over to see if they’re still deserving of this noble accolade.

As the office staff visited on a nice August Sunday,  we chose to dine on the outside terrace. Off the bat Phil from Accounts insisted on a round of Bloody Annas, which was really just a Bloody Mary spelled differently. It was high on the lemon and spice: Delicious as such but they will adjust to your taste. To get us ready for the main event of the roasts, we shared some Belted Galloway beef croquettes, which were a hit with all: Spanish-style with their crisp outer casing and unctuous middle. When the Bloody Annas started kicking in Karen from Finance even stuck two croquettes in her mouth and said, garbling, ‘well these are just ace’. Moving on.

Mini Yorkes
Extra Veg
Croquettes

Next up was the first delightful idiosyncrasy of 24 The Oval: the sharing plate of mini Yorkshire puddings with pot of gravy, just to get you going. When the roasts arrived, your scribe indulged in the roast herb fed chicken breast with bread sauce. The chicken was grilled in a kind of upmarket Nando’s style and came with a roastie and salad. The second idiosyncrasy of 24 is that extra vegetables and gravy are provided French family style to share, including a cauliflower cheese made with pungent Ogleshield.

Karen opted for the lamb roast and was served as slices of leg meat plus a small confit of shoulder. Both very tasty even if we did think at first the confit was a brownie, and were presented with a homemade mint sauce. This dish was also already supplied with most of the vegetables: roast potatoes, roast mixed colour carrots, Jerusalem artichokes, a smear of spinach puree and some gravy. 

It wasn’t a brownie

Overall, this is Sunday roast prepared with care and dedication by proper chefs: Top quality ingredients, attention to detail and the delight of abundant proper, homemade Yorkshire puddings and gravy with no sight of Aunt Bessie. We found particularly exciting (we don’t have much of a life here at the Runoff) that the 24 Oval kitchen exists entirely within the restaurant. So if you’re curious about how your Yorkies are being made, or if you just like getting burned, you can inspect how your food is being made. But maybe not after three Bloody Annas. 

Roasts are between £22-£26. Food of this quality doesn’t come cheap, but is excellent.  But will it top our list in 2025 for a fourth crown? There is a lot of competition out there, after all.