farewell Elephant & Castle shopping centre?

Posted on September 11, 2013 by Kennington Runoff

The latest news from the London SE1 website suggests that the Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre will now be demolished as part of the regeneration of North Kennington.

This is good news for anyone wanting to see North Kennington successfully regenerated – there’s no denying the shabbiness of the building.

On the other hand, it’s one of London’s most vibrant and culturally diverse shopping centres and it will be missed. We don’t need another Westfield.

Some of our favourite things about it:

– Palace Superbowl – the only bowling alley in London where you can always get a lane, and at a reasonable price as well.

– When The Royal Court opened a theatre in a vacant shopping unit on the first floor.

– Mamuska, the Polish milk bar, which we review here.

– Table tennis:

– And, as well as the various Latin American bars and restaurants in and around the shopping centre, we like the fact that North Kennington now has not one but two Oriental supermarkets. This one is called Little Orient:

Kennington curry houses

Posted on September 6, 2013 by Kennington Runoff

We can highly recommend two curry houses just outside the borders of West Kennington: Mumbai Delight on South Lambeth Road which makes a point of using natural ingredients and has a good vegetarian selection, and Hot Stuff on Wilcox Road, a family-run, BYOB restaurant that gets very busy thanks to the reputation of its food and its low prices.

Kennington itself has two renowned curry houses: Kennington Tandoori and Gandhi’s. Both trumpet their celebrity fans. Gandhi’s displays Seb Coe, Richard & Judy (whose Channel 4 show used to be filmed in Kennington), regular Kennington Oval visitor John Major, Kennington residents Ken Clarke and Jack Straw, former Kennington resident Geoff Hoon, Gordon Brown, Jerry Springer, Neil and Christine Hamilton, and a former prime minister of Bangladesh in its window.

Kennington Tandoori has a more discreet rotating selection featuring Matt Lucas, Jon Bercow and various cricket players. The whole front of the restaurant opens up which is welcome on a warm evening. And the owner responds to criticism on TripAdvisor which makes for an interesting read.

A plot to oust Gordon Brown as prime minister is believed to have been hatched by Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt in a private room at Gandhi’s, which perhaps inspired its new colour scheme of black and blood red, not to mention the LOOK RIGHT sign on the pavement outside.

Balfe’s Bikes Workshop

Posted on September 3, 2013 by Kennington Runoff

Before Cycle PS arrived, Kennington already had a cool independent bike shop – Balfe’s Bikes on Kennington Road. We thought they’d started to compete with Cycle PS on the bar front by selling lager for the rather expensive sum of £4.30 per bottle, but it turns out SE Lager is a type of bike and they’re selling it for £430.

Kennington Cross: one of London’s most colourful areas

Posted on September 1, 2013 by Kennington Runoff

Even estate agents and chain restaurants look nice in Kennington.

Bouquets & Beans (now called Kennington Flowers by Tomorrow’s People)

Posted on August 31, 2013 by Kennington Runoff

Kennington Flowers is the flower and plant stall outside St Anselm’s church in the heart of Kennington. It’s a social enterprise from Tomorrow’s People – they provide unemployed young people with paid work and work experience, and the stall provides a nice complement to what was already one of London’s most colourful areas.

The prices are low, and right now you can get a memento of BBC Television Centre – when it closed, the BBC gave Kennington Flowers hundreds of large plant pots to sell. They’re down to the last few, and they start at £5 for the small ones.

They’re open from Tuesday to Saturday so get down there today if you fancy a pot, but make sure you go towards lunchtime because they arrive late and leave early.

more evidence of Kennington’s contribution to quiet London

Posted on August 30, 2013 by Kennington Runoff

Kennington Road in rush hour:

Vauxhall City Farm

Posted on August 29, 2013 by Kennington Runoff

Vauxhall City Farm has been “putting the lamb into Lambeth” since 1976. It’s located right in the heart of West Kennington, on Spring Gardens. It’s free to visit from 10.30am to 4pm Wednesday to Sunday – perfect for kids and animal lovers, and you can head to the Tea House Theatre or the Black Dog for a drink afterwards.

The Tea House Theatre

Posted on August 27, 2013 by Kennington Runoff

On the edge of Spring Gardens, between the Black Dog and Vauxhall City Farm, is a unique kind of tea house. There’s a huge range of loose leaf teas, but be prepared to pay Mayfair prices for the specialty teas, or plump for a mug of Tetley for £1. They’re so militant about their tea that they make a point of not serving coffee, but they do have a big choice of cakes, plus breakfasts and lunches. There are board games. And yes, sometimes there is theatre, not to mention film screenings, a knitting club, chess club, and a debating society (more like a Radio 4 panel game). It’s also exceptionally baby friendly – sometimes it feels like the babies outnumber the adults.

If you’re wondering why there are stacks of The Dangerous Book for Boys around the place, one of its authors Hal Iggulden is director of the Tea House Theatre.

has anyone been to Emanuel Peruvian Restaurant on Amelia Street?

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Kennington Runoff

Peruvian restaurants are a relatively new phenomenon in London so it’s exciting to see one on the Kennington side of Walworth Road. We haven’t been yet but the reviews online are promising. Another benefit of North Kennington’s status as London’s Latin Quarter (St Mary’s Churchyard also hosted the Azucar Flower Festival last weekend).

Quiet London

Posted on August 22, 2013 by Kennington Runoff

We were recently given the book Quiet London by Siobhan Wall, which features “over 140 quiet places to meet, drink, eat, sleep, read or browse”.

Nine of them are in Kennington:

* The Garden Museum

* The Cuming Museum which is currently closed due to fire, but their events programme continues

* Bonnington Square Garden, a magical place which we will write about another time

* Italo Delicatessen on Bonnington Square

* The Tibetan Peace Garden in Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park, which also deserves its own entry here, being one of London’s nicest and quietest parks

* G Baldwin & Co., a health food shop and apothecary on Walworth Road, which according to Siobhan has “probably the largest selection of essential oils you can find anywhere in England”. Entering the apothecary side of the shop does feel like stepping back in time (it has been open since 1844).

* Siobhan Davies Studio

* Danielle Arnaud Gallery – another of Kennington’s art galleries. It is based in one of the lovely Georgian houses on Kennington Road and we can testify as to how quiet it is – when we went we were the only visitors.

* The Ragged Canteen at Beaconsfield

Quiet London by Siobhan Wall

The Kennington Observer (formerly Kennington Runoff)

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