Ben’s Canteen

Usually go here for brunch. Always great food & a free Bloody Mary if you post a picture on Instagram!
I went there for dinner a couple of nights ago with a few friends over from America. They are still talking about the Scotch Eggs!
Usually quite busy but worth the wait!

I’ve been hearing everyone rave about this place for ages and I finally got to go. We went with a group of 6 and expected to have to wait to get in getting there at 11am on a Saturday but we got straight in!
the place is really big, from the front it looks tiny but it goes back.
The staff were really nice and helpful. I had the pancakes and a coffee and it came to £11 which I thought was pretty good. Some of the best pancakes I have had around Clapham as well so very pleased and can’t wait to go back. :)

Sorry, but this was the driest breakfast burrito I have encountered in my life! Eggs in a stale fajita with a hint of cheese. Choppet tomato/​coriander on the side. Sour cream was added to the egg/​cheese mix so no point asking where that is. Good service though. Eventhough my comments about my meal seemed pointless. Give it a try, but go for something else.

I wanted to treat my brother to a full English breakfast in a relaxed but somewhat hip atmosphere. That’s what we found at Ben’s Canteen. Although our waitress was new and very scatty, the staff was lovely and took good care of us. My brother was satisfied with his standard full monty but it was a delicious milkshake that really made him smile. I went for the pancakes and I can aaaaabsolutely recommend them!

When we arrived, there was limited seating available as they had a private function in the back, but we managed to get the last public table. The décor is very shabby-​chic, with worn tables, plenty of exposed wood and an AMAZING winged heart mirror feature piece on the wall. The cocktail menu was really interesting, and in the end I went for The Geisha, a mixture of Boodles Gin, Elderflower Liqueur, rose syrup and sparkling wine, decorated with rose petals. It’s definitely the perfect summer cocktail — refreshing and light, and not too boozy-​tasting.
The Ben’s Canteen menu keeps it simple, with just three great choices on the burger section of the menu. I chose the Posh Fried Chicken Burger — which I can honestly say is one of the best chicken burgers I’ve ever had, if not THE best! The soft chicken breast is fried in a spiced buttermilk coating, served in a bun with bacon and red cabbage slaw. Fries come with the burger and you can choose between normal and sweet potato — obviously, I went for the latter as sweet potato fries are one of my biggest food-​based weaknesses. These ones didn’t disappoint, fried to perfection and I loved that they leave the skin on for a bit of added texture to a veg that’s normally pretty soft.
After wolfing down our burgers and drooling over the lovely cake display, we decided to grab a dessert to share and chose one of their raspberry macaroons. They were definitely big enough to share between two, and really tasty — plenty of coconut and a rich raspberry filling. Overall, our bill came to around £60 for the two of us (two burger meals, a dessert to share, two cocktails, a glass of wine and a beer), which is very reasonable for eating out in London, especially with cocktails.
I really enjoyed my visit to Ben’s Canteen — the food is fantastic, the chilled vibe is great for a casual date/​catch up with friends, and the ambience is welcoming and lovely.

Went to Ben’s Canteen yesterday for the Saturday Bottomless Bubbly Brunch. For £25 you get a main dish (from a set menu of about 8 things; it’s no longer brunch food) and unlimited prosecco. It currently runs from 4pm-​7pm but will change to 4pm-​6pm from August.
I had the steak sandwich and chips which was delicious and a good size. My boyfriend had pulled pork nachos, which were tasty but not huge. They’re really good at topping up your glass — I think there might have only been once in the whole 3 hours when we had an empty glass at any point. You do walk away quite tipsy!
We then had the DIY doughnuts, which were tasty and fun. The staff were lovely. Very friendly, polite, helpful etc. Would definitely recommend Ben’s and will go back to try some of their other deals.

We started off our Saturday evening with the bottomless bubbly special that Ben’s offers. You pay a flat rate, I think it was £25 and get unlimited prosecco and a main course from a select menu. We got a portion of calamari and frickles (deep fried and battered pickles) the frickles were fricking amazing! For mains my partner got the Posh Chicken burner which he really enjoyed. I really wanted the veggie burger but this wasn’t on the bottomless bubbly menu, however the kitchen kindly cooked this for me anyways and it was really nice. I had the chunky sweet potato fries and they were great. The service was really nice and the food was tasty. Overall it was a great experience, although I will warn you bottomless prosecco can be very dangerous. Take my advice and pace yourself (I know I didn’t).

Fantastic burgers! Chicken option is crispy on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside and the beef burger is what all burgers aspire to be!
‘Make at the table guac’ is good fun and allows you a carte blanche for how much spice you want.
Great cocktails (especially if you make it on a tuesday for 2for1), friendly efficient staff and tasty food makes Ben’s a winner.
As far as neighborhood joints go this is right up my street.

Came to Clapham to meet some friends for a brunch date. The place was packed and there doesn’t appear to be anything too similar close by. We managed to grab a coffee at the bar and the barman served us some decent flat whites while making light of the over crowded restaurant.
We were seated fairly quickly and were allowed to transfer our drinks on to the main bill. I went for the breakfast buritto and a side of hash browns, my wife went for the pancakes and our friends went for the chicken burger.
The food ok, my burrito was a little on the small side and I’m not convinced the concept worked. the has Brown’s were a little small for the price also. The chicken burger was apparently really good and if I was to go again I’d opt for that! The pancakes were probably the low point with my wife only managing half.
He place is quite busy and I heard rumours there’s a couple of celebs that frequent the place also, so I would be willing to give it another try!

This place is awesome. The food was awesome, The service was awesome. The atmosphere was awesome. It ain’t entirely cheap, but it is well worth it!

I’ve been here 3 times for breakfast and had different menu items each time. The food here is good and fresh. It would get 5 stars but the staff lets the place down. They are friendly enough but are very, very slow.

They do a scotch egg with macaroni cheese instead of sausagemeat.
What more is there to say, this place is amazing!
Their cocktails are pretty good (I recommend going on a Tuesday for 2 for 1). They also have a great deal of two courses for £15 between 5 – 7 Mon-​Sun.
AND, Instagram a picture with the provided hashtag and you get to choose between a free dessert (the brownies are to die for) or a free Bloody Mary!
Our waiter was really friendly when we went last week as well.
I’ve heard good things about their brunches too but never made it in (MAN this place gets full on weekend late mornings!)
I need to look into their loyalty card for sure…
AND they do takeaway! This place has it all.

Great place to start a day on a weekend. With this brunch you will survive a day from early morning to late night ;-) and their bloody mary, what a treat !

Great place to relax and waste time away while brunching. The prices seem a bit steep for the café inspired dining area but once you see the portion size your concerns are calmed. A down note– the coffee is not great. Service can be spotty.

I thought about giving two stars but that would’ve been harsh, so three it is. We had starters of pulled pork nachos and fish tacos. The tacos were very dull, but the nachos were nice. We then had a BC burger and a mexi-​burger which were pretty good. The sweet potato chips were a let down as were the fried pickles (MEATMission has got this right — their pickles are thinner and so is the batter — not really keen on the half-​inch-​think pickles at BC). The real let down for me here is the drinks — they try to big up their cocktails but they’re pretty average — not a patch on Powder Keg Diplomacy across the road which charges about the same but their cocktails are in a completely different class. Don’t think we’ll bother returning…

Saw all the great reviews on Unilocal and thought I must try this place out! So I did!
I went on a Sunday lunchtime and the place had more staff than customers, I counted 8 and this did not include the kitchen staff, so I was expecting great service.
I decided to have the burger and stated that I did not want Mayo and guess what? it turned up with Mayo and after 30 mins, so I had to send it back and wait another 15 minutes. So 45 minutes I had to wait, by the time I received it my partner had finished his food!
The burger was nice and juicy, but I was annoyed at how long I had to wait.
The place started to fill up when we were there and I was amazed at how dirty the place got, even with 8 staff members. They were just piling up dirty plates around the bar, really strange.
I liked the simple homely décor and actually enjoyed the burger when it finally arrived.
I wont be going back in a hurry.
Kx

Cosy, comfy, coquet… Ben’s canteen a de l’allure. Avec une déco en bois, un grand bar, il est déjà chaleureux. La carte est simple, peu de plats, beaucoup de burgers et pas mal de sauces originales. Pour le «pulled pork bap», vous avez un hamburger aux copeaux de porc, céleri, sauce BBQ… il est très original. Chez Ben’s C., Ils sont forts dans leur composition, le mix and match de saveurs sucré-​salé. Les accompagnements aussi sont soignés, les frites sont croustillantes, salées, la salade de céleri n’est pas écoeurante. L’ambiance tamisée, la bande son impec (un peu de Foster the People) font de ce petit resto un endroit bien pour des one to one, petits groupes, des QG. C’est simple et bon !

If you’re feeling hungry then Ben’s Canteen is a good place to go for brunch because the portions are generous, to say the least!
My absolute favourite thing, and where I think they excel, is the French toast with bacon, banana and maple syrup. The bacon is brilliantly crispy, the banana soft and caramelly, and the eggy bread is properly fried and nicely browned.
The Big Ben is essentially your standard full English, and the eggs benedict is fairly decent. They also do huevos rancheros with a spicy tomato salsa and chorizo, and they have sweet corn fritters with avocado and bacon on the menu, plus a variety of breakfast baps. You can have pretty much anything you want really, even a burger or fishcakes if your prefer. The menu kind of blends into lunch.
I really ought to branch out more and try a few other things, but most of the time I just can’t help but keep coming back to the French toast. It’s hard to fault.

Ben’s Canteen has taken the best of US and British comfort food and put it all together on a heart attack-​inducing menu that tempted me even after I had stuffed my face with delicious samples of the famous scotch egg and special sweet potato tater tots at the meet the owner event.
My friend got the pulled pork sandwich which he said was a little on the dry side but fixed with mustard. It came with deep fried pickles — I’ve never seen those before and I was verrry excited by them. I got chicken wings and sweet potato fries. Sweet potato fries were so good and now I’m desperate to go back and try the chili cheese fries, and also the chicken salt chips even though I actually have no idea what those entail (hopefully more Meat and Potato). The buffalo wings were kind of unusual in that they had a dry seasoning («rub») rather than wet sauce but it was a pretty nice change and the chicken itself seemed really good quality — perfectly cooked and tasty.
Photo is very deceiving — Ben’s Canteen is a big space so you could definitely go here with a group, which I plan to do so I can insist everyone orders something different so I get to sample the whole menu.
Had a slight granny moment with the background music, which I would rather do without, but Ben is basically doing an excellent job and are a fantastic addition to SW London.

Ben’s Canteen is a great neighbourhood restaurant. Until 4pm a brunch menu is served which in addition to the usual egg based options also offers more substantial fare. The burger here is particularly good with a layer of brined beef covered in cheese luring lying on top of the burger itself. I have not had another burger like it in London. The coffee is equally good — so it should be as I believe that ‘Brewed Boy’ (something of a London coffee celebrity) set up the coffee bar!
In the evening a second menu swings into action with lots of comfort food favourites to choose from. This food is never going to be hitting gastronomic pinnacles but it sure is tasty and can be washed down with Meantime sourced beer. Consequently, Ben’s Canteen will no doubt prove to be an easy midweek fix for some time to come.

Went for saturday brunch
Positives:
Bloody mary — strong, tasty, peppery, HUGE
Food — as they advertise simple but done really well, scrambled eggs second best I’ve ever had
Service — super friendly, didn’t even complain when someone insanely rude let their dog pee on the floor on their way out. Just cleaned it up with no fuss.
Negatives:
Bit cold sitting by the door but there’s plenty of seating further in to avoid this
Toast was akin to a rock, but i don’t really like it anyway.
Don’t know this area of town well at all but can’t imagine there being many better brunch spots than this.