Tag Archives: Desserts

New Dinner Menu at Ben’s Canteen

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If you’ve been into the Canteen, during the day, recently you may have spotted Ben tucking into plate after plate of food (not that unusual some might say!). He undertook this arduous task so that you guys could enjoy a brand new dinner menu and it launches tonight.

As it’s January and the economy is a stagnant beast we’ve worked hard to try and reduce the overall cost of dinner and we’ve also changed our 2 courses for £20 offer to 2 courses for £18 and a free glass of wine.

You can see the whole menu by clicking here, meanwhile here are some of our early favourites.

Small Plates

The Fish Tacos rock and the All Day Breakfast Scotch Egg remains totally epic.

Bigger Plates

The Benny Benny Chicken is for those of you looking to be a wee bit healthier, it’s carb free and our rainbow slaw isn’t made with mayo which is much nicer and kinder on the scales. On the flipside, the blue cheese hollandaise with our new flat iron steak (a super tasty cut of beef) is luxurious and a decadent treat.

Burgers & Sandwiches

The BC Burger (recently named as one of the UK’s top burgers by ShortList) is untouched (although we did recently improve it by switching bun, it’s way better) but we’ve added a couple of new, frankly dirty, burgers too. Come and check out the Sloppy Ben (basically we pour on chilli con carne and cheese) and the Big Benny Melt (the burger is topped with mac & cheese) and indulge in good filth – feel free to ask for additional napkins.

Big Benny Melt

Big Benny Melt

We’re super excited about the new Sea Dog (basically a posh fish finger sandwich loaded with mushy peas and homemade tartare sauce) and our All Beef Hot Dog is a winner, especially if you add chilli and cheese!

Salads

We’re loving the Mackerel Nicoise – great fish and a great salad.

Sharers & Sides

We’ve made our Mac & Cheese vegetarian friendly and we’ve introduced two new veggie sides in the form of Spicy Sweet Corn and Smokey Roasted Cauliflower (delish).

Desserts

Just before Christmas, Ben took a trip to Lille and Bruges and fell in love with Speculoos which is kinda like a ginger biscuit but a bit more cinnamony – this is good news as we now have a Speculoos Cheesecake on the menu and it’s lovely. For desserts we’ve sourced the best salted caramel ice cream we could find, it’s from our friends at Gelupo (the best ice cream place in town, go check it out on Archer Street in Soho).

Hungry now?! Click here to book or call 020 7228 3260.

Jubilee Brunch & BBQ

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It’s Jubilee time and we think it’s going to be just splendid. Here at Ben’s Canteen we’ve decided to celebrate by doing our famous brunch every day and then from 2pm we will be running a BBQ (no burnt sausages!).

Jubilee at Ben's Canteen

We’re particularly excited about the BBQ, here’s the menu (note, some items will be available for takeaway which you can take to the park or munch on the move)…

The Grill

Ben’s BBQ Rib Roll

BC Burger

BC Chicken Burger

Asparagus with Berkswell Cheese, Sun Dried Toms, Rocket & Balsamic

Mackerel with Fennel & Rocket Salad

Rib-eye Steak with Onion Rings & Ben’s BBQ Sauce

Herbed Chicken with your choice of salad from below

Salads

Mixed Leaf Salad

Mixed Green Bean, Hazelnut & Orange

Tomato & Red Onion

Extras

Pint of Prawns with Dip

Grilled Corn with Butter

Grilled Vegetables

Ben’s Boston Beans

Ben’s Slaw

Potato Salad

Hand Cut Chips

All Day Breakfast Scotch Egg

Desserts

Lemon 3 Ways – Cake, Curd & Ice Lolly

Jaffa Cake Trifle

Upside Down Cheesecake

Sundaes & Ice Creams

Chocolate & Fudge Brownie with Vanilla Ice Cream

Strawberry & Fudge Brownie with Vanilla Ice Cream

Ice Cream: Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry

BBQ Drinks

Sipsmith Summer Cup

Homemade Lemonade

Homemade Ginger Beer

So, here’s the recap.

Sat, Sun, Mon & Tues: 9am-2pm Brunch

Sat, Sun, Mon & Tues: 2pm-close BBQ

If you’d like to book a table then please click here or call us on 020 7228 3260.

Also, we’re going to be running the BBQ menu from Wed-Fri night ahead of the Jubilee and to hell with any rain that maybe forecast, we’re British and we will BBQ. God save the Queen!

Canteens are for friends

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Ben's Canteen

When we set up the Canteen we always had a few core principles in mind,

  • It should be super tasty
  • We’ll use produce that you may otherwise have to journey into ‘town’ to have
  • It should be relaxed
  • It will be open all day
  • We’ll serve seasonal British food

And then there was one thing that we really wanted to capture – making it a great place to catch up with friends, whether it be just a couple of you or a big group to share good times with. Staying in contact via Facebook, text messages and Twitter is great but nowhere near as good as meeting up in person – our job is simply to try and make that more fun.

We love the Canteen’s big windows at the front, so we’ve put in large tables which can be shared with other ‘Canteeners’ or taken over by groups of friends whilst (hopefully) basking in the sunshine. In the ‘dining room’ (in essence we’re never that formal, you’re more than welcome just to have a drink there) at the back we’ve created a more intimate area which at night is softly lit.

Ben's Canteen, Dining Room

When it comes to the breakfast, lunch, brunch and dinner menus we hope we’ve put together a list of choices that helps to get you guys talking, whether it be our infamous All Day Breakfast Scotch Egg, our #doublebeef burger, our new desserts (e.g. a Rolo tart – who would you give your last one to?!) or our top notch Full English that comes with homemade beans – we’re always evolving and we like to do things a little differently, please do feel free to give us feedback on our creations.

Anyways, take this as a call to arms, stop reading this post and get in touch with that friend or group of mates you haven’t seen for a while and head on down to the Canteen to hangout and catch up. If you want to book a table then click here.

Captains of Industry

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When we cast our eye around the Canteen we often see business taking place.

Business Lunches at Ben's Canteen

From fledgling new businesses coming to life via laptops (and our excellent Square Mile coffee) to successful property developers to local businesses entertaining clients and establishing future revenues. We love it and like the government we want to stimulate more growth in the economy.

Here’s how the Canteen can help…

Business Lunches

We offer 2 courses for £10 and it’s ‘top British nosh’ as many of our customers like to say. So grab some clients or reward the team and enjoy dishes such as Smoked Eel Pate, Soup, Toad in the Hole, Mushy Pea Fish Cake, Super Food Salad, Bread and Butter Pudding or go off the set menu and take down the famous BC Burger and All Day Breakfast Scotch Egg.

BC Burger, pic courtesy of @burgeranarchy

Breakfast Meetings

As we run SW London’s biggest and busiest brunch you can rely on us to knock up a cracking breakfast – in our experience a good breakfast meeting has always laid the foundations for exciting future projects. We offer our Big Ben (Full English) alongside Eggs Benedict, Royale and so on… we also do epic breakfast baps. Of course a good breakfast meeting needs killer coffee and tea, we have Square Mile and Teapigs, and lots of juice and if you’re feeling a bit more daring then maybe even a Bloody Mary or a glass of Prosecco.

The Big Ben, pic courtesy of @mulia

Bespoke Events

We love to tailor events to your needs at the Canteen. So if you wanted to say host a drinks reception with canapes then we can do that without any problems (click here to see our canape options) or you might want us to open earlier for a large breakfast meeting –  just let us know what you think will make your business event go well and we’ll try to make it happen.

Dinner

British food, done well is what we serve and we know it will leave you and your clients happy. What business dinner wouldn’t go well when you start with our All Day Breakfast Scotch Egg, a British Meat Plate and Potted Hams before moving on to our British Beef Board, Pollock with Cockles, Oxtail and Horseradish Risotto or Venison before finishing with desserts such as a Powerhouse Porter Cheesecake or a British Cheeseboard?!

Extras

We’ve got free WiFi and you can always borrow our printer or photocopier for those emergency moments! Also, whilst you’re waiting for your clients and colleagues you can grab one of the magazines in our rack for a read and to be inspired.

Lunch – 2 Courses for £10

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With the arrival of the new year we thought it a rather good time to unveil our 2 courses for £10 lunches. You can choose from…

Lunch from 12pm – 2 Courses for £10

Starters

Smoked Eel Pate with Toasted Sourdough – £5.5

Soup of the Day with Crusty Bread – £4.5

Mains

Sausage and Mash Pie – £8.5

Rabbit and Pearl Barley Stew – £8

Mushy Pea Fish Cake with Poached Egg and Mustard Sauce – £8.5

Super Food Salad – £8.5 (add Chicken – £1.5)

Orkney Beef Steak Sandwich – £6.95

Spicy Grilled Chicken Sandwich – £6.50

Desserts

Apple Tart with Custard or Cream – £4.5

Bread and Butter Pudding with Custard or Cream – £5

Lunch is served every day from 12pm – 3pm. As well as the 2 courses for £10 we’ll also be offering some other seriously tasty lunch options,

All Day Breakfast Scotch Egg – £5

BC Burger and Chips – £12.5

(Homemade Black Angus Mince Patty. Topped with homemade Corned Beef & Smoked Cheddar with Ben’s Burger Sauce. Served with Handcut Chips)

Ham and Cheese Toastie topped with Rarebit – £4

Kids Fish Finger Bap – £3.5

Bowl of Chips – £3

And of course, don’t forget that we’re open from 10am every day – we do an amazing breakfast, just ask the hordes who join us every weekend for SW London’s busiest and best brunch.

Served Until 12pm

The Big Ben – £8.95

Sausage, back bacon, mushroom, homemade boston beans, black pudding, sourdough toast and 2 eggs ‘your way’

The Veggie Ben – £7.95

Tomato, spinach, mushrooms, beans, sourdough toast and 2 eggs ‘your way’

Add extras for £1

Ben’s Baps (choose 2 fillings) – £5

Sausage/Bacon/Egg/Black Pudding/Beans/Mushrooms/Tomato/Spinach

Add extras for £1

Served All Day

All Day Breakfast Scotch Egg – £5

Eggs Benedict – £7.5

Eggs Royale – £8

Eggs Florentine – £6.5

Scrambled Eggs – £6

Add Salmon – £1.50

Homemade Pastries – made fresh every morning.

Lunch 2 for £10

Beer Matching at Ben’s Canteen

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At the Canteen we’re always looking for tasty new products and then we got to thinking about how cool it would be to match beers to our new winter menu… thus giving us a great excuse to bring in a whole range of great new beers!

New Beers at Ben's Canteen

Here’s our beer matching list – we’d love to get your feedback and have your suggestions on other beers we could be using (we’ll be changing our list from time to time so we’ll deffo consider your recommendations).

Small Plates

British Meat Plate – Junction Ale

Deep Fried Pigs Cheeks with Homemade Salad Cream – Meantime London Lager

Beef Brisket Slider with Bone Marrow Mayo – Red MacGregor

Cod Cheeks with Parsley Pesto – Sam Smith Organic Lager

Potted Ham with Homemade Piccalilli & Toast – Sambrook’s Wandle

Mains

Gloucester Old Spot Pork Chop – Kernel Pale Ale

Rib-eye Steak – Darkstar Imperial Stout

Mussels – Meantime London Lager

Beef and Junction Ale Stew – Red MacGregor

Pan Fried and Poached Chicken with Rarebit Mash – Sambrook’s Wandle

Oxtail and Horseradish Pearl Barley Risotto – Kernel IPA

BC Burger – Sambrook’s Junction Ale

Beetroot and Butternut Squash Pearl Barley Risotto – Darkstar Imperial Stout

Sea Bream – Sam Smith Organic Lager

Desserts

Trifle – Red MacGregor

Poached Pear – Kernel Pale Ale

Plum Tart – Darkstar Imperial Stout


Tackle our World Cup Burger and Small Plates

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Ok so another busy day at the Canteen… we’ve finally assembled our World Cup Burger and it’s pretty damned mighty. We’ve sourced excellent beef patties from Dove, the Butcher on Northcote Road, and slammed two into a Flour Station bap. Then we picked on some smoked Montgomery Cheddar from Hamish Johnston (this is a total revelation to us at the Canteen, why did we not discover this cheese before?!). Finally we mixed ketchup and mustard and mounted the patties on top and then added gherkins – tackle that people!

RWC Burger

Sticking with the rugby for the moment… if England beat Argentina then we will give you a free Bloody Mary (if you have post match brunch).

Last night our Small Plates menu made it’s debut and we have to say it was a big success, we sold out of every plate. The Labne (Lebanese Cheese Balls) got a lot of praise as did the Butternut Squash Bites.

We’ve got a seriously retro option on the desserts menu, a scoop of Jude’s Vanilla Ice Cream with Coca Cola (Coke Floats) – it’s a toss up between that and our new Plum Crumble tonight we think.

In other news, we’ve extended our 10% Pedal Power discount, previously it was only open to those cycling to the Canteen before 5pm, Mon-Fri, now it’s applicable day and night. We’ve also introduced a 10% discount if you work for the NHS. Both of these discounts apply to food and drink.

Small Plates

Enjoy small plates as bar snacks or starters or choose a selection of plates as your main – tapas style. Each plate is cooked to order and will be served as it’s ready, don’t wait to get stuck in!

Mac and Cheese with Bacon. £3.95

Butternut Squash Bites. £3.95 (Roasted butternut squash bites with a blue cheese dip.)

Chilli and Lime Prawns. £5.25

Chorizo and Manchego. £4.95

Cheese and Tomato Toasts. £2.95 (Smoked Montgomery cheddar and vine tomatoes on toast.)

Labne Balls. £3.95 (Lebanese soft cheese with a herb and spice rub.)

Tortilla. £3 (Potato and onion omelette.)

Pork Pie: £5 (Traditional or pork and stilton with chutney and mustard – pies are from the award winning Mrs King.)

Scotch Egg: £2.50

Cheeseboard: £7.25 (A selection of cheeses from Northcote Road food hero, Hamish Johnston.)

Charcuterie Board: £5.95

Mains

World Cup Burger and Chips: £12.50 (Add bacon £1)

Two Dove the Northcote Road butcher beef patties on a ketchup and mustard base, topped with smoked Montgomery cheddar from Hamish Johnston and gherkins. Served with chips.

Cod: £12.25

Oven roasted cod with chickpeas, chorizo and tomatoes.

Beef and Ale Stew: £10.25

Sirloin casserole with Sambrooks brewery Junction Ale and mash.

Gammon, Egg & Chips: £10.25

Gammon steak (via Dove the butcher on Northcote Rd) with hand cut chips, egg and caramelised pineapple.

Sirloin Steak: £15.50

Sirloin steak with dauphinoise and roasted tomato.

Chef Kirrin’s Burger and Chips: £9.00 (add emmental cheese £1, add Montgomery cheddar/Dorset Blue Vinny, £1.50, add bacon £1)

Home made burger with English mustard, ketchup and toasted fennel. Served with chips.

Pork Belly: £14.25

Confit pork belly on colcannon with roasting juices.

Linguine: £7.95

Linguine with fire roasted peppers, vine tomatoes and basil.

Watermelon & Haloumi Salad: £6.50

Watermelon with haloumi and cucumber.

Sides £3

Chips

Mash

Spinach with lemon and garlic butter

Green Beans

Broccoli

Side Salad

Desserts

Jude’s Ice Cream. Choose from Salted Caramel, Raspberry Ripple, Vanilla, Double Chocolate or Rum and Raisin. £1.50

Roasted Plum Crumble with Crème Anglaise. £4.95

Retro Coke Float (Coke with a Scoop of Jude’s Ice Cream). £2

Classic Cheese Cake. £4.95

Warm Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream & Berry Couli. £4.95

Eton Mess. £4.95

White Chocolate and Cointreau Crème Brulee. £4.95

Oh and as much as we personally hate to share, we really don’t mind if you want to share your desserts, we’ve got plenty of spoons.

Cheeseboard

£7.25

Our cheeses come from Hamish Johnston, a local food hero on Northcote Road.

On the board we currently have,

Lincolnshire Poacher

Stinking Bishop (much nicer than the name may suggest)

Shropshire Blue

Woolsery Goat’s Cheese

Free Meal For Twitter Followers

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At Ben’s Canteen we’re relatively prolific on Twitter (@benscanteen) and with this in mind we want to offer a reward to those who have to put up with our babbling. So on Mondays we’re going to offer a free meal for two.

Twitter

How to claim

  1. Follow us on Twitter
  2. Every Monday Tweet “I want a free meal for 2 @benscanteen”
  3. We will randomly pick a winner, announcing them via Twitter

Of course there are some T&Cs, the offer is for 2 and is for food only (starter, mains and desserts included) and you have 30 days to claim your prize.

Tuesday Dinner and Tapas Preview

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Before we get onto tonight’s dinner (which features a new dish) we just wanted to confirm the rumours that Brewed Boy will be manning the contact grill tomorrow night and serving up some tasty tapas. Look out for grilled chorizo and manchego, black pudding and quail’s egg, aubergine caponata with goat’s cheese on toast and a herb tortilla. We’ll also be serving Mrs King’s pork pies and scotch eggs alongside a full dinner menu.

As for tonight, we’re trying out linguine with fire roasted peppers, vine tomatoes and basil. By the way, we had a couple of young ladies try our hake dish last night and they gave it a 100% satisfaction rating. Will you agree with them?

Snacks/Starters

Pork Pie: £5

Traditional or pork and stilton with chutney and mustard – pies are from the award winning Mrs King.

Scotch Egg: £2.50

Egg encased in meat and breadcrumbs.

Tuna: £6.95

Seared tuna on an avocado and mango quesadilla.

Charcuterie Board: £5.95

Selection of cold meats with chutney, pickles and toasted ciabatta.

Beetroot Ravioli: £4.95

Ravioli of beetroot with a chive and basil ricotta filling.

Kirrin’s Veggie Toastie: £5.95

Roast potatoes, sauté mushrooms and grilled cheese on sourdough toast.

Mains

Hake: £11.95

Oven roasted hake on caponata with salsa verde.

Sirloin Steak: £14.25

Sirloin steak with potato dauphinoise and creamed horseradish.

Beef Burger: £9.00 (add cheese £1, add bacon £1)

British beef burger served with date chutney and chips.

Pork Chop: £12.25

Dorset pork chop with colcannon and pan roast gravy.

Linguine: £7.95

Linguine with fire roasted peppers, vine tomatoes and basil.

Sides

All sides are £2.50

Chips

New Potatoes

Spinach with lemon and garlic butter

Broccoli

Side Salad

Desserts

All desserts are £4.95

Classic Cheese Cake

Saffron flavoured Crème Brulee

Warm Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream & Berry Couli

Eton Mess

Cheeseboard

Cheeseboard via local food hero Hamish Johnston: £7.25

Monday Night Munch

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It’s Monday Night, you’ve pulled through a long day at work, now come and treat yourself by letting us cook for you.

Starters

Sea Trout: £5.50

Lightly cured sea trout with cucumber ribbons, watercress and a cider vinegar dressing.

Charcuterie Board: £5.95

Selection of cold meats with chutney, pickles and toasted ciabatta.

Caesar Cups: £4.75

Baby gem cups filled with bacon lardons, crutons, quails egg and shaved parmesan.

Beetroot Ravioli: £4.95

Ravioli of beetroot with a chive and basil ricotta filling.

Mains

Pork Chop: £12.25

British pork chop with braised cabbage, bacon and saffron apple.

Swordfish: £13.95

Grilled swordfish on a warm salad of baby new potatoes, samphire and red onions, topped with salsa verde.

Sirloin Steak: £14.25

Sirloin steak with potato dauphinoise and creamed horseradish.

Beef Burger: £9.00

Classic British beef burger served with date chutney and lumberjack chips.

Mushroom Stroganoff: £7.95

Sauteed trio of mushrooms; Scottish girolles, oyster and shitake, finished with sour cream, tarragon and lemon on toasted sourdough.

Sides

All sides are £2.50

Chips

New Potatoes

Spinach

Broccoli

Side Salad

Desserts

All desserts are £4.95

Classic Cheesecake

Baileys flavoured Crème Brulee

Warm Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream & Berry Couli

Eton Mess

Cheeseboard

Cheeseboard via local food hero Hamish Johnston: £7.25