The Tommyfield

Posted on April 26, 2024 by Kennington Runoff

As all of the Runoff staff love a bargain, we recently paid a visit to the Tommyfield pub in Kennington Cross to take advantage of their £45 for 2 steak and Malbec night, which is available on Wednesdays and Saturdays. We invited Karen from Finance to dine with us as we have a lot of time for her, and she needed a night out after some damaging comments about her Excel skills.

We started with some sourdough and olives (not included) which were a perfect complement to what was upcoming. The steak options are rump and sirloin and your scribe chose the latter as it costs more and therefore created an increased thrill of saving money. The options for sauce are chimichurri, peppercorn or blue cheese, and the peppercorn was chosen for its sharp, gravy like tangyness. Both steaks were served rare and we were pleased with the result: It was a good quality steak, browned on the outside and just pink enough in the middle. And a big slab for what you’re paying.

On sides front, your scribe had a creamy, buttery mash and Karen had the chunky chips, describing them as not too chunky, crisp yet fluffy, and the rocket salad was particularly well dressed . She chose the chimichurri sauce and was quite proud that the bit of Argentina on the plate matched nicely with the lovely and full bodied Argentinean Malbec (which is £28 itself) – Finca La Colonia. In fact, so enthusiastic was Karen that she proclaimed, while in the middle of chewing her rare stake, ‘this is so amazing that I’ve totally forgotten about those spreadsheet comments’. OK.

The Tommyfield is run by independent south London based Three Cheers Pubs, who run eight other swishy yet beautiful pubs, mostly in Clapham/Balham. A few years ago we met the owners at a pub wine tasting that we ~~snuck into~~ attended and they love what they do. So next time you’re considering Kennington Cross pub options, give them a try as we love the little guy as opposed to a pub run by a mega chain (without saying names, it’s that one across street with outdoor seating).

The Tommyfield also have a star studded and cracking comedy night that we frequent where we’ve seen the talents of Harry Hill (he was there only this week), Joe Lycett and Aisling Bea. And the punters look like they just stepped off the set of ‘The Apprentice’, which is half the whole event.

And if steak isn’t your thing, they have two other special nights as well…

Walcot Stores

Posted on March 25, 2024 by Kennington Runoff

In Greater Kennington we are blessed with a complement of independent coffee shops such as Change Please in Elephant Park, Kennington Coffee Shop, Urban Botanica, newbie Capheum, and of course the mighty Bouquets and Beans. We’re proud to announce another has joined our serried ranks and is located in an oft looked overlooked part of our area, at the top of Walcot Square near Brook Drive.

We made our surreptitious trip to Walcot Stores coffee shop on a Sunday morning. On the Lords’ day it’s difficult to entice Runoff staff to work, so we asked our accounts guru and self confessed party boy Phil if he’d like to join us for ‘a drink or two’ on Sunday morning. He arrived looking confused and crestfallen, but willing to act as our additional pair of eyes. Walcot is very clean, bright, and inviting. They sell gift cards and crafting things, with chirpy owner Millie defining her gaff as a ‘creative café’. She also confirmed it as a place where people can take a break if they want to work outside of the home. Dogs are allowed.

We came for a caffeine kick, and Phil had an Americano which he described as rich and smooth, and your scribe had an Earl Grey. A variety of milk and substitutes were also offered, and presented in 60’s retro crockery. Of special interest were the fresh and tasty pastries. Phil had the GF coconut and almond ‘mini mouthful’, where your scribe opted for a blueberry oat crumble bar. The bar was moist and sweet with a big hit of ground almond. There were a range of good looking pastries with Millie explaining that savoury items, such as overnight oats and foccacia bread, are also available. Isn’t this sounding so of the moment!

Walcott Stores is located in an old neighbourhood grocery shop and we have ~~stolen~~ unearthed a photo from its earlier incarnation, below. Walcot is a fine place to work, catch up with friends, or grab a quick coffee/bite on the go. And Phil, if you’re reading this, we hope you’ve taken away a valuable lesson from this experience, as things aren’t always what they appear to be. Except quality coffee.

The Best Places to Eat in Greater Kennington #6

Posted on March 4, 2024 by Kennington Runoff

+ One Sunday Roast

Brunswick House Restaurant

If money were no object then Brunwisck House would nab the top spot, but as money DOES matter they’ve bagged the still respectable six slot. Please note that restaurants on this scale have menus that change almost daily. So what you read below (from 2023) might not still be available.

If you’ve ever noticed a large Georgian mansion which appears to be on the precipice of getting inhaled by skyscrapers in the Vauxhall gyratory, it is called Brunswick House (and we’ve written about it here) and for several years they have run a critically acclaimed restaurant, in addition to its main hustle of selling (very) high end architectural salvage.

The dining room sits effortlessly in a large space in Brunswick House selling mostly chandeliers, light fittings and other gorgeous things. For an upmarket restaurant, the clientele was surprisingly young in a kind of ‘please come to my book launch next week’ kind of way. And no sooner do we sit down than we are joined at the next table by no other than TV presenter Miquita Oliver and a gaggle of her gorgeous, hair flicking friends. They were a nice complement to our botanical and creative cocktails, the favourite being their house eucalyptus martini.

The menu at Brunswick House often requires a diction course or at least a dictionary. But fear not, the drilled to perfection serving staff can help you differentiate between a chicharron and a tardivo. And there is the very modern dilemma of trying to decipher a sharing plate from a mains. Highlights among the snack or starter sizes were the salt cod croquettes, the roasted leeks and the devilled eggs. The croquettes oozed with creamy salty fishiness, while the roasted leeks were winning for an innovative combination with a tangy sauce derived from red peppers and pecans. The devilled eggs had a seventies retro quality but the trout roe filling gave it a more on trend feel.

For the mains, your scribe had the roast cod with sea greens and spring vegetable chowder. The meaty and flaky cod was set off well with what appeared to be a tureen of well matched veg with an aniseed hit. A big hit on the main size dishes was the fresh maccheroni (note proper Italian spelling). This packed a big flavour hit with the curious sounding combination of roast chicken butter, wild garlic and bottarga (translation: grey mullet roe). Curious it was but definitely lovely – rich and satisfying.

Fancy Macaroi
Cod

And then, after a night spent with Maquita and her chums set amongst glittering chandiliers and food we couldn’t pronounce, our night was over and we were deposited into a bus fumed traffic gyratory in Vauxhall. But the wonderful food made it worthwhile. This kind of food is by no means cheap, but one of the few glories of sharing portions is that you can just pop in for a snack of two £5 plates and they’re fine with that.

[jetpack_subscription_form show_only_email_and_button=”true” custom_background_button_color=”#cf2e2e” custom_text_button_color=”undefined” submit_button_text=”Subscribe” submit_button_classes=”wp-block-button__link has-text-color has-background has-vivid-red-background-button-color” show_subscribers_total=”false” ]

Ten Best Places to Eat in Greater Kennington # 9

Posted on March 1, 2024 by Kennington Runoff

+ One Sunday Roast

The Jolly Gardeners

If this looks familiar then you’re correct, as we posted this a month ago. The Gardeners are the second best Sunday Roast and have popped in at number nine. But who’s on top?

For purposes relating to our very scientific yet hugely subjective top ten list of best places to eat in Greater Kennington, we recently paid an overdue visit to Jolly Gardeners pub in Black Prince Road after Karen from Finance kept banging on about their Sunday roast.

Karen opted for the silverside beef and it was very full flavoured but at the chewier end of roast beef options, so not to all tastes. The real success of her meal was the varied and abundant sides. Had more than one person been having a roast plate then these would have been served family-style for sharing. In Karen’s case, she simply had a very full plate. The accompaniments were totally top notch: mixed colour carrots, parsnips, savoy cabbage, sweet potato mash, and decent roasties. The Yorkshire pudding was plump and homemade (we looked for Aunt Bessie under the table and she was nowhere to be found). We were pleased to see that the Gardeners no longer serve beef from retired cows. While more ethical, we felt bad for those poor bovines who managed to spend their entire lives not being turned into a juicy steak or decorative belt, only for THIS TO HAPPEN.

Your scribe decided to go vegetarian and have a wild mushroom, sweet potato, and Guinness pie. The Guinness took the sweetness edge off the potatoes, which was desired, and a little nicked gravy from Karen was an added addition. It was served in a little jug that was very appealing. This pleasing portion had notes of thyme and of course the added nuttiness of the mushroom. All told, it was plenty of food and carefully prepared. These are high end roasts, which at £21 – £24 they should be. Sometimes it is worth paying for quality.

The Gardeners also operate the petite upmarket food shop Ginger Provisions next door, in addition to great lunch spot Simply Bread which we reviewed in 2022. When we asked the 25 year old sandwich barista if he was aware that the shop name rhymes with a washed up 80’s pop band, he stared at us with a mix of confusion and pity, but we’ll ignore that.

Necropolis Railway

Posted on January 17, 2024 by Kennington Runoff

From the archives, the fourth of our month of best history posts

If you’ve ever spotted this rather grand looking building at 121 Westminster Bridge Road you might have wondered what function it once served. For the first half of the 20^th century, dear reader, this was the London Necropolis railway station and has been referred to as ‘the strangest and spookiest railway line in British history’.

In the first half of the 19^th century London’s population surged from one million to almost 2 1/2 million. Churchyards were running out of space to bury the dead and something had to be done, so a plan was hatched by two enterprising men to purchase land near Woking for an enormous cemetery. The idea was that it was far enough away to prevent the bodies from posing a threat to public health, but close enough to let grieving relatives attend funerals without too much hassle. The icing on the cake being that a Waterloo to Woking line had just opened up.

As you can imagine, people at Waterloo were none too keen on seeing corpses and mourners whizz by as they sat in their 19th century Starbucks, so a separate train station was built behind Waterloo in what is now Leake St. The building was specially designed for mourners and had private waiting rooms, restaurants, and first to third class services. One could depart with their recently departed in the morning, attend a weepy funeral midday, and be back by teatime. Talk about Victorian multitasking.

By the end of the 19^th century Waterloo station was expanding and Necropolis station had to be moved. In 1902 the station found it’s present home and out of respect to the dearly departed the builders wanted to make it as attractive as a funeral director’s office, so few expenses were spared. The line was eventually shifting almost 2000 corpses a year until the line was damaged in WW2, and a decision was made to consign it to history, like the many souls it escorted.

The railway service proved so popular that it even had it’s own rolling stock. However, the reason for this could actually be that if folks knew they had bought a ticket for a train used to carry dead people they could feel like they’d been, well, ‘stiffed’.

And if you’re still curious, someone has even found enough time to write a book about our little railway to the other side.

The New Gallery at IWM

Posted on November 15, 2023 by Kennington Runoff

Last week we attended the gala opening* of the spanking new Blavatnik Art, Film and Photography Galleries at the best museum we bet you’ve never been to, our very own Imperial War Museum. This permanent gallery is a valued addition to the Greater Kennington cultural landscape (it’s a thing, trust us) and includes works by Henry Moore, John Singer Sargent, Walter Sickert, Cecil Beaton, and Wyndham Lewis to name but a few.

The galleries are laid out by themes and are chronological, from WW1 to 21^st century conflicts. As with the other display areas at IWM, these new galleries don’t seek to glorify war but rather to explain it and how it can be avoided. This is achieved by a captivating mix of propaganda posters, photographs (the gallery own 12 million), armaments, film clips, cameras, and first hand accounts. But the great achievement here are the paintings, with the highlight being the recently restored work ‘Gassed’ by Sargent (below). We could have probably spent several days in the gallery’s two screening rooms but the Runoff overlords would have none of it. The reel of clips range from footage of the D-day landings to advice about how to make a wartime compost heap.

Rather than being a historical record, the galleries include current work showcasing the conspicuous talent of artists such as Steve McQueen (the Oscar winning artist, not the formerly living action hero). He’s represented here by his artwork ‘Queen and Country’. Also in the mix are descriptions of anti war protests, marches, and attempts to avoid war. This is interesting in its own right, but especially when considering the complex dynamics of what is transpiring in Gaza and Israel at the moment. But a celebration of war artists and photographers is the beating heart of these expansive and well thought out galleries.

You might be reading this and thinking that the IWM is nationalistic and not your cup of chai. We get that, but we are duly challenging you to get your Guardian reading, tofu buying selves over to the IWM when you have a spare hour of two. And as you’ll be in the neighbourhood anyway, why not check out the fascinating exhibit about spies and deception that we wrote about a few weeks ago? Did we mention that they have a stonking café with pretty cakes and sarnies?

*We coincidently pitched up the day it opened

[jetpack_subscription_form show_only_email_and_button=”true” custom_background_button_color=”undefined” custom_text_button_color=”undefined” submit_button_text=”Subscribe” submit_button_classes=”undefined” show_subscribers_total=”false” ]

The Casual Ward of Kennington

Posted on October 11, 2023 by Kennington Runoff

On a recent meander down Wincott Street in north Kennington we noticed an unusual Victorian building looking not unlike a prison, which prompted us to pull out (nerd alert!) an old Ordnance Survey map. This building was constructed to be a ‘casual ward’, or a very temporary home for homeless people passing through our manor.

Before 1930 terminally homeless people were a not uncommon site in Greater Kennington. Casual wards were constructed close to workhouses, and we have written about the Lambeth workhouse before, which is around the corner from the casual ward and was once the home of Charlie Chaplin. While workhouses were places for local people (like the Chaplin family) to live while they got back on their feet and perhaps learned a trade, casual wards were intended for the totally destitute of no fixed address to stay for one night, so no one was committed to their help.

Conditions in our Lambeth casual ward were pretty terrible and people had to work extremely hard for a night in conditions barely better than the street from where they came. As their clothes were being fumigated, the inmates bathed collectively by gender and were then put to work. It is debateable as to what this work actually entailed, but was something like potato peeling for the frail or back breaking splitting of stones for the more able bodied. Folks didn’t even get to partake in the potatoes they were peeling, as dinner in the casual ward consisted of a kind of gruel made of dried oats, making the Lambeth Workhouse look comfortable by comparison.

To gain insight for his seminal work ‘Down and Out in London and Paris’, George Orwell visited casual wards very similar to the one that remains in Kennington today, and specific excerpts from the book can be found here. These remnants of social history are evaporating in the mind boggling dynamic changes we are encountering in Greater Kennington (Nine Elms being a prime example). However, with a nose around our patch you might make some discoveries yourselves if you’re clever and observant. And of course you are, as you’re reading this.

If rock splitting or potato peeling is a specific fetish of yours then you’re in luck. Casual wards, or ‘spikes’ as they were colloquially known, have their own Spike Heritage Centre in Guildford! Probably not the most cheery day out, but you can twin it with a local pub or a twirl around the Surrey Hills.

Amici Summer Party

Posted on September 12, 2023 by Kennington Runoff

At the Runoff we pride ourselves on making our reviews totally anonymous, sometimes to the frustration of business owners, and don’t ask for freebies. So we lay our cards on the table and admit to kind of knowing Houman and Seti who run Kennington Cross restaurant staple Amici, and we’re here to tell you about their upcoming summer party because it’s fun and good value for money.

Let’s face it, few restaurants in Greater Kennington appear to be flourishing at the minute and Amici is no exception. Amici has survived the dual indignities of a pandemic and a basement flood (three if you count the time they decided to sell clothes and jewellery) resulting in its closure for almost two years, leading to it almost going under. They’re back with a mixture of Mediterranean and Iranian dishes and a few events to get more people through the door.

The Amici summer party is on Thursday, 21 September at the restaurant and costs £10. We think this is good value for money as it gets you two drinks in their cute pop up stalls in the back previously sponsored by Lillet and Beefeater, but apparently now with a rum twist. Houman and Seti will also be walking around with some of their Iranian greatest hits.* Additionally there will be a band and a host of neighbours to talk to. Tickets can be purchased here and the fun kicks off at 7pm. Your ticket also entitles you to 25% off future meals.

*We stand casually yet strategically near the kitchen to grab said delicacies as the platters emerge.

Bank Holiday Fun

Posted on May 25, 2023 by Kennington Runoff

Looking for something to undertake over the May bank holiday? We’ve just been sent the press release for The Chelsea Fringe Festival taking place this weekend in Elephant Park. Link below. It does have the uncomforting whiff of an event organised by a multinational property development company. But it has free stuff and as regular readers are well aware we here at the Runoff regularly lower our standards. In fact we have a banner above our desks reading ‘we’re all cheap our prices are just different’. And it looks like the new square will be pretty vibrant with live music and the like.

Unfortunately the cocktail masterclass is sold out, but one is being held at hipster haven Bobo Social, who do have some killer cocktails. We love Bobo if for no other reason than it sounds like the name that some posh lady gives to a tiny dog sticking out of her handbag (Bobo, STOP THAT). While you’re in that neck of the woods check out our reviews of great pizza joint 400 Rabbits, retro gaming haven 4 Quarters, Central Chinese Murger Han, and Brazilian brunch spot Tupi. All worthy stop offs. We do get around, don’t we?

Chelsea Fringe is this Saturday, the 27^th, from 1 to 6.

https://www.elephantpark.co.uk/eat-drink-and-shop/events-and-fun/chelsea-fringe-at-elephant-park/

The Kennington Observer (formerly Kennington Runoff)

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

Category Archives: Uncategorized