Apparently not content with having just one of London’s best gastropubs, the team behind The Baring have crossed the Thames bearing a gift: The Kerfield Arms.
It’s their second venue, it’s just opened, and it’s already proving that lightning does, occasionally, strike twice – especially if you marinate it first.
Taking over the old Crooked Well site, The Kerfield joins the area’s already-pretty-strong lineup of the likes of Silk Road, Theo’s Pizzeria, and The Bear. In fact, it’s an almost-literal stone’s throw away from The Camberwell Arms, which is possibly sweating slightly right now.
The two guys who started The Baring (Adam Symonds & Rob Tecwyn) have decided to partner up with the chef that made it such a success in the first place, Jay Styler. Which, as it turns out, was not an entirely idiotic move, because he’s delivered the goods once more.
Inside the place looks – and feels – like a sibling to The Baring: same understated good looks, same deep green panelling, same quiet confidence. It’s stripped-back but not austere, with soft globe lights, a long wood bar lined with some serious taps, and polished emerald leather booths for you to sink into.
On the opening menu, you can whet the ol’ appetite with some taramasalata and fried pizza dough (one of those ideas that belongs in the I Wish I Had Thought Of That Hall of Fame), before moving onto standouts like some plump & juicy smoked Marmande tomatoes decorated with sea beets; and a Highland rump with pepper corn sauce and flossy, golden-edged, butter-laminated Pommes Anna. And if you want a vegetarian dish that doesn’t feel like penance? Go for the herb-flecked ricotta & nettle malfatti dumplings.
To drink, there’s a solid lineup of beers from independent breweries (barring the obligatory pint of the Black Stuff), with a few eyebrow-raising pours, including their own house lager. The wine list leans natural, organic, and biodynamic, with bottles from across the UK and the continent, and if you’re in the mood for a cocktail, the list is short but sharp, with a particularly good Gimlet.
Turns out, good taste travels well.
NOTE: The Kerfield Arms is open now, Tuesday-Monday. You can find out more, and make a booking at their website.
The Kerfield Arms | 16 Grove Lane, London, SE5 8SY
Keen to explore more of South London? Check out our Camberwell itinerary.