Category Archives: Stuffing your face

Playing Happy Families

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We don’t really review enough (ok, ever) lunchtime venues in Greater Kennington which is a shame, given the rapid ascendency of the Edinburgh House Workspace, Vox Studios, and Kennington Park Workspace. Yesterday we had a very tight deadline to meet before Loose Women started at 12:30 so we decided to pop along at lunchtime to the Kennington Chinese place ‘Happy Family’.
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In spite of it’s name, the ‘maitre de’ of Happy Family is a gruff white guy who doesn’t  take kindly to the modern concept of debit/credit cards (but over 8 quid is ok). Cash in hand, we have been a few times and indulged in their Vietnamese duck Banh My Pho (a Vietnamese baguette)  which is heavy on the duck and sauce and at £4.80 is a very good alternative to the Tesco Meal Deal, which we have never *coughs* tried.

 

 

On this trip we sunk our teeth into Happy Family’s lunchtime special which was sweet and sour chicken with rice. The meat to veg ratio was generous and the service was very quick. The meat was also well cooked and the texture didn’t possess the gelatinous quality of many other sweet and sour dishes.

 

If you live in Greater Kennington then you probably know Happy Family from it’s takeaways, which they have been doing since the dawn of time. While it is OK, we still prefer to cough up a few more bob for Firecracker, in Windmill Row, which has a more creative menu. Happy eating!

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The Prince of Wales and Their New Menu

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For the uninitiated, the Prince of Wales is our own little country pub smack dab in the middle of Kennington. Tucked away in a corner of Cleaver Square, it rather feels like you’ve been spirited 200 miles north of our knighted patch of earth.

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The Prince of Wales have been going cray cray on social media recently to promote their new menu, so on a recent balmy night we decided to succumb to the pressure and check it out. Our modus operandi was ‘well it couldn’t be any worse then their old menu, so lets give it a twirl’. When we arrived we were pleased to discover that it has not only a new menu, but new owners, having evolved from a chain pub to one that is independently owned. And how often do you see that in 2019?

The pub has a few new cask ales and wines but in true KR style we were more interested in stuffing our faces. My dining partner had the spiced buttermilk chicken burger on a glazed brioche bun. This undefined person got nice spice from the chipotle mayo and the chicken was soft and made succulent with the creamy buttermilk. The chips were big, triple cooked and definitely not out of the freezer. Our verdict; probably better in Belgium, but for SE11 it was pretty flipping good (geddit…flipping, burger?).

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Your author had the cornfed chicken and chorizo hash. Mine was a mighty chunk of chicken served with a confident splash of bourguignon sauce. The hash was really more of chunky mash potato with very spicy, paprika punched chorizo. I never got to the bottom of the hispy cabbage affair, but it bulked up the plate and acted as a crunchy counterpoint.

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In conclusion, if you crave some pub grub and want a place without music, shouting or people coming up to you every two seconds asking  ‘are are alright’, then the POW might be your thing…..And they even have candles on the table now. Fancy!

Kennington Runoff Eats a Sandwich

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We haven’t reviewed any lunchtime spots recently here on the Runoff, so to rectify the matter we hopped along to local institution Mimi’s Deli, located at the cusp  of Brixton Rd. behind St. Mark’s church.

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Mimi’s is an excellent lunchtime sandwich/salad joint that also stocks a range of deli items such as Italian meats (salami, prosciutto) and cheeses (mozzarella, parmesan in addition to soft cheeses), and also features Italian pantry staples such as beans, tuna and wine (a staple frequently deployed at Runoff Towers). A real feature, however, is its range of different pastas, from spaghetti and gnocchi to obscure, multicolored pasta you’ve never heard of.

 

 

 

Back to sandwiches. Yours truly had a massive chicken and provolone affair that looked less like a sandwich and more like a baby leg. It was generous with the meat but too big for one human. Other sandwiches are filled with meatball, porchetta, chicken parm, and peppers. I didn’t see any vegan options. Some are served on Italian breads and others more curiously on croissants and bagels (lets apply the word ‘fusion’ here).

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There is a small dining area at the back of Mimi’s but it is a teensy bit soulless so you might want to eat your sandwich in Kennington Park. If you are not based in Kennington on weekdays they are also open at weekends. Happy lunch eating!

Top tip: If you want homemade pasta walk five minutes down Brixton Road to Di Leito, who make it on the spot. To impress your friends, before they arrive throw flour over the pasta you’ve bought and then tell them what an exhausting day you’ve just had kneading dough.

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