Canteen Covent Garden

Harrods,  nine "amazing" courses prepared by Thomas Keller, the six-michelin starred chef, widely regarded as the best in the world, for an impressive £250 a head. For many, that was the highlight of the year. For a ten day period London's foodies, and I'm sure the odd banker or two, enjoyed what many described as a once in life time experience. This was the pop-up to end all pop-ups. On the other side of town, The Boyfriend and I dined at a slightly less glamourous pop-up, in the oh-so exclusive Covent Garden, where we ate one course, at a cost of a £18 a head. Yes, The Boyfriend and I we were some of the hundreds of other people who called a little too late and thus will we be sentenced to dream about the meal we missed until the fanfare dies down. Given the reviews I'm not optimistic that this will be soon 










The Canteen Pop-Up, seems to have lost all the spontaneity of a pop-up, by popping-up for a whole six months. I mean don't all rush now, given there are four other locations, many new restaurants in the area, and you have six months to go. Given these are winter months and Canteen is outside in the central market area, maybe wait five months until it is slightly warmer. I was very grateful for my giant fur fuzzy hat and its only mid-October.

Exhausted, cold and slightly depressed (thanks Tom), The Boyfriend and I kept it simple with a main course and glass of wine each. The menu, is short, three starters, five or so mains, and only two types of wine, which made our choices fast. 

Chicken and Chips, at £13.50, was incredibly disappointing . Given the location, and by that I mean being forced to eat outside, the price seems rather high. Maybe not given the amount of cooking time that the chicken had been subjected to. It was tough, dry and chewy. I ultimately gave up choosing to concentrate my energy on the much more palatable chips. Gravy would have been a welcome addition.

The Boyfriend's Pie and Mash was more enjoyable. The pie was fluffy and very nicely combined with the chicken, the sauce had worked through all layers, but the mash was much less impressive.

Service was pleasant enough, and the set up is really adorable. Nostalgic, in a Britain in the better days kind of way, it reminded me of a street-party, sans people.