Cable Bakery & Roastery

Cable Bakery & Roastery is a very exciting new arrival from the couple behind the Cable Bar & Cafe and Waterloo’s Scootercaffe. It’s situated at 82 Bolton Crescent, a street that runs along the side of Kennington Park and was previously most notable for an adventure playground and a bondage shop (Fetish Freak – “your fetish is our business”, but not if, like us, your fetish is for four coloured pens, although to be fair, we haven’t enquired so we can’t be sure).

Cable Bakery & Roastery exterior - kenningtonrunoff.com

The decor is every bit as stylish as their other two establishments, with vintage coffee machines scattered around the place.

Cable Bakery & Roastery shelving - kenningtonrunoff.com

As well as these stools, there are a couple of small tables. The establishment is already proving popular so you may not get a seat at busy times, but you can always head around the corner to Cable Bar instead.

Cable Bakery & Roastery seating area - kenningtonrunoff.com

They bake sourdough bread and roast coffee on site, all organic:

Cable Bakery & Roastery bread - kenningtonrunoff.com

As well as the expected hot drinks, they serve smoothies, sandwiches, chicken and beef broth and other lunch options with plans to add more. They also have a good selection of cakes – we had an excellent slice of apple pie.

Cable Bakery & Roastery cakes - kenningtonrunoff.com

They’re open Monday to Friday 9.30am to 7pm and Saturdays from 10am to 3pm, although hours may increase in the future. Let’s hope so – this place is great.

Address: 82 Bolton Crescent, SE5 0SE.

Sticky Paws Coffee Van

Update (Nov 11th 2014): the Sticky Paws Coffee Van is no more – it has been stolen!

Kennington is the home of Costa Coffee but despite or perhaps because of that, it was hard to get a great coffee here until recently. Then Sally White arrived, then the Coffee Mob van outside St Anselm’s Church, and now there’s another exciting development – Sticky Paws Coffee Van outside Kennington tube station.

Sticky Paws Coffee van

A very colourful sign will point you in the right direction from the tube:

Sticky Paws Coffee sign - kenningtonrunoff.com

Mr Sticky Paws will be there every weekday from 7am to midday, engine trouble not withstanding. He claims to only use local products from independent suppliers which is not strictly true but sounds like a step in the right direction.

And, in a commuter-friendly touch, he offered to add a little cold water to our herbal tea so we could drink it during our tube journey. Not bad for £1!

Sticky Paws Coffee cup on the Northern Line - kenningtonrunoff.com

The Coffee Mob

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.

The Coffee Mob - kenningtonrunoff.com