One of the best brunches in London

Posted on February 21, 2013 by benscanteen

We received an email that made us smile… Top Table have recognised the Ben’s Canteen brunch as one of the most indulgent in London.

Doing a really great brunch is one of the reasons we started Ben’s Canteen – we were frustrated that not many places in SW London do a good one and on a purely selfish basis we wanted somewhere we could stagger to from home. We wanted a rocking eggs benedict, top notch coffee, a full english that could alleviate a serious night out with nice, spicy Bloody Mary’s and that’s what we set out to serve here every daytime at the Canteen. Judging by this accolade from Top Table and the queues for tables at the weekend it feels like we’re delivering what we set out to do.

We haven’t finished there though, we want to keep improving our brunch offering. We’ve just upgraded our smoothies, they’re waaaay better and we recently teamed up with Sipsmith to make not only a truly Classic Bloody Mary but also one made with lemon thyme and rosemary infused vodka and a chilli and garlic number too. Not so long ago we switched to Allpress coffee which is great and we’re going to start getting teas from Joe’s Tea Company, and awesome they are too. Also, we’ve got a number of new brunch dishes in development, including pancakes.

The main thing though is to do as the title says, be indulgent. Brunch is a time to relax and to treat yourself, personally we love a morning run followed by eggs benedict, a flat white, a Bloody Mary, the papers and a latte for the road. Sounds good?!

This weekend at Ben’s Canteen

Posted on February 14, 2013 by benscanteen

It’s been a super busy week at the Canteen, what with our epic Chinese New Year Feast, Valentine’s and 2-4-1 Tuesday Cocktails – so this weekend we’re suggesting you kick back and indulge yourself with a nice relaxed weekend.

Start the indulgence with brunch; eggs benedict (royale or florentine), some top notch Allpress coffee, a Bloody Mary or Ben’s favourite brunch time tipple – a Marmalade Martini – and the papers.

Also, this weekend,

We have a new dinner menu! It’s full of dirty burgers (e.g. the Big Benny Melt – a burger topped with mac and cheese) and hot dogs but we’ve also added in some lighter options such as the Benny Benny Chicken which is a chicken breast with salad and a mayo free slaw, and a Mackerel Nicoise to balance things out.
Dinner now starts early, join us from 5pm and on Fridays and Saturdays the kitchen is open until 11pm, meaning you can join us for late night bites.
Book in for an early dinner, from 5-7pm and we’ll give you some extra value in the shape of a free glass of wine and 2 courses for £18.
You can book a table online or by calling us on 020 7228 3260.
And check out our new wine list, which includes some left field (but awesome) choices such as Portuguese, Croatian and Lebanese wine, alongside the more expected.
We’re proud to run SW London’s busiest (and we like to think), best brunch - join us every weekend from 9am-4pm. We don’t take bookings for weekend brunch but tables do become available quickly, grab a coffee and/or a bloody mary at the bar whilst you wait.
Make your weekend last longer by joining us for the Sunday Night Saver - all burgers and sandwiches for a flat tenner, that’ll help banish the Sunday night blues.

And other stuff,

Join us every Tuesday for 2-4-1 Cocktails.
On Wednesday we’re having a Ribs Night
We’ve launched a loyalty card - join the Midweek Brunch Club and get money off your bill.
Shortlist magazine have rated the BC Burger as one of the best in the UK, we’re rather chuffed. And, we’re now using a new burger bun, so we reckon it’s better than ever.
Celebrate Chinese New Year at the Canteen with a super special dinner - think duck fat fried rice with confit duck and crispy duck skin, amazers!
Valentine’s isn’t just for loved up couples, come down to our singles party which includes cocktail making.
Burn The Other Cheek - probably London’s best chilli at Ben’s Canteen for one night only.
We want to host your party! Got a celebration coming up? Talk to us about private hiring some or all of the Canteen for your event - click here for more info.

Ben's Canteen, Best Local Restaurant 2012

Royal Ascot Brunches

Posted on May 28, 2012 by benscanteen

Royal Ascot is an awesome event, yes there is some racing but really it’s all about having a massive day out – getting dressed up and letting loose. We think you should start your day in style with brunch at Ben’s Canteen before you join the masses at Clapham Junction.

With this in mind we’re offering an Ascot Special – Eggs Benedict and a Glass of Bucks Fizz for £12. This will be available every day of Royal Ascot. If you’d like to book a table then please click here.

Of course we’re also offering the rest of our brunch menu so, for example, you can set yourself up for a big day with the Big Ben (our epic Full English).

You might also want to hit up the Canteen post Ascot. We serve dinner and Pimms (if you can drink any more of it!) from 6pm every night.

Captains of Industry

Posted on February 22, 2012 by benscanteen

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

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.

Christmas Eve at Ben’s Canteen

Posted on December 22, 2011 by benscanteen

Ah Christmas Eve, we love it, there is a ‘end of term’ feeling, you’ve finished work and good times lie ahead (and the fact that your family are likely to drive you mad at some stage just adds to the end of school feeling).

Crimbo Eve is also an awesome time to catch up with mates and with that in mind we’re doing brunch, dinner and lots of drinks, including our Winter Pimms Punch.

Brunch will be kicking off at 9am, so come in for a Big Ben (our mighty Full English), Eggs Benedict, our awesome BC Burger, that’s topped with homemade corned beef to make it extra British, and plenty more including Bloody Marys and, as it’s Christmas Eve, some fizz.

We’ll be serving our new winter menu with our recently launched beer matching options from 6pm until 8pm. The bar will be open all night and after 8pm we’ll have nibbles (such as pork pies) and a lovely winter Oxtail stew.

Plus @jimmyrhodes83 will be hosting, so you’re in for some serious Christmas cheer – he is definitely Captain Christmas in the Canteen.

Midweek Days at the Canteen

Posted on December 13, 2011 by benscanteen

One of the objectives when setting up the Canteen was to create a midweek daytime space where people (young mums, those working from home, those lucky enough to have a day off, those having a duvet day and so on) could feel comfortable using it as they wished. Whether it be for a quick cup of tea and a read or to tuck into some tasty food, to either eat in or takeaway.

On the food front, we’ve really bulked up our offering of late – we’ve brought in a lot of our wildly popular weekend brunch menu. So all day you can get a Big Ben (sausages, homemade boston baked beans, bacon, 2 eggs done your way, black pudding, mushrooms and toast) and Eggs Benedict/Royale/Florentine as well as baps and granola. This all goes wonderfully with our amazing Square Mile Coffee and Teapigs Tea.

We’re also doing superb comforting British lunches, you can get bangers and mash with red cabbage and gravy, our unique mushy pea fish cake with a poached egg, the awesome BC burger and a super food salad as well sandwiches and a soup of the day. This we feel makes us one of the best relaxed and good value lunch spots around and a very welcome alternative to sitting in the pub.

To help make the Canteen a nice spot to hang out, aside from the lovely corner position and natural light that pours in, we’ve got lots of interesting mags such as Monocle, Fantastic Man and Gentlewoman and there is never a shortage of fashion and gossip material. We’ve also got chakboard tables to keep the kids entertained and a free book exchange.

We’ve also got baby changing facilities, including free nappies, plenty of space for prams and we’re dog friendly (we’ve got free treats and water bowls).

And finally, we have lovely treats, such as carrot cake and brownies, from The Dessert Deli… so come and hang out, we’re open from 8am every day.

New Breakfast and Lunch Menu

Posted on November 18, 2011 by benscanteen

At the Canteen, believe it or not, we’re always thinking and we’ve been thinking that as our weekend brunch is so massively popular that we should start offering it during the week and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.

From Monday (21st Nov) you can get stuck into our mighty Big Ben Full English every day, you’ll also be able to enjoy our awesome Eggs Benedict and plenty more.

Weekday Breakfast

Big Brunch

The Big Ben – £8.95

Sausage, back bacon, mushroom, 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 – sausage, bacon, tomato, mushroom

Eggs:

Benedict – £7

Royale -£7.95

Florentine -£6

Served with Flour Station English Muffin

Scrambled – £5.95

Served on Flour Station Sourdough Bread

Add Salmon – £1.50

Egg and Bacon Brekkie Pie – £5

Health Kick:

Smoothie – £4

Our kick-start smoothie with, granola, yoghurt, honey and berries.

Fruit Bowl – £4

A selection of fruit…in a bowl

Granola Bowl – £4.50

Homemade Granola with Greek yoghurt and bootiful berries

Smaller Bits:

Bens Baps (choose 2 fillings) – £5

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

Kids Fish Finger Bap – £3.25

We then started to think that we should offer more than just a couple of sandwiches at lunch so now we’re going to serve a full blown lunch service for you guys. Who are we to deny our lovely daytime crowd the BC Burger or a tasty steaky? Each day, we’ll have some Canteen staples and then we’ll be doing daily specials (ranging from sandwiches to super tasty salads, stews and soups). Daytimes at the Canteen just got a lot better.

Lunch

Beetroot and Butternut Squash Risotto: £8

Chilli Crab Linguine: £8.5

Beef and Junction Ale Stew with Horseradish Dumplings: £10.5

BC Burger – Two beef patties (from Dove the butcher) on a ketchup and mustard base, topped with smoked Montgomery chedder (from Hamish Johnston) and gherkins. Comes with hand cut chips: £12.5 add bacon: £1

Sirloin Steak served with Hand Cut Chips: £15.5

Wild Boar and Apple Bangers and Mash: £10

Super Food Salad – includes Quinoa, Seeds, Broccoli, Butternut Squash and lots more antioxidant goodness: £8 Add Roasted Chicken: £1.5

Sides £3

Rosemary and Chilli Butternut Squash, Root Vegetable Gratin, Market Greens, Mash, Hand Cut Chips.

See the board for daily changing specials

Pulled Pork Pop Up at Dove, Northcote Road

Posted on November 11, 2011 by benscanteen

We’re delighted to announce that we will be doing another pulled pork pop up at Dove, the butcher, and one of our hero suppliers, on Northcote Road on Saturday (12th November)

Our awesome Mon-Fri daytime duo of @brewedboy and @jimmyrhodes83 are prepping the pulled pork and slaw right now,

and we will be heading down to serve up some amazing pulled pork baps from about 11am. They reckon that the pulled pork is going to be even tastier than last week as they’ve tweaked the recipe again.

Obviously back at the Canteen we will still be serving our new brunch menu, last week was again hugely busy with our homemade boston baked beans going down a storm (part of our mighty Full English) and of course we served a lot of Eggs Benedict (The Flour Station English muffins we use make this such a winner). Not a lot of fruit bowls were consumed which suggests we were mainly saving people from hangovers! We are looking to evolve our brunch menu, so if you have any suggestions then do let us know.

Pulled Pork Pop Up on Northcote Road

Posted on November 4, 2011 by benscanteen

We’re delighted to announce that we will be doing another pulled pork pop up at Dove, the butcher, and one of our hero suppliers, on Northcote Road on Saturday (5th November)

Our awesome Mon-Fri daytime duo of @brewedboy and @jimmyrhodes83 are prepping the pulled pork and slaw right now and we will be heading down to serve up some amazing pulled pork baps from about 11am. They reckon that the pulled pork is going to be even tastier than last week as they’ve tweaked the recipe a touch.

Last week we sold out very quickly, we’ve got more this time but don’t hang about, get down to Dove early.

Obviously back at the Canteen we will still be serving our new brunch menu, last week was epicly busy with our homemade boston baked beans going down a storm (part of our mighty Full English) and of course we served a lot of Eggs Benedict (The Flour Station English muffins we use make this such a winner). Apparently brunch even attracted some celebrity action last week, so pop in for potential star gazing.

Book for good times

Posted on November 3, 2011 by benscanteen

As we are now taking bookings via Top Table we thought it would be a good time to reflect on our offering.

During the day, Monday to Friday, we’re a cafe which opens up from 8am and frankly we believe we’re the best in Battersea, and beyond. We serve amazing Square Mile coffee and Teapigs tea alongside breakfast, lunch and tea with loads of fresh salads, sandwiches and bites to eat in or takeaway. At the weekends, we serve brunch and we do all manner of tasty things, including homemade Boston Baked Beans with a mighty Full English, Eggs Benedict/Royale/Florentine, Corned Beef Hash and a cracking Bacon and Sausage Bap.

In the evening things really crank up another level as our bar and restaurant swings into action. We serve a small but well appointed selection of wines, our Malbec, Pinot Noir and Pinot Grigio are hugely popular, we’ve got a really cool range of beers which include Meantime’s London Lager on tap and others winners such as locally brewed Junction Ale and beers with attitude (as Jamie Oliver would say) such as 5am Saint and Punk IPA from Brewdog. We’ve also got fizz and cocktails to get your evening off to a great start.

As well as bar snacks that include Mrs King’s Pork Pies, we serve Small Plates (basically modern tapas), our Raclette from Hamish Johnston is a plate of indulgence and then we have a seasonal menu. At the moment you can tuck into Mussels with Bacon and Luscombe Cider, Pork Belly with Autumn Squash, Beef and Junction Ale Stew with Horseradish Dumplings, Sea Bass, Chilli Crab Linguine and Beetroot and Squash Risotto. We also have our Canteen Classics, the BC Burger with smoked Montgomery Cheddar, Wild Boar and Apple Bangers and Mash, a Super Food Salad and an ever popular Sirloin Steak.

At the Canteen we chiefly try to do two things, one is to make sure the prices are reasonable, the other is to make sure the food is tasty – we try and achieve this by using Hero Suppliers. It’s an evolving list but at the moment we’re getting treats from The Dessert Deli, awesome pies from @MyPie1, bread from The Flour Station, meat from Dove on Northcote Road, cheese from Hamish Johnston, who are also on Northcote Road, the best ice cream we’ve ever tasted from Gelupo and lots of other amazing suppliers and producers.

We also want to be a little bit different and add a bit to the local community, so we offer things like a Free Book Exchange, we have free Wifi and free nappies and wet wipes and we give out dog bowls of water. We also do lots of offers, for example you can get a cheap babysitter via our friends Like Minders or you can get a 10% discount if you cycle to the Canteen. Also, before you go big on Saturday, go small with us: £5 for a pint/glass of vino and a slider/flatbread with dips.

We’re still new and we’re still learning and improving, don’t be afraid to give us feedback, @benscanteen

We hope to see you soon and don’t forget, we now take bookings.

Serving Brunch, Dinner & Drinks, 7 Days A Week

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