Kaieteur Kitchen Original
Guyanese Restaurant and Catering
Castle Square, Elephant Rd, London SE17 1EU
£-££
What an absolute joy it is to write about Faye! Venture down to Elephant and Castle and you’re bound to come across this sweet woman, owner and Head Chef of Kaieteur Kitchen, showcasing cuisine from her native Guyana.
A well-known figure within London’s Guyanese diaspora, Faye ran her restaurant and catering business from a food truck at the base of Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre for the past 18 years. This Food Bangz had the chance to interview her just before the Centre’s closure in July of 2020 and caught up with Faye after she moved Kaieteur Kitchen into a newly built restaurant front around the corner. On Episode 5, we explore Guyanese cuisine, learn about Faye’s life and career here in London, and we get her take on the redevelopment efforts occurring in Elephant and Castle.
Kaieteur Kitchen dishes up a VARIETY of authentic Guyanese food and drink, and with a menu that changes daily, I guarantee you, you will want to come back to try a little bit of everything! We definitely recommend sampling the entire menu. Each item on the menu has its own unique flavours that compliment the other dishes on offer—and its own unique history. You get a taste of how the West African, Indian, Dutch, English, Chinese, and indigenous Amerindian and Caribbean populations all influenced Guyanese cuisine.
Faye served us up unforgettable plates of her spnach rice, rice and peas, fried pumpkin, fried okra, spiced lentils, stewed chicken, curried goat, and fried sea bream with yam and plantain, and a liberal spoon of her mango chili sauce! Whew! This is going to be controversial. Let me go ahead and apologise to the Jamaicans out there…Faye’s rice and peas are F****** DELICIOUS! I don’t know what she puts in that coconut broth but wowww. And with the fried vegetables?! MMMmmmMmmmMmm. This is comfort food at its finest. Finally, we washed our meal down with Faye’s homemade ginger beer and spiced hibiscus/sorrel tea! And ended our visit with a pineapple tart.
We were lucky enough to see Faye prepare her famous pepper pot, a bi-monthly stewed specialty made with oxtail, cow’s foot, and a selection of other cuts that simmer for two days in a sticky spiced cassava sauce until the meat falls off the bone! We also got to see her prepare one of her other top sellers, Faye’s Guyanese black pudding! Can you believe it? I’m telling you. There is something about Faye. She has a gift.
The bottom line is, Kaieteur Kitchen is definitely bang for your buck! The portion sizes are generous to say the least. THE FOOD BANGZ. And, the service is real and personal. You’ll leave feeling like you made a new friend in Faye. She is more than deserving of your business. Go give Kaieteur Kitchen a try! And be sure to check out Episode 5 of This Food Bangz!
Faye’s outlook on gentrification occurring in her pocket of Southeast London is thought provoking. She takes us through the changes she’s witnessed over the years in Elephant and Castle, the decline of the Shopping Centre, and the ultimate degeneration of the area’s thoroughfares. Her hope is that the redevelopment of the area brings needed services and support to the existing community and established business owners. We hope this is the case too. Kaieteur Kitchen is one of the many local restaurants that flavours Elephant and Castle and gives it character. This episode is not to be missed!
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