Kennington Road receiving a make-over: Persian Restaurant, Papa Johns and new bike shop

So, it has been a while since I did any proper lurking.  In my absence, I note that the old Amici has turned into a rather trendy looking "Doost", a Persian Grill and Vodka(!) Bar...  And since you all asked so nicely, I've uploaded the entire menu so that you too can share the Persian goodness...

I'm afraid it doesn't quite compete, but Pizza lovers will be pleased to hear that as well as the already existing Pizza Hut Take away, Pizza Express Restaurant, Lambeth Pizza Restaurant and Dominos Takeaway, we can now add... a Papa Johns takeaway to Kennington Road, next to South London Pacific Tiki Lounge, complete with its own row of cheesy and irritating scooters.  We won't complain though, as it's great to finally have something in the gap.  It has been sitting empty for well over a year...

A few doors further up, on the other side of South Pacific, the most exciting piece of news is the opening of a new bike shop, Balfes Bikes, not another motorbike shop (of which we seem to have in abundance locally), but a real bonafide cycling shop.  Granted, I didn't see it open, and there are no signs or anything up yet, but Kennington People On Bikes has a shiny article and photo of the owners over at his blog.  I'm delighted about its arrival, being an enthusiastic amateur cyclist (the lurker owns no lycra), and I think it's in a great location, given the number of people who now cycle along both Kennington Road and Kennington Park Road.  You can find them at 338 Kennington Road.  Hurrah!

Finally, the ancient Estate Agent, Burns and Shield, that never appeared to do any business appears to have re-opened or re-imagined itself as Capital Kennington, and has received a bright blue faschia upgrade.  Can't get excited about estate agents, but who cares when we have our very own new bike shop?!

It's really good to see an influx of new businesses.  I'm still hoping the burned out sandwich shop opposite Pizza Express becomes something interesting, and if anybody is looking for a large retail outfit, the huge old St Aubyn's holistic centre unit on is Cleaver Street still empty.  Might suit another restaurant... Who knows?

Franklins - renovated and re-opened

The second exciting piece of SE11 news for the day is that Franklins has re-opened. I haven't blogged about this before, but they re-opened in a renovated state at the beginning of May 2008.

Rather than just being a restaurant, it's now a food emporium / deli / cafe / restaurant. I hesitate with the "cafe" part, but it's much better placed for people to drop in for a quick bite to eat. I think the layout is much improved.

It was the three wheeled pleb's plan to go for breakfast, but after the visit to the fete, we ended up there at about three o'clock. It was absolutely packed with people, and whilst we wandered in and found a table, the service was slow. When I finally caught somebody, I was told that the food would take some time as they were busy (probably fair enough, since many of their staff appeared to be at the fete). We decided, once we'd seen the prices (I think we'd missed the breakfast) and waited around, that we'd go back another day.

On the positive side, they're still sourcing all of their food from local growers etc., making them very green. Unfortunately, It's still fantastically expensive - only £6.99 for a jar of lemon bonbons! Still, the place is absolutely packed out with well-off looking mothers and their children!

It was too busy (and I'm a little broke at the moment) to stop and eat today, but I'll try and do a fuller review at a later stage.