Category Archives: Stuffing your face

The Ten Best Places to Eat in Greater Kennington # 7

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+ One Sunday Roast

Kachori

Earlier in 2025 we noticed that Kachori was having that duality of signs that a joint is in trouble – They were having a bingo night hosted by a drag queen. So we can imagine this good place needs our custom

We recently inspected swishy looking new Indian restaurant Kachori in Elephant Park which has opened with some buzz. From the outside it resembles a second rate Dishoom, but inside gives way to low lighting, dark woods, and a very inviting bar. So tempted were we by the bar that two of us kicked off the fun by ordering Indian espresso martinis. When they arrived the upbeat proprietor informed us that we could eat the cups that they were being served in. As edible crockery is a new and, frankly, groundbreaking proposition at Runoff Towers, we took him up on the offer. More on this later.

The proprietor we speak of is Brindar Narula, former executive chef of Michelin starred Gymkhana, but here offering much more affordable fare. We started with two sets of nibbles: methi namkeen and nan chips. An interesting alternative to poppadums, the methi are little strips of fenugreek flavoured crisps similar in appearance to an earthworm, offered with a dip. The nan chips are fried bread strips with another dip which looked not unlike pleasing shoe leather. Both were delicious with the nan chips being the particular hit with the table. Two portions were good for four people. 

This is a very dark restaurant
Lamb

One of our group had the lamb biryani, and it  arrived encased in a crust to seal in the flavour and juices. With an excellent balance of spices, this was rich and gorgeous with meltingly soft pieces of lamb. Your scribe had the west coast prawn masa swimming in a pool of mangosteen, coconut milk, and palm vinegar. Huge, juicy prawns with a powerful aniseedy note. A side of palak paneer (spinach with cheese) was warm and satisfying as was the methi tadka dal (yellow lentils) rounded off the meal as sides. 

Brinder  explained to our little group that while he is from Mumbai, the flavours at Kachori focus on dishes from the Northwest of India. This is modern Indian at its best, with ingredients popping up (Jalapenos! Truffle oil!) not encountered in most Indian joints. Towards the end of the meal Brinder added that our rice based cups would have dissolved after 40 minutes if we hadn’t drunk the contents and then eaten the cups. Right, like that was gonna happen. 

Ten Best Places to Eat in Greater Kennington #8

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+ One Sunday Roast

Amici

Amici in Kennington Cross is a great survivor and has bagged the #8 spot. We feel for them, as first they were hit by the small issue of a pandemic (remember that?), then a flood in their basement closed the place for even longer. Then they went through a frankly bizarre ‘car boot phase’ where they sold everything from jewellery to tins of food. Luckily all three have passed and in its it’s latest incarnation Amici matches the classics from their (RIP) Persian restaurant Doost with the Mediterranean offerings of Amici. For a split second we had a nightmare vision of pomegranate pizza, but owner Houman explained that it’s just the greatest hits of each place. Whew.

Phil from IT had one of the specials, a meatball dish from the northern, Caspian region of Iran. It was markedly tart with a pomegranate and herb-based sauce, so a bit different from what we think of as “standard” Persian. It was served with fluffy basmati rice. Your scribe had a long grain rice dish with spicy squid. And of course, served with loads of dill. It was light and had a slightly nutty tone to it. 

The mandarins at Observer Towers usually yell at us if we order starters (which is now referred to as small plate), but co owner Sethi was able to tell us not only from where each dish originated and how it’s made, but even offered insight as how her family members have been making them for years. So we caved in and had a kind of Persian roasted bruschetta topped with aubergine, and a delightfully tomatoey aranchi rice bowls.

On a subsequent visit we indulged in some of the Italian offerings at Amici. We think their strengths lie in Persian fare, but if it’s Italian that you crave we can reccommend the lamb ragu tagliatelle and lasagne. Namaste….

Top Ten Best Places to Eat in Greater Kennington #10

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(+ one Sunday Roast)

TARO

And were off for 2025! 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.

Some Observer 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.

J- Seven

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For purposes relating to our  wholly scientific and profoundly subjective top 10 list of the best places to eat in Greater Kennington (+ a Sunday roast) The Kennington Observer (formally known as the Runoff)  just paid a TKO visit to hot new Chinese restaurant J –Seven in Vauxhall. Our top ten list kicks off in a couple of weeks. But will it make the cut? 

J-Seven occupies one of the arches in Albert Embankment, and the arches typify the evolution of our storied manor. Previous inhabitants have included coal, railway sidings, gyms, motorbike shops and nightclubs. J-Seven has now pitched up in one of the arches offering upmarket(ish) Mandarin cuisine with the totally intoxicating element of lounge singers in the evening. Sadly we attended in the daytime with no singer evident. But the helpful manager Bear explained that there are singers most nights. 

J-Seven presents itself in that wonderfully Chinese restaurant manner of seeing customers as a slight inconvenience, and they prove this by plopping an Ipad in front of you to order. As Ipads came about only twelve years ago, we are very much up with the kids and your scribe ordered the slow braised brisket with rich sauce. This was proper slow braised beef with juicy fat on the sides, served with Chinese rice and a firey spicy cabbage which was delicious when mixed with the stewed meat juice. 

Very few of us at the Observer have real life partners as we’re overworked. However, you are luckier than us we again J-Social for a date owing to its banging cocktail bar in the front, the precise menu, low romantic lighting, and the food is properly Chinese. And when under the arches think about all those amazing women and men who might have worked there shovelling coal, building a railroad, dancing or just buying a motorbike. Our evolution continues.  

The Rosy Hue

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In our never ending pursuit of gastronomic excellence in Greater Kennington (read – to find a flimsy excuse to cram food in our face), we recently ventured to independent gastropub ‘The Rosy Hue’. The Hue opened in Elephant Park in 2022 and is part of a small south London based chain. Since then, its positioned itself as a kind of sports pub with a separate gastro restaurant. The upshot being can you can’t really hear the pub in the restaurant. 

For this dinner your scribe was joined by partner in crime Karen from Finance and her friend from Milan, Gabs. Karen was pondering the burger versus fish and chips, and when the waiter indicated that the fish and chips was the more substantial plate, it was music to Karen’s ears as she was keen to break her January resolution.  This certainly proved to be the case with a lightly battered fillet of haddock taking up half or more of her plate and sitting atop crispy golden chips. It also came with a small bowl of crushed minted peas and some homemade tartare sauce. As pub fish and chips go, this was a very creditable offer. The fish was fresh, the batter was light and perfectly crisp, and the chips were good. 

Your scribe opted for the daily special, which was steak and ale pie. The pastry was sturdy and buttery, and topped with some seeds. Inside the pie, the juice was a good combination of sweet brown ale and beef stock. The steak was plentiful and tender, and in the mix were small hints of bacon. It was served with some very creamy mash and well prepared tender stem broccoli. 

As for Karen’s friend, when his burger and chips arrived he commenced eating both with a knife and fork. Karen and your scribe looked at one another with bemused fascination, and I asked him if in Italy its customary to eat a burger with a fork. Without looking up he retorted ‘yes, everyone does’. As we were leaving, Gabs was asked if he’d like to share his fork eating burger experience with our multitudinous readers. He quipped, with Milanese aplomb, ‘not really’.   

But the burning question is…will the Rosy Hue make our top 10 list of best places to eat in Greater Kennington 2025?

Cable Cafe & Bar

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As many Greater Kenningtonains spend a few days working from home, we thought we would up our lunchtime review game by checking out Oval staple ‘Cable Café’ at the top of Brixton Rd. By all the brick a brac you might think you’ve stumbled into dear Aunt Flo’s house clearance after she refused to let anybody in for 40 years, but what you’re getting is a mighty fine and eclectic café. 

The daytime trade consists primarily of people popping in for hot drinks and working on their laptops, and the atmosphere is laid back and quiet. We stopped in for lunch, and the specialty is the bang on trend sourdough toasties. Your scribe had it with cheese tuna, and Phil from accounts had his with cheese and jalapeno. The sourdough was crisp and with sharp and abundant cheese (£6.50) . Phil remembered that we were at work and had an Americano as opposed to his usual massive red wine.  We also had our eyes on the homemade pastries, sharing boards, and smoothies.

What Cable does ingenuously is transform itself from a lunchtime sandwich/coffee bar to an evening cocktail and beer joint. The transition happens during the 3-5 happy hour when laptops and chargers give way to candles and, on Wednesday, live free jazz. There is a full bar on hand (cocktails £9) in addition to wines both bottled and draft (at £5, sadly quite cheap). A good alternative to the at times chaotic pubs of Greater Kennington. 

Cable Café is open from 9:00 to 23:00 (midnight weekends) and is even available to hire out for parties. We need to keep independent places like this or they may go the same way as their sister outfit Cable Bakery, which has sadly gone to that big flour mill in the sky. More importantly, we need to keep it going in 2025 to prevent it descending to the hellish netherworld that is the ‘bottomless drag brunch’. Because we’ve been there dear reader, and it’s a very dark place. 

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.