Canteen

Canteen may not be the sexiest name for a restaurant - what’s enticing about school dinners or soggy baps from the snack shop downstairs? In this case I’ll concede it’s pretty clever, given that there’s nothing perfunctory about the food on offer. The menu may be tailored to breakfasts, business lunches and early dinners, but it’s hearty and typically British: think Shepherd’s pie and smoked haddock, interspersed with vintage dishes like devilled kidneys and good old fish finger sandwiches.

Most importantly, it’s good. A beetroot and fennel salad with goat’s curd and hazelnuts is aromatic, nutty and surprisingly filling, and even though the cheese has been removed to accommodate a dairy-avoiding friend, it still packs a punch. A dish of eggs Florentine is ueber-rich, with buttery Hollandaise, perfectly poached eggs with runny yolks and salted, wilted spinach on soft muffins; it’s perfect hangover/ hunger appeasing grub.

There’s a thoughtful wine list which focuses on French grapes, with several decent wines available by the glass, including the in vogue Picpoul de Pinet (£6).

While you won’t win any points for bringing a date here, Canteen adds style to a working lunch. There are a total of five branches in the capital now, but expansion hasn’t diluted the quality of the food one bit.