I visited Canteen's Royal Festival Hall location on Sunday the 24 May 2015 in a group of eight people. I have previously eaten at this location and struggled to get a big group into the restaurant without a reservation, but it was easy to make one online a few days in advance.. The food at Canteen is ideal for groups of all ages as they offer children's portions of any dish at half price and the selection consists of traditional British fare with rotating daily and monthly specials. The menu features homemade pies, fish and chips, macaroni and cheese and all day brunch dishes- they boast fresh ingredients and all of our dishes were vibrant, immaculately arranged on the plate and good portion sizes. The homemade pies were the envy of all diners in the group, as these came out with a nice flaky crust, generous filling, hand cut fries, a small jug of gravy and lightly sautéed seasonal greens. The macaroni and cheese offered a mature spin on the classic, delivering a creamy, rich cheese sauce and decorated with an arrangement of bacon strips balanced on top. The fish and chips represented a nice attempt at the quintessential dish and were lightly battered with a crispy coating, accompanied with hand cut fries. My hot trout salad was a solid option for a light lunch with flakes of perfectly smoked fish on a bed of lightly dressed apple, fennel and salad leaves.
The food at Canteen definitely delivers, but we had several issues with the speed and care of service and the facilities in the restaurant itself- the ladies toilets were backed up and a complete mess when we first arrived. They were then closed, leaving women queuing for the handicap stall, which also quickly became a mess because the hand dryer was out of order and there were discarded tissues and hand towels piling up. In addition to this, it took the waiting staff much too long to clear our dishes when we were finished our meal. When our plates were eventually collected, they were merely put aside on an empty table and some remained there for the duration of our visit. However, we did arrange for some Birthday cupcakes to be brought over the table and management happily obliged with this request.
As Canteen's food is equivalent to a relatively high end gastropub in terms of its presentation, portion size, assembly and pricing, I would expect more attentive service and cleaner facilities generally, however this is a general comment that likely applies to all restaurants along the Southbank because of the footfall in this area- in particular, staff always appear to be overladen, distracted and frazzled in these tourist hotspots.
I would recommend Canteen as a good spot for fresh, hearty British food if you are visiting the Southbank as they do offer good value in comparison to other generic food franchises in the area, but otherwise, it might be advisable to try one of their alternative locations for a more intimate and enjoyable atmosphere. read more