Canteen

I tried out Canteen at The Royal Festival Hall last week for lunch with friends. I was very impressed. Good food, cooked and presented well. Friendly service and a relaxed setting. Overall an extremely enjoyable experience which I will be repeating.
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Ro
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, July 02, 2007

very good place for a quick lunch or for a nice pleasant evening. All

the staff are very welcoming and the food very good.
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bill
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, June 29, 2007

Went to the canteen last tuesday night, early as we had tickets for the concert in Spitafield church. The place was packed its seem everyone was going to the church.We told the manager and the youg lady at the door that we hadn't booked and only had 50 mins to eat & get to the concert.

They found a place for us to sit, took our order for food & drinks straight away. The bottle of wine, which was excellent arrived immediately, the food 10 mins later

Everyone around us seem to be enjoying the atmosphere, food & wine.

We arrived well fed & early for the concert.

We'll certainly be going back.
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James & Jane
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Great, friendly and efficient again. Went here over a month ago and it was simply great. Food was slightly cold (eggs Benedict) but great juices.
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Steve
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Friday, June 15, 2007

Went to the canteen twice last week, once for lunch which was excellent, a bit rushed perhaps but the place was heaving, but the service was smart & perfessional the pies perfect, the drinks arrived within 2 mins the mains within 10, back to work inside 40 , well done!!!

The evening was less rushed but still excellent, cocktails, starters & mains, being a vegetairain I was delighted with the sausages, any chance of getting the recipie.??
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Bob
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Thursday, June 14, 2007

Fast service, friendly waitors and great attention to detail: I would personally reccommend Canteen. The daily specials are delicious. Cannot fault the service.
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Jane
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Having first visited the canteen last year I thought I go back as so much is being said in the press. I'm glad to report the food and service is still as good as the first time. Keep up the good work
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cecile
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, June 12, 2007

I have visited the Canteen many times since it opened last year, everytime the service , food, wine and atmosphere has been fantastic. Good luck for your new venture.
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Skitz
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, June 12, 2007

We went to Canteen for lunch due to it receiving top marks from MasterChef's Gregg Wallace (on BBC1) for food quality. It was a Saturday afternoon (1.30pm) and the restaurants were all quiet (except Giraffe next door) as the market is shut on Saturdays. We usually frequent Giraffe as the food and the service are first class. Their prices there are also a bit more reasonable compared to Canteen's but we thought we would try something different.

The premise to this restaurant is that they buy top quality British ingredients and I, for one, am happy to support a restaurant that promotes local produce.

Getting seated was a very quick affair. We had a table in under a minute. That was the highlight of the whole experience. We had a quick look at the drinks menu and decided what we wanted to drink. It took about 5 minutes to get a waiter to come to our table to take our drinks order and a further 15 minutes to get our drinks. Bare in mind that the place was pretty quiet and overstaffed, plus all we asked for was two cokes. If we were asking for a cocktail, I could probably understand but two drinks that involve nothing more than opening a bottle cap and putting a piece of lemon in a cup should be delivered to the table in under five minutes, especially when you are sitting right next to the bar.

Another 20 minutes passed before I got sick of waiting for someone to come and take my order. The waiters and waitresses just walked around aimlessly staring at the diners. In the end, I had to summons a waitress to the table. The girl that took our order was really moody. I ordered the watercress and bacon salad with poached egg. My wife ordered the bream. The waitress then snapped at my wife for not ordering any sides (it doesn't come with any). Seeing the side dishes, you are better off saving your money - a small handful of chips will set you back £3 plus service charge.

The food took 35 minutes to arrive. While we were waiting, the staff patrolled and stared to make sure you don't do a runner, or at least that is how they make you feel.

When the food finally did arrive, my "salad" was served on a bread plate and I could count the number of pieces of rice sized bacon on one hand. The poached egg was rushed and not even cooked properly. My wife's bream was a similar story. On top that that, the food was cold (both plates). It just did not feel like there was any love or passion going into the food, even though there are five chefs on board. The flavourless food was pretty much dumped on the table and the waiterress went back to "patrolling" the tables.

The cost of the pleasure totalled £23.50. I am a firm believer that you get what you pay for and I am always happy to pay good money for good food but Canteen are taking the mickey.

After enduring the experience, as soon as we finished eating, I asked for the bill. The first waiter agreed to go and get the bill but never bothered. Fifteen minutes later, I asked for the manager and asked him for the bill. He finally presented the bill ten minutes later. Surely these people want to get paid??

The menu states there is a discretionary (more like compulsory) 12.5% service charge. I complained to the manager as the food was mediocre at best, the service was rubbish (you get more service at McDonalds and that is no exaggeration) and the prices are astronomically high for the quality. The manager suggested I come back in two weeks as they are making changes to the attitudes of the staff and the quality of the food but as they say once bitten, twice shy. I suggested he go next door and dine there to compare the experience. He suggested that they are too funky for his clientele. At no point did he apologise.

Compared to Giraffe next door, this place leaves alot to be desired. It is a real shame as the premise of the restaurant is a noble one, let down by the food quality and the staff.
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Paul
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 0
Saturday, June 09, 2007

We went for dinner. I like the idea of the place- the concept, the sourcing, the menu, the bench seating and all that. The potted duck and piccallilli was excellent. The eggs benedict was quite good. My chicken salad, however, failed in execution. The roast chicken was lean and lovely; the dark and light meat made a welcome change from the normal pan-fried boneless/skinless chicken breast. The taragon sauce was lovely, but there was too much of it. Worse yet is that they dressed the cress with oil. Just oil. I couldn't finish the salad. Some lemon juice would have been perfect. Service was uninformed and very slow. Fifteen minutes to get a menu and order drinks and another ten minutes for teh drinks to arrive. The place wasn't even busy. If I'm in the area I might give it another chance, but only because of what they're trying to do, and not because of the meal I had last night.
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Dan - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 6
Friday, June 08, 2007