The Small Canteen

It may be small, with just four tables and a counter across the window of an unprepossessing building, but the Small Canteen has a big heart. ‘A warm welcome is always on the cards,’ notes one regular. The concise menu is squashed and smudged onto a blackboard in Sam Betts’ ever-so-slightly chaotic ship, which is run with immense verve and generosity.

Start with good chewy bread plus dips of mayo, salsa verde and romesco. After that, a glistening slab of confit chicken terrine comes with pickled prunes, baked gnocchi are richly endowed with Gorgonzola, kale and hazelnuts, pork cutlet is served with chard and squash, and skate wing gets the traditional treatment with brown butter, capers, shrimps and tenderstem broccoli. Everything here is rich, abundant and delicious. It seems that the chef is unfamiliar with the concept of portion control: starters are the size of a main course and mains are too good to refuse.

Tables are so closely packed you get to know your neighbours, who may also provide good reports of the saffron, raisin and apple cake with honey and mascarpone ice cream or a fabulous three-parter involving chocolate mousse, blackcurrant sorbet and honeycomb. We don’t know how Betts manages to pull off such an ‘adorably priced’ menu, but we are very glad he does – especially when the blackboard also lists cocktails, juices and organic lemonade. Organic wines come in at £7 for a 500ml carafe of Tempranillo or Odes à la Gascogne, and there are regional craft beers too, with names like Redcastle Crusader, First Chop and Love Lane Baltic.