Greengrassi/Corvi-Mora art gallery

Posted on March 23, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

You could live in Kennington for decades and never happen across Kempsford Road. You could live on Kempsford Road and have no idea there’s an art gallery there. But there is – Greengrassi, AKA Corvi-Mora. Even the doorbell is hard to reach – presumably short people aren’t big art buyers.

If you can find the gallery, we recommend visiting between now and April 26th as the main room downstairs is showing Everything is about to happen, “an ongoing archive of artists’ books selected by Gregorio Magnani”.

All the books and pamphlets are either self-published or from small publishers. So yes, what we’re talking about here is a load of art books by people you’ve never heard of, laid out on a huge wooden table. It’s much better than it sounds because so many of the books are intriguing and/or beautiful, like the room in which they’re displayed.

These books celebrate the mundane, cheap jokes, puns, sloganeering, and porn… all the classic themes of modern art are here. If you want to read them in depth you are supposed to take them into the reading station and don white gloves.

Or rubber gloves if you want to look at the top ones below (n.b. this next image is NSFW, unless you work in a modern art gallery or The Locker Room):

Opening hours: 11am to 6pm Tuesday to Saturday

Address: 1A Kempsford Road (off Wincott Street), London SE11 4NU

Save Our Subways

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

There are plans afoot to fill in the subways at the north roundabout in North Kennington. With our focus on the finer things in Kennington life, you might think we’d say good riddance to subways. You’d be wrong. Subways provide extra space for pedestrians. Without them, locals will face long waits at pedestrian crossings or, more likely in our case, dangerous dashes across up to six lanes of traffic. Where they’re confusing or aesthetically challenged, let’s have more signs, more lighting, and a fresh lick of paint rather than filling them with tonnes of concrete.

So we’re backing the Save Our Subways campaign.

This is our biggest foray yet into campaigning, but we’re brimming with confidence following the success of our campaigns to bring veggie burgers to Honest Burger, Waitrose to Kennington, and mindfulness to Sally White staff. Only this time we need your help.

Have a look at the “Boris Bodge” proposals here and register your opinions here, paying particular attention to question 4.

Photo courtesy of saveoursubways.org

Kennington guerrilla gardening

Posted on March 16, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

The nice people at Kennington Flowers have made Kennington Cross even more colourful by planting flowers in the tree pit in front of St Anselm’s Church. Perhaps fuelled by Coffee Mob coffee, they’ve broken away from the staid confines of traditional garden design and gone for something akin to a Skittles spillage:

While we’re on the subject of guerrilla gardening, would anyone like to claim responsibility for the cyclamen in the tree pits further up Kennington Road? North Kennington is home to the founder of GuerrillaGardening.org Richard Reynolds (Britain’s 24th most influential gardener), but we’re assured these cyclamen are not his handy work.

Anyway, well done everyone – keep planting.

The Coffee Mob

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

The Coffee Mob is a ~~notorious Clerkenwell-based gang~~ relatively recent addition to the Kennington Flowers stall outside St Anselm’s Church at Kennington Cross. This coffee van is a joint venture between Tomorrow’s People and The Coffee Mob, who say they source all their coffee ethically and donate all their profits to Centrepoint.

Want to know what a cup of Coffee Mob coffee says about you? Their website has the answer: “I appreciate a great cup of coffee but I want to help others too, and I have a high tolerance for cringe-y brand messages”.

Like Kennington Flowers, The Coffee Mob van is open from Tuesday to Saturday from whenever they feel like till whenever they feel like, so snap up a coffee for £2 while you can. But if you’re in the market for a decaf soy macchiato, prepare for a blank stare.

Charlie Chaplin at age 27 in 1916, when he lived in Kennington

Posted on March 9, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

Looking like he was in Mumford & Sons

the best restaurant in Kennington

Posted on March 5, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

Firstly, honourable mentions to other places that received votes: Mumbai Delight and Pizza Pazza are just outside the borders of Kennington, and we must visit Pico and revisit Koza – watch this space.

But the winner is…

1. The Lobster Pot
pros: one of London’s best seafood restaurants. It’s great fun from top to bottom and there’s nowhere else like it; you even get a special bib if you order the lobster
cons: it’s not cheap
hygiene rating: 5

new Lebanese deli on Kennington Lane

Posted on March 3, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

And the best restaurant in Kennington is… Not this, or not as far as we know – we’re announcing our no. 1 on Wednesday.

This is a new Lebanese delicatessen that has opened near Mimosa at the West Kennington end of Kennington Lane. Unlike Mimosa, it’s open seven days until 10pm. Or so it says on its sign, but when we tried yesterday afternoon, the door was locked and a young child was sat behind the counter. Nonetheless, we’re excited by the prospect of homemade Lebanese bread, humus and cakes, and fresh fruit and veg. Others may go for the halal meat (there was a chicken spit roasting in the doorway yesterday).

We are big fans of Lebanese food – Le Comptoir Libanais is the one chain restaurant that we would welcome to Kennington, but hopefully this will do in the meantime.

Has anyone been when it’s open? And does anyone know what it’s actually called?

The top ten best restaurants in Kennington – numbers 4 to 2

Posted on March 2, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

4. Aobaba
pros: top quality Vietnamese food and loads of choice – who needs Kingsland Road?
cons: it’s a brightly lit cafeteria on the side of an Oriental supermarket so don’t come here for the ambiance
hygiene rating: 4

3. The Ragged Canteen at Beaconsfield
pros: super tasty vegetarian food and organic Monmouth coffee
cons: it’s not open that often (they serve hot food Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays from noon, last orders 2.25pm; at other times it’s drinks and cakes)
hygiene rating: 4

2. Brunswick House
pros: totally unique setting amidst LASSCO’s antiques, plus top quality seasonal food
cons: the staff can be rude, and if you want to buy the chair you’re sitting on, be prepared to remortgage your house first
hygiene rating: 3

the winner will be revealed on Wednesday

Brunswick House

The top ten best restaurants in Kennington – numbers 7 to 5

Posted on February 26, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

7. Dirty Burger
pros: top quality, posh, juicy burgers
cons: the Vauxhall gyratory goes right past the outdoor tables, and the veggie burger features mushrooms, which everyone knows are banned throughout Kennington on grounds of taste, texture, appearance, smell, and name
hygiene rating: 5 (Reassuringly Clean Burger)

6. Doost
pros: delicious Persian specialities, a charcoal grill, and loads of vodkas
cons: it’s a little pricey
hygiene rating: 5

5. Adulis
pros: Eritrean food is such good fun
cons: the service can be a little sketchy
hygiene rating: 4

Doost Persian Grill & Vodka Bar

The top ten best restaurants in Kennington – numbers 10 to 8

Posted on February 23, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

The votes have been ~~ignored~~ counted, so now we begin our countdown of the top ten restaurants in Kennington:

10. Mamuśka
pros: it’s great fun and cheap
cons: Polish milk bar food can be somewhat utilitarian
hygiene rating: 5

9. Gandhi’s
There are two renowned curry houses in Kennington – Gandhi’s and the Kennington Tandoori. Both do good quality food but we prefer Gandhi’s for their vegetable thali and their social media strategy (which is non-existent so preferable to Kennington Tandoori’s).
pros: you might see someone famous
cons: it will probably be a senior politician or Professor Green
Gandhi’s hygiene rating: 4
KT hygiene rating: 5

8. Bonnington Cafe
pros: this would be no. 1 for atmosphere
cons: the vegetarian and vegan food is inevitably hit and miss due to the rota of volunteer chefs
hygiene rating: 3

The Kennington Observer (formerly Kennington Runoff)

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