Rochelle Canteen
Rochelle Canteen review: Margot Henderson's restaurant inside a converted Victorian bike shed in Arnold Circus is still one of London's best long lunches,.
Rochelle Canteen is reached by pressing a buzzer on a locked green wooden door in the corner of Arnold Circus, walking down a path past a tiled Victorian school, and arriving at a walled garden on the other side. This is the correct way to arrive.
The room
Half inside, half outside. The interior is a converted bike shed with pale wood floors and a long communal banquette. The garden side, used in summer, is three long tables under plane trees.
What to order
The menu is short and changes every service. Whatever Margot Henderson has put next to her own name at the top of the board is the thing to order. The vegetables are unimprovable. The pudding is usually a baked custard and you should always order it.
The drinks list
Short, natural-leaning, mostly French. The by-the-glass whites are always interesting.
What you will pay
A long lunch with wine: around £75 per head. It is quietly a bargain.
The verdict
If you do one hidden-garden long lunch in London a year, this is the one.
Clara Whitfield
Editor and restaurant critic
Clara Whitfield is the editor and lead restaurant critic of Vivi. She has eaten through the London restaurant scene professionally for over a decade, contributing reviews and features to regional and national food publications.
She writes Vivi's weekly restaurant review and the Saturday essay. She prefers early dinners and a table facing the room.
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