Christmas and New Year in Clapham Junction, Battersea and Wandsworth

Posted on December 20, 2012 by benscanteen

The Festive Holiday Season is almost here, after partying hard it’s time to kickback, forget about work and have super merry times with family and friends.

Doubtless though there will be times that you want to break out of the house and that’s why here at Ben’s Canteen we’re opening for the majority of the holiday – so come down to the place on the hill for brunch, dinner and drinks. We’re just a few minutes away from Clapham Junction and all the local buses connect to us, so you can get here from all over SW London (Battersea, Clapham, Brixton, Putney, Wandsworth and so on) without much fuss. Oh and we’re very dog friendly, so go for that big family walk, with the hound in tow, across Wandsworth Common/Spencer Park/Clapham Common and then come and warm up in the Canteen for a full blown meal or just a little treat with a cup of tea/coffee or our mulled wine.

Don’t forget, if you book in for dinner between 5 and 7pm then you can get 2 courses for £20 and a free glass of vino. Jingle Bells!

Christmas & New Year Opening Times

Christmas Eve: Open for brunch (9am to 4pm), closing around 6pm. Join us for our Xmas Jumper Party and get a free Bloody Mary.

Christmas Day: Closed

Boxing Day: Closed

27th-30th: Open as normal, so brunch from 9am and dinner from 5pm.

New Year’s Eve: Open an normal, note we’re running our standard menu in the evening but are open until 1am. No entry fee.

New Year’s Day: Open for brunch (9am to 4pm), closing around 6pm.

2nd Jan: Open for brunch (9am to 4pm), closing around 6pm.

3rd Jan onwards: Open as normal.

If you wish to book a table please call us on 020 7228 3260 or click here to book online.

Xmas Jumper

A nice cuppa at Ben’s Canteen

Posted on December 13, 2012 by benscanteen

You guys probably know that we love coffee at Ben’s Canteen (we serve Allpress Espresso and it’s top notch) but we also love tea and we’re delighted to be serving We Are Tea.

We just wanted to take a moment to share with you a little about some of the teas we offer, to give you a bit of an insight into why we think they’re so great and to basically encourage you to stop what you’re doing and have a nice bit of ‘you time’ and a cuppa (and perhaps a cheeky mince pie or brownie from the Bad Boys Bakery – you know, the one Ramsay set up at Brixton Prison).

English Breakfast

An exquisite blend of India’s finest Assam and Darjeerling teas; with long golden tips, beautiful leaves and an empowering aroma, this is how English Breakfast should be. This tea offers the perfect balance of a rich and malty Assam with the fragrance of an exceptional Darjeeline. A true classic.

Earl Grey

A blend of the finest whole-leaf black teas scented with oil of bergamot and sprinkled with cornflowers to make it as beautiful on the eye as it is on the palate. The leaf is large and well blended showing plenty of tip and offers a light, bright infusion with the distinctive aroma and flavour of citrus bergamot. A true gentleman.

Gunpowder Supreme

A wonderful example of this ever popular green tea. It is believed to take its English name from the fact that the tea leaves resemble the pellets used in canons. Whether myth or fact, it is a joy to watch the gunpowder unfurl while infusing in hot water. Our Gunpowder is an early spring tea which gives a deliciously sweet and satisfying cup. Guaranteed to put a spring in your step.

Daintea

Some people are born bloody beautiful while others have to work at it. This South American herbal drink apparently aids weight loss… it beats going to the gym so we’re happy to give it a try.

Revitealise

We all have mornings that we’d rather forget after nights out that we can’t remember and when pulling a sick day is not an option, you’ll be pleased to hear that we’ve come up with a tea to help you get through the day. Revitealise is designed to give your body and brain the necessary boost to get them back to full working order. Your secret is safe with us.

We Are Tea

Getting cosy at Ben’s Canteen

Posted on November 20, 2012 by benscanteen

Ok Autumn we see your game, you’re getting a bit colder on us eh! To combat this we’ve got blankets and we’ve just installed some outdoor heaters.

We’re also going to have mulled wine and a hot toddy to take the chill out of the nights whilst during the day we’ve increased our range of teas from We Are Tea and if you haven’t tried Allpress Coffee then you need to get down here sharpish, it’s cracking coffee.

We Are Tea at Ben’s Canteen

Posted on November 13, 2012 by benscanteen

Most people probably know that here at Ben’s Canteen we love our coffee (and we absolutely love the Allpress Coffee we recently started serving) but what they may not realise is that we also love a good cuppa.

That’s why we’re delighted to be stocking a range of teas from the brilliant We Are Tea.

We’re currently stocking their English Breakfast, Gunpowder Supreme (green tea), Revitealise, White Chamomile Flowers and Earl Grey but we’ll be adding to that in the coming weeks.

So the next time you’re around St John’s Hill or indeed Clapham Junction, Battersea Rise or Northcote Road make sure you pop in and try one of these fantastic teas. Perhaps have it with a slice of treacle tart from the Bad Boys Bakery (the bakery Gordon Ramsay helped set up at Brixton Prison)?! And don’t forget, ending your dinner at the Canteen with a tea is a great way to round off a night. We serve our tea from 9am right up until we close late at night.

Eating and Drinking in Clapham Junction, Battersea

Posted on May 21, 2012 by benscanteen

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Naugh-tea – the video

Posted on November 15, 2011 by benscanteen

Recently the lovely chaps at Gelupo (the ice cream shop from the team at the brilliant Bocca di Lupo) came to visit us on St John’s Hill and brought with them some samples of their ice cream (or gelati as they would say) and we were blown away by the intensity of the flavours, literally outstanding.

Then we got talking about the possibility of an exclusive flavour for Ben’s Canteen and Kirrin came up with the idea of a smokey whisky flavour. The boys at Gelupo are certainly keen on their whisky and raced off to develop something special for us, employing the skills of Bocca di Lupo head chef Jacob Kenedy. The end result is Naugh-tea, a mixture of Laphroig whisky and Lapsang tea with some shortbread added for crunch – it’s smokey and well frankly brilliant and we’re proud to have it as the Ben’s Canteen exclusive (as proud as we are of the MyPie exclusive Sunday Roast pie – roast pork, apple sauce and stuffing).

Here’s a little video of it being made at Gelupo’s shop in Soho.

Meet Rimmy

Posted on November 9, 2011 by benscanteen

Rimmy are Rob (@brewedboy) and Jimmy (@jimmyrhodes83) and they run the cafe element of the Canteen.

Every day, Monday to Friday, from 8am, they serve up a daily changing menu. All of it is cooked and served by them with a whole lot of love.

To get you started in the morning they normally offer porridge, granola, the best scrambled eggs in South West (if not all of) London, cracking bacon/sausage and eggs baps and New York style waffles with maple syrup. These are served with Square Mile Coffee and Teapigs Tea, breakfast in these parts really doesn’t come better than this.

As we get to lunch Rimmy do fresh sandwiches, made to order, one meaty and one veggie and they often do specials (Pulled Pork and Sloppy Joes spring to mind). They also make a fresh salad and soup, plus there are pies from the brilliant @mypie1. It’s all rather superior to the supermarket and can be eaten in or taken away.

Once tea time comes around they keep you going with treats such as carrot cake and brownies from The Dessert Deli and as well as lovely tea and coffee they have cracking lemonades and other soft drinks from Luscombe, oh and their hot chocolate is immense.

Rob used to run his own, highly acclaimed, coffee cart in Soho whilst Jimmy is part of the super tasty Churros Bros – Rimmy know what quality is.

We’re often a modest bunch at the Canteen but when it comes to our daytime cafe, we have to say we are brilliant. Come and check us out and say hi to Rimmy.

By the way, the boys at the moment are taking part in Movember – they don’t always look this scary!

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

Tag Archives: Tea