Author Archives: 250kennington

Mystica

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Square Meal

Modern chocolate-brown colour schemes & eye-catching illumination help to make this new Indian kid on the block stand out from the suburban high-street crowd. The food also turns heads with its full-on presentation. Flavours aren’t bad either, despite the fact that the menu is peppered with the usual north Indian curry-house suspects. Fine starters include halibut ‘fry’ (strips of lightly spiced fish, shallow-fried in crispy batter), while jeera chicken makes a strong impression thanks to its robust cumin-based marinade. Following on, lamb hariyali has a lovely, rather delicate flavour enhanced by spinach, almonds & cream, while another sound bet is lamb sali (tender chunks of meat in a mild sauce of coconut and apricots). The wine list is brief but adequate, & smartly dressed waiters provide speedy, efficient service.

Ben’s Canteen

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Square Meal

Ben’s Canteen serves fine beers, wines & ‘British food done well’ to the chattering classes who ping-pong between this increasingly interesting Wandsworth enclave & nearby Northcote Road. A relaxed, postmodern woody interior with retro styling & alfresco tables sets the scene for child-friendly breakfasts (served all day), dinner & everything in between. Order brunch classics, toasties, soups, stews with dumplings, bangers, burgers, zingy salads, mussels in cider & a run of meaty mains such as pork belly on savoy cabbage with fig gravy & herb-crusted potatoes or oxtail & horseradish with pearl barley risotto. Puds include trifle with lemon posset, & there’s plenty for lovers of cappuccino & cake. To drink, try mainstream cocktails – good mojito, caipirinha, raspberry mule – plus beers from Meantime, Samuel Smith, BrewDog & local boys, Sambrook’s at tolerable prices.