Restaurants

Pay as you go: the canteen at Orange HQ

Orange
The future’s bright
The comms company is housed in a four-floor contemporary office building at Paddington Basin. The spacious staff canteen is in the basement, adjacent to the in-house branch of Costa Coffee, with a sizeable informal seating area. Catering is contracted out to Avenance, in turn part of a large multi-faceted catering operation called Elior UK, which also owns Digby Trout (best known for supplying food services to various museums and retailers).

What’s it like? It’s like sitting in an episode of ‘Space 1999’, all white walls and – brand alert! – orange lighting. Flatscreen TVs set in the walls show ‘BBC News 24’. There’s space for 300-400 and most staff sit at the communal tables with bench seats à la Wagamama, but there are a few smaller round tables with butterfly chairs, plus some high stools. The hot food counter is supplemented by a chiller cabinet with ready-to-go food, not unlike a mini-branch of Benjy’s. Feature continues

At 12.30pm the mood shifts from calm to commotion when a long queue of chatty employees suddenly forms for the hot dishes. They regroup in rambunctious gangs at the communal tables, but it’s a short rush and within three-quarters of an hour things are returning to serenity.

Menu ‘It’s not stuffy city posh nosh,’ says canteen general manager Ivan Ash, ‘more nosh with a twist and a kick, and this is the environment for it.’ Each day there is a hot main course (£2.95), a hot carvery sandwich (£2.75), deli sandwiches (£1.25-£2.55), jacket potatoes with fillings such as beef bolognese, and salads, all made from scratch by the three in-house chefs. In help-yourself Dualit urns are hot soups (red pepper and tomato, or lentil and bacon, all 65p) served with a choice of flavoured breads. Sweet treats include pots of cheesecake, mixed nut and caramel brownies (both £1.20), and Müller branded products (55p).

Most popular dish The traditional gastropub-style recipes, but particularly beef casserole with mash.

The staff verdict Laurent, who is French and works in sales, eats there every day and on our visit opted for the chicken korma with rice. ‘I would not have the takeaway sandwiches,’ he says, ‘the bread’s not good. I’d opt for the sandwich bar instead, which is much better.’

Jenni’s verdict After one of the hot carvery sandwiches – say lemon and thyme roast pork with crackling, apple sauce, and green leaves – dessert seems impossible, and a nap essential.