Royal Festival Hall, Belvedere Rd, London SE1 8XX, 0845 686 1122 www.canteen.co.uk
Sometimes a long leisurely meal is not what’s required. Sometimes you need to get in and out in under an hour. It’s amazing the way a need for quality food at speed reduces your choice. Particularly when you have a specific time you need to vamoose by.
Unless of course you go down the sarnie and drink route – a quick Pret, an Eat or even Leon’s balls. But there is a third way. The Canteen way.
Before I launch into florid descriptions of what we ate for a swift pre-gig dinner on the Southbank, it’s important to add this caveat. This is not the place for a long dinner with many courses, it is not Galvin’s or Rules. It highlights on the menu the dishes that come quickest out of the kitchen for goodness sake.
But it also highlights that everything is made in those very kitchens, from the buttered Arbroath smokies to the piccalilli. No “special sauce” or Heinz mayo here. No siree.
So to be honest I don’t mind sharing a 6 person table with two other couples, I don’t mind the odd average dish, because you know what? It’s a damn site better than anything else you can get close by at the same speed.
It’s a bit like the calculation I made as a wayward teen, applying some fiendish algorithm to determine which wine brought most alcoholic bang for my (minimal) buck. It was some sort of Hungarian Bull’s Blood I think.
I’ve eaten a lot at Canteen from their pies to roasts to brunches to Neals Yard cheeses. And I reckon the small dishes give you the best food. And so this time I went straight for those and selected devilled kidneys on toast with a side of chips and some spring greens.
The kidneys were great. Properly meaty without that bitter edge you can get if they’re not absolutely fresh. The texture was firm but not chewy and they put just the right amount of cayenne kick into the sauce. Enough to bring a liquor warmth to my mouth without overwhelming the whole dish.
They came perched on a delightfully tangy, stretchy piece of toast that lent a certain crunch to the affair. Greens were fresh and tasty and the chips were decent.
My friend went for the roast chicken and I was surprised both at how good it tasted – juicy, darkly meaty and distinctly free range – and the size. This was no stunted teen (or accelerated toddler) this was a properly matured fowl. The skin was properly crisped too. Delicious.
And the whole lot, including 2 caraffs of wine and a pint of Meantime IPA came to something under £40, which was about right for the food.
Ahaaah, we almost cross-posted on Canteen. Thanks for the comment on my post.
That’s the key I think – Canteen isn’t where I’d choose to go with the whole of London open to me, nor if I were looking for a slow, elegant, classy meal. But when I need some decent food as close to Waterloo station as possible, it fits the bill really well.
I was there again last night, all four dishes that my friend and I had were good. We too shared a table with two other couples, and we did have to wait a bit for it but hey, that’s the price one pays when somewhere’s busy.
I do like Canteen. The food’s not mindblowing but it’s dependable and sometimes that’s all one needs.
@Kavey – I always enjoy myself there for exactly that reason – it;s a good fit for what i need. The food is fresh and well cooked, and the drinks are decent too. It’s not unlike having good home cooking really. But in a busy restaurant.
@Su-Lin – I absolutely agree – solidly good.
Granted I prefer the likes of Medcalf or a decent g***ropub for a ‘British’ but Canteen is decent enough. I fondly recall a recent lunch of pint of prawns, smoked haddock and apple crumble washed down with a few speciality ales. I think we all had a little kip when we got back to the office that particular Friday !
@Mr Noodles ‘A decent lunch’ is exactly what you get. Their brunchy food is really good, better than their pies I reckon. Not surprised you all had a kip afterwards though…
Canteen does very well for what it is …
Their meals are well cooked, well presented and of a good price. Kinda like high end pub food. But hits the spot.
@Dave – i agree, often more pub like than a lot of the food now served in most foodie pubs.