Tag Archives: London

Chilli Weekend at Ben’s Canteen

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This weekend is a seriously exciting one because Will Yates is bringing his award winning chilli to Ben’s Canteen. From 5pm on Sunday night you can tuck into the best chilli you will probably ever have at our Chilli Night. The chilli takes 3 days to prepare and contains rare breed beef, pork and venison from Cornwall. It’s for one night only and when it’s gone, it’s gone. Click here for more details and here to book a table.

Of course all weekend we’ll be serving up brunch – Top Table reckon it’s one of the Top 5 most indulgent in London. To make for a great brunch, we recommend you try a Sipsmith Classic Bloody Mary - click here to learn how we make it.

And day and night you can tuck into one of our burgers, MSN Food reckon we’re one of the top burger places in the UK and ShortList concur whilst Scout Magazine have named the BC Burger as one of the Top 10 in London – meaty goodness.

BC Burger

Also this weekend…

  • Get involved with our cocktails. Ben’s loves an Old Fashioned whilst the girls at the Canteen love the Damson in Distress (Damson Vodka, Prosecco & Cranberry) and the Vanilla & Chilli Caprioska is another firm staff favourite.
  • We recently launched a new dinner menu, as well as dirty burgers we’ve got hot dogs and a jumbo handmade fish finger sandwich (Sea Dog) alongside 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.
  • And check out our new wine list, which includes some left field (but awesome) choices such as Portuguese, Croatian and Lebanese wine, and a seriously top notch Greek wine (Hedgehog) which is like a Barolo, alongside the more expected.
  • 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.
  • Also, if you Instagram your food, or drink, at the Canteen then you can get a free dessert or Bloody Mary, click here for details.

And other stuff,

  • Join us every Tuesday for 2-4-1 Cocktails.
  • Recently we had our first ever Ribs Night and we enjoyed it so much so that we’re now running it every Weds.
  • Easter is approaching, we’ll be open every day for some epic long weekend brunch action and a very special Lamb Burger which includes The Rib Man’s Christ on a Bike hot sauce infused mayo.
  • 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.
  • 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

Little Bird Gin at Ben’s Canteen

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If you’ve been into the Canteen recently and gazed at our gin shelf then you may have noticed a bottle called Little Bird. It’s top notch stuff and you’ll probably spot Ben sipping on it as it’s currently his favourite gin.

Little Bird Gin

Chances are you probably don’t know a lot about Little Bird, so here’s the lowdown,

In 2011, 50 gin enthusiasts, drinks industry professionals and friends assembled in Peckham Rye, London, to blind taste 50 different bottles of gin and score each one on nose and taste.

Clear choices for more citrussy flavours and much lighter juniper tastes came out and team Little Bird started to develop a recipe to appeal to a more modern palate.

After a year of testing, trialing and sampling, the final recipe for Little Bird Gin was born and the first batch of just 1,122 bottles was made to the exact recipe. Since then, knowledge and delight in Little Bird Gin spreads through word of mouth.

Little Bird Gin’s Vital Stats

  • Home: London 
  • Style: London Dry, of course!
  • Aromas: Grapefruit and orange, juniper and ginger spice.
  • Flavours: A buzz of grapefruit under your tongue and a rise in heat at the back of your mouth from the ginger and juniper.

 

 

This weekend on St John’s Hill

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Is it going to be a Grand Slam weekend for England? Win or lose the Canteen is here for ya.

Load up before the game or debrief on Sunday over brunch – Top Table recognised our brunch as one of the Top 5 most indulgent in London. To make for a great brunch, we recommend you try a Sipsmith Classic Bloody Mary - click here to learn how we make it.

After the game you should smash back one of our burgers, MSN Food reckon we’re one of the top burger places in the UK and ShortList concur whilst Scout Magazine have named the BC Burger as one of the Top 10 in London. If you can’t make it down on Sat night then don’t forget on Sundays we offer the Sunday Night Saver where you can get any of our burgers or sandwiches for a tenner. Also, this Sunday is St Patrick’s Day, we’re offering BYO Guinness and a lovely Beef & Guinness stew from 5pm. Book a table online by clicking here or call us on 020 7228 3260.

BC Burger

Also this weekend…

  • Get involved with our cocktails. Post rugby Old Fashioneds sound good to us whilst the girls at the Canteen love the Damson in Distress (Damson Vodka, Prosecco & Cranberry) and the Vanilla & Chilli Caprioska is a firm staff favourite.
  • We recently launched a new dinner menu, as well as dirty burgers we’ve got hot dogs and a very posh fish finger sandwich (Sea Dog) alongside 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.
  • And check out our new wine list, which includes some left field (but awesome) choices such as Portuguese, Croatian and Lebanese wine, and a seriously top notch Greek wine (Hedgehog) which is like a Barolo, alongside the more expected.
  • 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.
  • Also, if you Instagram your food, or drink, at the Canteen then you can get a free dessert or Bloody Mary, click here for details.

And other stuff,

  • Join us every Tuesday for 2-4-1 Cocktails.
  • A couple of weeks ago we had our first ever Ribs Night and we enjoyed it so much so that we’re now running it every Weds.
  • Chilli Night is back! Don’t miss out on the 24th March, from 5pm.
  • Easter is approaching, we’ll be open every day for some epic long weekend brunch action and a very special Lamb Burger which includes The Rib Man’s Christ on a Bike hot sauce infused mayo.
  • 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.
  • 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

This weekend at Ben’s Canteen

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Recently Top Table recognised our brunch as one of the Top 5 most indulgent in London and a few days later we learnt that MSN Food rate us as one of the Top 21 Burger Places in the country - boom!

Start the weekend indulgence with; eggs benedict (royale or florentine), some top notch Allpress coffee, a Bloody Mary (click here to watch a video of it being made) or Ben’s favourite brunch time tipple – a Marmalade Martini – and the papers.

UK's Best Burger Places

Then fire up a burger or two, we’ve got the BC Burger (topped with a slice of home brined beef, smoked cheddar and burger sauce), the Big Benny Melt (topped with Mac & Cheese) and the Sloppy Ben (topped with chilli con carne). Of course we’re not all about brunch and burgers, also this weekend…

  • We recently launched a new dinner menu, as well as the aforementioned dirty burgers we’ve also hot dogs and a very posh fish finger sandwich (Sea Dog) alongside 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.
  • And check out our new wine list, which includes some left field (but awesome) choices such as Portuguese, Croatian and Lebanese wine, and a seriously top notch Greek wine (Hedgehog) which is like a Barolo, alongside the more expected.
  • 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.
  • Also, if you Instagram your food, or drink, at the Canteen then you can get a free dessert or Bloody Mary, click here for details.

BC Burger

And other stuff,

  • We’re having an Apres Ski party as the Canteen becomes Ben’s Chalet, there will be toffee vodka, tartiflette and jager!
  • Join us every Tuesday for 2-4-1 Cocktails.
  • BYO Guinness – join us for St Patrick’s Day (well night) for good times and bring your own Guinness free of charge.
  • A couple of weeks ago we had our first ever Ribs Night and we enjoyed it so much so that we’re now running it every Weds.
  • Chilli Night is back! Don’t miss out on the 24th March, from 5pm.
  • 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.
  • 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

One of the best brunches in London

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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.

Top London BrunchesDoing 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?!

Ben's Canteen Brunch

 

This weekend at Ben’s Canteen

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Oh hello it’s a rugby weekend and in our part of London, that’s a very big deal. Build up for the opening weekend of the Six Nations with  brunch and Bloody Marys. We’ve teamed up with Sipsmith to bring you their take on a Classic Bloody Mary,

Bloody Mary

and Tiff, our superstar behind the bar, has also made a Brunch Thyme Mary (a Bloody Mary using lemon thyme and rosemary infused vodka) and a Bloody Good Kick (chilli and garlic infused vodka), which is quite an apt name for this weekend eh.

We’ve also recently added a Marmalade Martini, a range of Hot Chocolates (Mint, Chilli, Gingerbread or with Amaretto) and we’ve got all new smoothies; Strawberry Delight, Blueberry Bliss and Pineapple Surprise – we now only use a little yoghurt, making them even healthier – to set you up for a big weekend.

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.
  • 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.

Big Benny Melt

And other stuff,

Ben's Canteen, Best Local Restaurant 2012

August Bank Holiday in Battersea, Clapham & Wandsworth

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Staying in London for the August Bank Holiday and looking for fun in the shape of food and booze? As the place on the hill we’re delivering both of those things in abundance to the good people of Battersea, Clapham and Wandsworth (people from elsewhere are also very welcome!!).

Friday: American Road Trip Dinner – featuring big fat steak sandwiches, animal style fries and super tasty pies for pudding, oh and bone marrow for starters. We sold out our Independence Day Dinner (see pics here) and it was an awesome party night, this event is gonna rock too. Click here to book. Fancy dress optional but very cool if you do. Don’t forget we’ll also be serving brunch from 9am to 4pm.

Saturday: Brunch from 9am to 4pm. Happy Hour 5-7pm. Dinner, including epic burgers and scotch eggs, from 6pm.

Sunday and Monday: to celebrate Notting Hill Carnival we’re running an entirely Caribbean dinner menu – click here to check it out – from 6pm each night. We’re also be providing hangover salvation in the form of Bloody Mary’s and big breakfasts with brunch from 9am to 4pm each day.

Please note, if you want to come to the Road Trip Dinner you need to book in advance and online, click here for the 7pm sitting or here for the 9pm sitting.

Ben's Canteen Road Trip Dinner

Treat your Dad to a great big Father’s Day feed

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Show your appreciation to the Old Man by taking him to the Canteen for a lovely brunch (a big fat Full English with your Dad sounds like good bonding to us) or, and this is likely to be right up his street, our indoor Sunday BBQ. Share with him some grilled meat and some British beers (we’ve got some awesome 750ml Meantime Porter and Pale Ale bottles that you can share). Let’s face facts, your Dad probably want to try one of London’s Top 10 burgers, so why deny him on his special day?!

For the disorganised, Father’s Day is the 17th June. We serve brunch from 9am until 1.30pm. We then run our indoor BBQ from 2pm until 8pm. Click here to book.

Father's Day

Eating and Drinking in Clapham Junction, Battersea

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Last week was the St John’s Hill Fabulous Feast, a week long celebration of food and drink. It reminded us that St John’s Hill is a seriously good spot for food and drink.

You’ve got The Plough, Powder Keg Diplomacy, The Birdhouse, The Fish Club, Adulis and more… all of which surely makes it a wee bit more interesting than Northcote Road and probably the most exciting street for bars and restaurants in Battersea, especially as it’s a stone’s throw from Clapham Junction?!

So, what do we here at Ben’s Canteen bring to the street?

Ben's Canteen, St John's Hill, Battersea

Well we see ourselves as an all rounder, we aim to serve you a top notch coffee with brekkie or brunch, something tasty for lunch, a treat for tea and a cracking dinner with drinks being served via our bar all day and night.

Chiefly, we see ourselves as an alternative to the pub. Don’t get us wrong, we love a boozer but we got a bit bored of tap after tap of beer (most of them generic continental lagers) and numerous big screens with Sky Sports News on loop but where do you go to escape that? Whilst keeping everything equally relaxed? That’s what we strive to be.

We want to be that place where you can drop in on your own or grab some friends and catch up over drinks and simple but super tasty food. We love the fact that Clapham Junction is just a short stroll from the Canteen as it means you should be able to persuade your friends who live that little bit further away to drop in and hang out with you.

To help become this place we serve breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner every day. We serve British food, done well. We’re infamous for our All Day Breakfast Scotch Egg and the BC Burger has been named as one of the Top 10 in London.

Ben's Canteen Burger

Obviously to become your alternative to the pub we need plenty of booze, we’ve tried to make it interesting and a little different. So, we work with small independent brewers, such as local boys Sambrook’s. We’ve put together an interesting wine list that features some English wine, not least a sparkling one in the form of Primrose Hill by Chapel Down. We’ve put in a special Gin shelf which features gins from small London distillers such as Sipsmith, SW4 and Portobello Road.

Gin shelf at Ben's Canteen

Remember, that unlike a lot of new trendy hangouts, you can actually book a table at Ben’s Canteen - click here to reserve yours now.

Ben’s Canteen – The Weekender

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This week has been all about The Fabulous Feast on St John’s Hill – and this weekend sees the street’s celebration of food and drink go up another gear with all sorts of events and activities taking place, including a bunch of pop-up stalls.

Here’s what’s going down at the Canteen…

  • We’re going to keep our kitchen open all day on Saturday, normally we close it between 4 and 6pm but not for The Fabulous Feast.
  • We run a super popular brunch but we wanted to spice it up some more. So, we’ve created a Bloody Mary menu - come and try it out this weekend.
  • On the subject of booze, we’ve never been so excited about a shelf, behold our Gin Shelf.
  • Ditch those Sunday blues with our  Sunday Roast. We serve it from 2pm every Sunday. Enjoy Roast Orkney Beef, Pork Belly or Roasted Chicken with roasties, cauliflower cheese and broccoli, greens, root veg mash and yorkies.
  • Sunday night, at 8pm, will see Murderous Cupcakes in the Canteen, we think it’s going to be fun, you should come.
  • We’re getting massively into Sipsmith’s Summer Cup, this genuine rival to Pimms is making us feel all summery in lieu of any actual sun.
  • Time and Leisure just nominated us as one of London’s best local restaurants, if you like us then would you be so terribly kind as to vote for us here?!
  • Also, Ben recently got interviewed by our friends at Le Cool, click here to read the interview.
  • To add to our British food, done well ethos and British beers we’ve added a selection of English wines (British wines means something else), including a cracking sparkling by Chapel Down. Come and run the rule over them this weekend and let us know what you think.

London gins