We’re still in Cuba where disaster has struck..The umbrella has just fallen out of our cocktail….But in the meantime please titillate yourselves with this British Pathe video from 1970.  The clip starts at minute 11, on top of a bus going down Baylis Road towards Lambeth North and the spire of Surrey Chapel (now Oasis Hub), then various other clips past St. George’s Circus (?) toward the Elephant. The estates created in the 50’s ands 60’s still look new, and still in evidence are signs of bomb damage…The video then moves on to less interesting places like Westminster.

In a few days we will awe you (or depress you) with number 10 in our annual roundup of ‘top ten places to eat in Kennington’. Unlike in years previous, this list will cover both dinner and lunch venues and could even include the odd pub or two. The reason for this is because our predecessors ate out a lot more than we do  we appreciate that people work at different times of the day or their free times vary.

The secretive mandarins at Kennington Runoff finally signed our leave card so we are currently in Cuba. Of course we would never leave our readers without top flight infotainment, however, so if you’re lonely please watch ‘Marks to Prove It’ by the Maccabees  from a few years ago. The fascinating video was shot almost entirely in Elephant and Castle. If you don’t fancy the sound of young white guys screaming, you can mute it and catch Elephant Park being built, our our soon to be dematerialised Elephant Shopping centre. If you’ll look closely you’ll also see Waterloo, and perhaps where you live!

Now where’s my mojito?

We’ve been waiting for this new Japanese/Korean joint to open almost all log as we waited for The Great Pong of Kennington Tube to subside. We were rewarded when it opened to the public yesterday (23 Nov) in the space that used to the ‘Doost’ and tonight we made a visit. It is a great stop if you fancy variety in your east Asian food and features bento, kimchi, BBQ, bibimbap, and some sushi. They also have plenty of wines and beers.

At first we had a mild hesitation that Kuma was going to feature fusion cuisine (imagine the horror of kimchi sushi) but were assuaged when the menu featured a distinction between it’s Korean and Japanese fare. The vibe was young, casual, and the lighting was on the bright side of acceptable. The timing of the food wasn’t great but you except this in a place open for two days,

My dining partner had the tonkotsu bento box, with the main feature being breaded pork katsu.   Said partner would have liked a bit more slop of the tangy sauce but it was very well proportioned and the sauce even managed to make the bean sprouts better than usual.

I had prawn gyoza which were grilled well and had definitely not had part of their lives wasted by a freezer. I then had the chicken bulgogi (say it like a pro…..Boo-GOH-gee) which are very thin strips of meat grilled on a BBQ. The chicken had a very good sauce and  featured spring  onion. It was billed as ‘hot’ and it certainly was. And so generous that I couldn’t finish it.

Earlier this year we reviewed Korean Place Daebak and the now well established Japanese place Taro. I think Daebak takes its fare a bit more seriously and Taro is a kind of Japanese sushi ‘canteen’ and can’t really be compared. I went downstairs to go to the toilet and ‘accidentally’ walked into the kitchen. I could not see any sign of sous chef Mike(rowave) and it appeared that everything was made on site. The bill, with four beers, came to £50 which was reasonable. When the bill came we tried to pull the ‘but we’re Kennington INFLUENCERS’ trick, but they were having none of it.