The Canton Arms
Stockwell, London
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Those familiar with the Canton Arms’ siblings (Stoke Newington's Clarence Tavern, Southwark’s Anchor & Hope, Oxford’s Magdalen Arms) will know what to expect. There’s a resolute commitment to classic pubbiness here, so expect plenty of drinkers congregating at the front bar with pints of real ale, while the back area is reserved for diners. The culinary spectrum is as wide-ranging as you can get, with the single-sheet menu offering an ample dose of European and Mediterranean flavours, peppered with kimchi, katsu and the like. The daily specials board, which majors on dishes to share, might feature seven-hour saltmarsh lamb shoulder with Greek salad (pretty much a menu mainstay), house-cured charcuterie or a pie for two. On the plate, the pub’s homely aesthetic dovetails with astute technical precision and the season-led food is confidently handled, producing rustic hand-cut tagliatelle with heaps of butter, girolles and a fragrant whack of tarragon, as well as a hefty spinach and feta filo pie with ‘gorgeous lemony’ Greek potato salad. Other noteworthy dishes on our visit ranged from Tamworth pork neck with a high-octane anchoïade to perfectly cooked Cornish skate with fresh slivers of tender Romana courgettes and a smooth, rich vermouth cream. To finish, the umami hit of almost-burnt sugar and crunchy nuts was the making of a generous scoop of hazelnut-brittle gelato. In short, everything is generously proportioned and speaks of a kitchen that knows its stuff. There’s democratic pricing too, which carries through to a drinks list offering plenty below the £40 mark.
