The Space
Deep leather couches and armchairs occupy one end. The rest of the bar is filled with simple wooden tables and mismatched chairs. Dim lighting and relaxed, warm atmosphere make this relatively bare space feel exceptionally cosy.
The Punters
Tartan scarves, rolled-up corduroys and hemp moccasins aplenty. But you’d not feel unwelcome in workboots or a suit and tie.
The Booze
Don’t go looking for a great selection of beers. The behind-the-bar fridges, however, are full of some reasonable wines and other tantalising refreshments. More importantly, they contain all the ingredients for some understandably famous cocktails.
The Grub
Pick your base, then pick your Louisiana style toppings. Put your own twist on already interesting and delicious nosh. Fun – and it’s cheap, tasty and substantial. Kaff bar is now open daily for breakfast South American style too.
The Damage
A fiver for a truly tasty feed. Three quid for the cocktails. Beer pretty standard.
An Interesting Fact
Chaka Kan shows up every now and then. Once she even tore her own pantyhose off, apparently.
The Highlights
The food. No, the cocktails. No! The big painting of a toucan smoking a joint on one wall.
What’s a bit rubbish?
There’s an awkward space in front of the bar dotted with a table or two. The fact that it doubles as a dance floor should explain any sparseness though.
What else they got in the bag?
Cake. The Cake Club is a delightful mix of cabaret entertainment and a community baking project. Confused? See it and you’ll believe it.
To sum it up…
Pub? Restaurant? Bar? Kaff is happily confused about where it sits – you could call it a hangout. And a great one at that.
Review by Sam o’Flaherty
Visit their website by clicking here.
Address: 64-68 Atlantic Rd, London SW9 8PY Tel: 020 7274 5373
[…] Kaff opened four years ago serving wine, beer, cocktails and great food, as well as putting on live music nights. […]
I was so disappointed with Kaffbar tonight. Me & three friends went in for a last round (we’d been many times & liked it here) & after 5 minutes of getting our drinks, the music went off & the lights went on. Everyone was leaving & my friend felt bad as she just spent money on a round for 4 drinks & all of a sudden we had to leave.
She decided to ask a guy behind the bar for some paper cups so we could take our drinks with us. He out right said no, so we then mentioned that we hadn’t expected the bar to close so soon after getting our drinks. The man behind the bar then said “it’s not my f*cking responsibility to tell you when the bar closes”. He then followed this by calling us “Posh twats”. Rightfully we were very upset by this and we told him we felt he was being unreasonable, but he continued to swear at us & told us to leave.
On what planet is it ok to speak to customers like this….? We were decent people looking to have a final farewell drink in Brixton and we received this bitterness. After an hour of making our case, we still didn’t get an apology from this man & got the usual treatment of, you’re the drunk ones, you’re in the wrong. Well I have you know, none of us were ‘drunk’ and none of us deserved to be spoken to like that. I don’t care if you’ve worked 20 hours (which was by the way his excuse) that’s your choice. To displace your anger on to well-meaning people is not ok.
Avoid this place like the plague… I will never be going back!!
Dreadful. I have lived in Brixton for thirteen years and yesterday, as I arrived at Kaff to meet my wife, my daughters and friends, we were badly treated by the owner, who told us off for being in the premises with our children beyond 8pm, saying they are not allowed due to their licensing restrictions.
But this is where things went sour. If indeed our food had arrived in a timely fashion, we wouldn’t have been there past 8pm. But to my amazement, once I checked their licensing hours online, the cut-off point for children to remain in the premises is actually 9pm, not 8pm.
The only motivation I can think of, is that Kaff only cares about making money. It was Friday night and the place was heaving with people. The owner ‘invited’ us to leave, saying they are a bar.
Needless to say, I will never set foot in that place again as they are anti-children and anti-families. Food is actually awful too. Avoid like the plague!
[…] Pub Review – Kaff Bar, Brixton Tartan scarves, rolled-up corduroys and hemp moccasins aplenty. But you'd not come to feel unwelcome in workboots or a suit and tie. The Booze … Choose your base, then select your Louisiana type toppings. Place your personal twist on currently fascinating and scrumptious … Read far more on Brixton Site (blog) […]
Thanks! Wonderfully written review – nice bar too!