Zeitgeist – German beer heaven

If we told you there was a German restaurant in Greater Kennington you’d probably say ‘get the schntizel outta here’. Well there is – and it’s a gastropub called Zeitgeist in Black Prince Road. The Ethelred estate seems like a rather implausible place for a pub geared at the German community, so we donned our Alpine headwear to check it out. 

Zeitgest has a host of German beers including Pils, Helles, Hefeweizen, Kolsch and Altbier all on draft, with some bottled beers as well. A pint came gratis with our meal, which was a bonus. Of course eating was involved, and I had the Zeitgeist Flammkuchen, which is a kind of Alsace pizza. The base was extremely thin and crumbly, and the pizza consisted simply of munster cheese with pastrami. I’m not exactly sure why it was served on a piece of torn cardboard but lets just call that ‘rustic’, shall we? 

My dining partner had the Jager Schnitzel, which consisted of a generous chunk of veal, well breaded, and a creamy mushroom sauce. The huge pile of chips beneath it, unfortunately, had spent most of their short lives in a freezer.

In summary, let’s just say that eating at Zeitgeist is an activity best undertaken when you’re not entirely sober. But that’s easy, as for the German beers they have 18 on tap varying from the big German brands to the more niche. It’s also a fun environment and usually shows German football and plays 80’s music. The free beer with a mains ends on 31 August so you better get your Gesäß in motion. 

Zeitgeist at the Jolly Gardeners – the only place to watch the World Cup Final

If you’re going to be in London rather than Rio de Janeiro on Sunday, there’s only one place to watch the World Cup Final – London’s premier German gastropub, Zeitgeist in North West Kennington.

Zeitgeist at the Jolly Gardeners - kenningtonrunoff.com

 

Zeitgeist is located at The Jolly Gardeners pub on Black Prince Road, which has 120 years of history as a pub. In common with every Kennington pub of a certain age, Charlie Chaplin’s dad used to drink there, and scenes from the films Snatch and The Calcium Kid were shot there. Since Zeitgeist moved in, the colour theme is black, inside and out – not so jolly anymore. But the schnitzel, schweinebraten, leberkaes, and German beers like Weihenstephaner and Krombacher will soon cheer you up.

They will be showing the World Cup Final on their 4 x 3 metre screen and their 60″ TV. Pay £10 in advance and you will get guaranteed entry, a shot of Vodka Brause and a Currywurst/Bratwurst roll. More info from their black website.