Franks Canteen

A quick impromptu lunch needed locally found us at Franks Canteen. Small but fully formed, grabbed some corn fritters off the Brunch Menu and was not disappointed. Flavorful, fresh and an interesting take on the traditional. Swapped out the poached for a fried egg done very well as requested - perfect! Would definitely like to come back to try the Apricot Brulee on the evening special menu, and the BYOB on Wednesdays is another draw to returning.

We were looking for a place to brunch, and this little spot has it all: flavourful food, helpful service, an interesting menu, great coffee, and a stellar happy hour. Yes, we stayed on from a late brunch to an early Happy Hour. The Grapefruit Margarita was far too tasty to ignore. Don’t hesitate to pop in. The dinner specials all looked promising too! We all shared the potatoes with roasted garlic aioli—but you might want to keep them for yourself.

Delicious spot, had a bacon focaccia for breakfast with two fried eggs. It was quite delicious. Friendly staff. No complaints.

Really lovely dinner here on Saturday night. The food is exceptional- every dish was superb and a special shoutout to the scallops in brown butter and Cod main course, and the meringue dessert! The service was a little slow (not sure if this is usual as the staff did keep apologising) BUT it was such a nice relaxed atmosphere and we had bread and wine to keep us going so it was fine. I want to return to try the breakfast and all other dishes!

I had poached eggs on dusty knuckle sourdough with an additional side of black pudding. All the components were delicious in particular the citrusy dressing on the greens.

Been to this little cafe a couple of times before, a couple of years ago but had forgotten about it. Passed by today and am so happy I went in for post exercise brunch. They have a really talented chef in there. Had a brioche bun with asparagus, marscapone, roasted tomatoes, fried egg and added bacon. It was just delicious and beautifully cooked. The ingredients were really high quality. Nothing here tastes like other places, it's always a bit different and elevated. Great coffee too. Have had to abandon the place on busy days when there's been a long wait but today was nice and quiet and I got a seat easily.

Unbelievable jacked potato! Just look at the pic. The chap serving me was very accommodating on my wine and me testing a few first. What a lunch!!

For a midweek dinner with friends, our Highbury neighbourhood bistro Frank's Canteen is always a popular choice. The menu changes often, with great variety across a choice of snacks, small and large plates. The cooking is brilliant, the duck with sweetcorn and girolles was tender and perfectly pink, the sauce was super delicious. Our preferred wine was out of stock, sadly, but we drank plenty of Côtes du Rhone instead. My friend Kim summed it up: "Frank's is my new favourite restaurant. Brilliant food and wine, no pretentious stuff. Love it.'

I may not approve of the lack of an apostrophe in its name, but I would otherwise wholeheartedly recommend Franks Canteen, which stands out even in this brunch-saturated corner of north London. It's a pleasant enough space to read the weekend newspapers: small, independent, with friendly staff. Far more importantly, the cooking is excellent, and several notches more imaginative than your run-of-the-mill brunch spot. The menu offers enough of the obligatory brunch staples, but crucially alongside a small selection of less predictable dishes. At my recent visit, I opted for an Italianate stufato of chickpeas, tomatoes and pancetta, served with generous hunks of mozzarella and toasted sourdough. It was a cheering dish, lashed with enough basil and olive oil to almost taste of August sunshine. It renewed my faith in brunch as an institution: rather than breakfast-by-numbers, this was food with an irrepressible sense of fun.

Frank's is a very welcome addition to the neighbourhood. Excellent food. I went for breakfast and had the pork shoulder with poached eggs, kale and hollandaise on sourdough. Delicious. Other people's food looked good too; waffles, poached eggs with salmon, kedgeree. There's a welcoming atmosphere and good music, they were playing The National when I was there which I was very pleased about. Lots of plug sockets and quick wifi make it a good place to work too, I'll be back.

I've been here once before, and inside there's a nice vibe (very minimalist decor) with friendly staff. I ordered the beef brisket stew (I believe the menu changes each week though) which was divine. My boyfriend had the bubble and squeak which he really rated too. At the end of the meal, they also brought over a snazzy iPad mini which was a nice touch. Overall, fairly good value and I'm really glad to have a new option for lunch in my local area!

I ordered the huevos rancheros. It was the best I've had in as far as I can remember. It was an explosion of flavors. Spicy beans in tomato sauce which perfectly countered with acidity. The jalapeño corn bread was sweet and slightly spicy...perfect. The poached eggs might have been a tad overdone, but the yolks were still runny enough.

I've grown a bit frustrated with this place. Firstly, they're not open very often. Only 5, sometimes only 4 days a week. And only from late morning to mid-afternoon. When we'd like to come eat here during the weekend, we find it closed because they're who-knows-where. And this past Sunday, when it was 1:45 pm, we came by to have a late lunch, and the waitress just looked at us and said "we're closed" and walked away. Mind you, the sign in the window says open until 2:30 pm. She offered no explanation and was not very friendly. My husband was so upset, I had to push him out the door not to cause a scene. Restaurants are supposed to be taking their last orders at their closing times. I don't think we'll be back to Frank's in a while until they get more hours and more polite staff.

The restaurant is a gem in an otherwise lacking area for food. It's a small local business with a burgeoning catering business attached to the restaurant/ head chef. That can mean a bit of growing pain in event/ business management but the team is genuine and well intentioned.

Went again for breakfast on my Mums birthday - delicious food, and they offered us a free pastry for the occasion, which was deemed the best almond croissant ever. Really love this place!