Canteen Spitalfields

We booked a table for 4 at 4pm on a Saturday. The restaurant was busy but before even ordering drinks, we were offered a booth in the window when other diners left. Starters were beautifully presented. Mains were simply meat/fish, mash and veg… unless a special was ordered in which case it was simply fish and sides were extra. Good choice of puds. All of us left satisfied and stuffed. Service was great.

We stumbled upon this restaurant among the many to choose from in Spitalfields due to being about to sit semi outside in the October warm that we've been having. Celia was our waitress and she was amazing, my friend needs a gluten free diet, and Celia went to great lengths to make sure she had as many options as possible even offering her the duck special- of which there was only one left. This was so special for us because my friend usually has such a hard time eating out, with the staff being unknowedgeable about the menu, or not caring that she has allergies. This place is different. She also sorted us two glasses of wine each from the happy hour, but to arrive when we were ready for them. Only downside was that portions were VERY small, tasty but so not enough food for dinner.

Ate at Canteen last night. Have to say it was one of the most uninspiring meals I have had in a long time. The pie was good however its accompanying ‘seasonal greens’ turned out to be tasteless roughly chopped cabbage and ‘side salad’ (which I had asked for in place of mash potato) was roughly chopped cos lettuce with dressing and nothing else. The rhubarb and almond trifle was watery and lacked substance and taste. You got the sense that very little effort or care was put into the dishes – almost as if the Chef was off for the night and they had asked the kitchen porter to prepare the meals.

Canteen in Spitalfields seemed to have a regular flow of people eating there so I thought I'd give it a try. Instead, found it was a tourist trap with bad service and no value for money to avoid. Waitress was surly and inattentive. Took about 10 minutes for our 2 bottled beers to arrive, and the place was maybe 25% full of customers. I had cod and chips and I must say that the cod was very fresh and nicely done, but the chips were overdone (looked & tasted like they had been fried twice) . It wasn't worth £12.50. The waitress had asked if I wanted mushy peas and luckily I checked the menu for the price first: £3.50 extra!! Glad I passed on that one. It then took ages to get the check, and then longer to pay…we ended up going to the cash till ourselves for the pleasure of giving them money. Disappointing experience, will not be returning.

We went to the Royal Festival Hall branch at about 8 on a Friday evening. Even though more than half the tables/benches were empty we were told to wait at the bar for 10 min, where all bar tenders were doing drinks for tables and took more than 10 min to order a drink. We were offered a shared and a tiny bench first before eventually being given a proper table to sit at. We noticed that anyone who turned up was made to wait at the bar before being given a table even though tables were free. Starter was nice but mean in size and sad in presentation. Request for a spare plate was ignored. Main course was non-descript and too salty. Side order of salad leaves consisted of lettuce leaves only. Altogether this was an unpleasant experience and regretted it and decided never to go there again.

Whilst the idea of having fresh fish and good meat on the menu is fantastic and much appreciated, for those of us who like a light lunch, and preferably non-fattening too, there is not much to choose from. I asked for a roast chicken salad with walnuts and tarragon which was £9.50. Apart from the fact that you had to search for the chicken amongst masses of salad leaves and then, when you found it, it was only a couple of little strips of meat, nothing roast or tarragon flavoured about it, it was covered in a white sauce, the flavour of which I was unable to distinguish, but it looked very fattening. Some of my friends had chicken and chips and fish and chips and the portions of chicken (as well as the fish) were huge. So, if someone could explain to me that in a salad which is advertised as roast chicken with walnuts and tarragon, you get no chicken (or at least just a couple of small strips of meat without flavour) and you pay a lot of money for that and if you order chicken and chips your get a double-size portion. The balance is just not there. Not that I am a great eater anyway but looking at what was before my eyes I felt I needed to give my review. Also, as an avid cook myself, my meal was without flavour and certainly did not taste of tarragon at all or roast chicken. The only thing authentic about it were the walnuts.

Great location within the bustling market and decent food, terrible service though. Eggs, bacon and bubble & squeak were good and tasty, although i could fry eggs better myself at home (one egg was fried solid and the other was 100% runny). Coffees were average – much better across the road at the coffee house. Big shame about the service. It took 15 mins to order, food took forever to arrive and then we were given the wrong bill. There must be better breakfasts elsewhere but the location almost made it worth it.

If only there were more chains serving seasonal British food as good as this. It should be in every guidebook to London as an antidote to the Scotch Steakhouses and dodgy pubs of the West End. Last time I went I had seasonal summer vegetables and home-made salad cream and my boyfriend had a lovely fresh, herby chicken and tarragon salad. We drank a delicious Cornish wheat beer. The pies are delicious with perfect, crispy crusts and fat, tasty chips or creamy mash. My highlight though is always the tangy blackcurrant jelly with crumbly buttery shortbread and ice cream. Yum. Comfort food that's as good as grandma made, and very good service.