111 Kennington Road,
Kennington,
London,
SE11 6SF
(020) 7582 6685
The ViewLondon Review
The Grand Union is a Camden institution that has branches in Brixton, Kentish Town and Twickenham. Can their little sister in Kennington live up to the brand’s impeccable reputation for great value food and well-mixed drinks?
The Venue
A ten minute stroll from Kennington tube station, this Grand Union bar is hardly smack-bang in the middle of Saville Row. However, like Jeremy Clarkson in a Prius, it sticks out like a thumb so sore it needs its own blood supply. Not that you’ll be walking through the world’s most dangerous estates, mind - this bar is about as South London rough-and-tumble as dominos with Camilla Parker-Bowles.
It’s not small, either. Both floors are often full to bursting. The ground floor is a sultry strip club-esque crimson boutique bar, the terrace above like Dorian Grey’s back bedroom. Perfect, in short, for the bar’s trendy, not-so-young-media-middle-management crowd. Disco balls and uplighting tread perfectly the line between neon nu-rave excess and Spearmint Rhino disturbia, and gastropub wallpaper lends itself more to drinks and chatter than groping in the shadows.
The outdoor terrace is spacious and the view towards the London Eye is a cute if incidental touch. The only letdown on the interior front is that the gents’ is crammed to the point where you may have to glance downwards to check you’ve shaken the right appendage. Still, the Grand Union is a very well turned out bar that manages to straddle the rift between late night demur and pre-night drinking.
The Atmosphere
The crimson tide bestowing the walls, velvet curtains, bar and bric-a-brac do little to lighten the mood from anything other than sexy. This is good; so many gastropubs and bars try way too hard and end up looking like a Turkish brothel. The aforementioned lighting is both subtle and instantly noticeable; the bar’s voluptuousness hits you for six on entry. Pair this with attractive city types and enviably skittish couples pairing off in every corner (with plates full of burgers, mind) and you have an atmosphere that is both appealing and unassuming, in an oddly unique way.
There is no hint of trouble here, except for the odd boisterous group of Ralph Lauren-end lads and they’re hardly about to kick off with all the girly cocktails they’re sinking. Though the walls scream ‘dance’, the disco music and weird salsa-funk mix is hardly about to get any legs under the age of forty moving, unless they somehow feel like replicating the drunk-dad-at-a-wedding cameo.
The Food
Food is popular at Grand Union, and you can see why when you take a look at the huge selection of burgers and quick meals on offer for those wanting a heady bite before a long night of imbibery.
Amongst the dozens of burgers, priced between £5-£8 (impressive value for the sheer size of the things), the avocado and bacon burger and the blue cheeseburger are highlights. You can order both fries and chips on the side, although the salt is excessive on both. A shame; because aside from that the meals here are brilliant. Both burgers are stacked so high they could take pride of place at a skyscraper architects’ convention, and the meat is perfectly cooked and textured like real minced beef, rather than the processed rubbish trawled out by Wetherspoons and the like. Sauces are plentiful and service is impressively brisk, giving both meals overall near-perfect scores. Delicious, if hardly healthy. There are salads (£5-£6), but you don’t want to go all Rosemary Conley when the burgers are this good.
The Drink
Cocktails, cocktails, cocktails – and plenty more on the side. The Fig and Bison, consisting of Bison vodka, fig liqueur, vanilla and sugar topped with soda (£7.50), is venomous with just enough non-alcoholic flavour to lift the liqueur and the vodka from their roots. Strength seemingly the word of the day, The Usual Suspects (golden rum, Chambord, apple juice; £7.50) packs a slightly weaker punch, the apples bouncing off the rum to give an almost creamy effect. It is just fruity enough to sate the palate. Twisted Raspberries (£7.50), however, seems to contain enough raspberries to flatten the South Downs, disappointingly detracting from the rum. As well as signature cocktails, they offer classics like the immensely strong Old Fashioned (bourbon, Angostura bitters, ginger beer, £8.50), which will strip your gullet inch by inch. The cocktail list in its entirety will put most mid-range bars to shame.
Classic and contemporary shots are there for the more hardy drinkers, priced at £3.70. Prices are thus out of range of most students yet forgiving enough to quench the thirst of most low-to-middle earners, compounded with beers weighing in around the respectable £3 mark.
The Last Word
The Grand Union Kennington is hardly going to disappoint if you’ve already visited its Camden counterpart. The relaxed vibe, the tremendous food and impressive array of drinks make it worth a visit.
The Grand Union has been reviewed by 4 users