Canteen: British Food Back to Basics

With the frumpy but infamous Royal Festival Hall on its shoulders, Canteen seemed remarkably unfazed by its precarious yet prime location. In fact, ‘unfazed’ and ‘Canteen’ married very well together, with the restaurant employing basic culinary skills to serve a host of untampered British classics. Void of any pretence or glamour, its name suddenly became very apt.

Laid back with a pinch of reticence, staff were perhaps too happy for us to mull over not the most exciting of menus. By and large the choice was ample; nothing more, nothing less. With vegetarian options aplenty, I would seriously query the reasoning behind the breaded Glamorgan vegetarian sausages – I was not a fan – but would also salute the hot buttered Arbroath Smokie to start with – that took my fancy the most.

Reaffirming its Britishness, Heinz tomato sauce and HP brown sauce had pride of place on the table. I liked that. And the layout was such that you didn’t have to worry about someone else’s conversation detracting from your own. I liked that too.

Food wise, I’ll rant and rave in equal measure. As much as the steak was expertly cooked, seasoned and modestly accompanied by crunchy seasonal greens, the root vegetable pie tasted like a Yorkshire pudding full of canned tomatoes and the mash was disastrously watery. Similarly, although a glass of lemon curd was passed off as orange jelly, the treacle tart did rather excel itself…in a big way. Had my craving for the – freshly caught that day – fish and chips been fulfilled instead of savaged by a ‘sorry, we’re out of the fish’, and the house white not been lukewarm, there’d be little to criticise as the ambience made for a very leisurely evening.

In line with Canteen’s commitment to good ‘honest’ food, I’ll be honest: a) I left feeling hungry, and b) the simplicity of the food was maybe a touch too simple. The Arbroath Smokie epitomised the restaurant for me; the plainest of dishes with the slightest of garnishes, leaving me not quite satisfied.

So to Canteen for dinner again? Probably not. But the allure of the breakfast menu would certainly get me there again for a morning date. That is all.

A generous 3* – Pleasant but by no means an award winner.

(1* – Can o’ Tizer, shizer; 2* – has-been school canteen; 3* – scanty but preen; 4* – can’t knock – keen as a bean; 5* – an incandescent tee-light)

Canteen locations:

Royal Festival Hall
Belvedere Road
SE1 8XX

Spitalfields Market
2 Crispin Place
E1 6DW

55 Baker Street
W1U 8EW