Arriving at the glassy double front doors of Canteen, you’d be forgiven for thinking you’ve been artfully transported to the streets of Brooklyn. From the bold corner location to the well-put-together crowd of beautiful people, there’s something about this sleek pasta-plus bar that seems far more New York than Notting Hill. The food too, screams Williamsburg Girls-era date night (much more so than New Jersey Sopranos red sauce Italian), with a sassy ‘Name of Chef’ printed at the top of the menu, rather than, y’know, the actual name of the chefs (former River Cafe cooks Jessica Filbey and Harry Hills). This in-joke is the sort of acceptable gatekeeping that’s also present in Canteen’s no-booking policy, which often results in queues around the building. Which is all to say that a visit to Canteen seems like a holiday, or at the very least, a spicy city break.
God-tier secondi of chicken is cooked in lemon, milk and sage
This deft vibes curation should come as no surprise when you discover Canteen is run by the same team as the Cotswoldian fever dream that is the Fat Badger (which you’ll find upstairs in the same building), as well as glammy gastros The Pelican, The Hero in Maida Vale, The Bull in Charlbury, and the newly opened Hart in Marylebone. While they share a similar putty-palate and monied cottage-core aesthetic, Canteen does things differently. Here, the interior is a friendly jumble of high tables, booths and counter seating, with two roaring open pizza ovens which keep the whole place supremely toasty.
The menu is not online, and changes regularly, but you can always rely on there being a couple of pizzas and a couple of pastas, alongside seasonal starters, such as a white asparagus, which comes lemony and fresh, with a quenelle of ultra funky bottarga. Canteen’s snappable pizza is more reminiscent of a flatbread than the sloppy London slices we’re currently buckling under the weight of. Ours is light and joyfully crispy, with a cautious amount of nutty asiago cheese, blushing folds of pink speck cotto and fragrant rosemary to really hammer home just how heroically Italian this dish is.
Ravioli is equally good, dotted with plump peas and a generous amount of pancetta, hiding under a snowstorm of parmesan. Yet both are bashed into submission by a god-tier secondi of chicken cooked in lemon, milk and sage. It sounds simple, but the super succulent meat and pathologically crispy skin make it an elementary triumph. We thank the west London gods for this noble bird’s sacrifice.
Since opening, Canteen has been known for its ‘viral’ chocolate mousse. We’re not huge fans of ‘viral’ anything, but it’s easy to see why this off-menu pudding, lashed with olive oil and sea salt, has reached TikTok notoriety. Because it’s bloody delicious. Like everything else at Canteen, then.
The vibe A casual but upmarket New York-style Italian restaurant in Notting Hill.
The food Thin, crispy pizza, perfect pasta and meaty mains.
The drink Negronis, martinis and big pours of Italian wine.
Time Out tip They don’t take bookings, so turn up earlier than you’d like to eat in order to get your name on the waitlist.