Canvas and Cream

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Man cannot live on fry ups alone - excellent pancakes and French toast at Canvas & Cream

I love me their French toast but do wish they’d be a bit more generous with their maple syrup. When’s the video?

This was purely pleasure. Although the quality of sausage makes me want to sample their full fry up.

It may go against your values but their veggie breakfast with halloumi and avocado is heaven. You could always be naughty and add sausages.

My fiance had her eyes on that but went for the pancakes instead - I’d definitely give it a go, I’d leave the sausage on the sidelines and go with it as chef intended.

Need to try the eggs benedict there as well.

Good. Not special. Just good.

Eggs benedict @TheArchieParker are much better.

agree I prefer Archie Parker and St Davids.
Better food and better value.

Just enjoying their garden at the moment… didn’t realise they had one (looks like no one else got the memo either!)

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How’'s the wifi?

Not useable in the garden. sadly. Had to tether my iPhone.

Last time I got French toast I asked for extra syrup and they were fine about it.

I asked for extra syrup and they made a fuss and then charged me £1.50 for a tiny tiny pot

I’ve not actually been there since they refused to give another slice of bread to my friend with her soup. I find them incredibly rude there

My burger and coffee came to £17.83 (service was added by the cashier). I’m not sure their pricing is sensible. They seem reasonably busy though, so they must be doing something right?

Unfortunately the young upwardly mobile with good salaries seem to accept over priced food and average service. I just cannot get my head around trendy food offerings that you could produce for a quarter of the price. Accept overheads are high, but some items are so overpriced.

I must confess I’ve always found it overpriced for very average food and poor service.
Give me StDavids or Archie Parker any day-or the Teaspoon.

For me it adds variety to the area. I sometimes pop in on Saturdays for brunch served with a decent cocktail. Their cake selection offers a nice break from WFH days with a well poured coffee. Yes St. David’s around the corner, but you have more room here, and less open laptops. Plus they have a coffee reward scheme.

Sure there is cheaper and I love love love Ada’s and the Archie Parker. But I also like me some Canvas and Cream on the odd day too.

As for yoof. You musts be old @Wynell 'cause I’m no spring chicken and those C&C patrons are pretty much around my age demographic.

I am really pleased for you, I may be considered old and as you are no spring chicken just goes to show those of us who worked hard for our money are perhaps more careful when spending it?

Canvas and Cream do clearly have a place in the Forest Hill food landscape. I love the interior and the atmosphere. But I haven’t eaten there for a long time, not since other lunchtime venues became available. I personally find the food overpriced and underflavoured, and the coffee dire. The service is fine - not outstanding, but efficient. They do have a fabulous selection of cakes, though.

A few years ago my OH and I had the Winter Wonderland New Year’s Eve dinner in the gallery and the food was really excellent. I don’t know if they brought someone else in to cater that, different from the daytime chefs.

I love the atmosphere and cake and am glad it exists. Sorry to hear about charging for extra syrup. If that happened to me I would not return. In the US (where I come from) you get jugs of syrup on the table in breakfast restaurants.

Oh for a Denny’s in Forest Hill.

I really like the feel of the place and the idea. But I do agree that the prices have gone up and the quality down slightly since they first opened.

They used to have a large olive fougasse on the menu which with a couple of glasses of interesting wine was a lovely snack and about a tenner all-in. Now it feels like a minimum of £15-20 a head for fairly average menu so I don’t go as often

I have pretty much accepted that I’m not part of the demographic they’re chasing and put bad experiences down to that. I think the food has been disappointing almost every time I’ve eaten there, and I’ve always felt it was expensive for what it is but I’ve seen the front of the place as a means to support the studios rather than an end in itself.

For full disclosure, I haven’t been back much since a couple of years ago when we had a bad experience. A gang of thieves came in and among other things stole my wife’s phone. I managed to get it back, but the staff were unhelpful to the point of disinterested both before and after, and even after I got in touch with the management about it via their website contact email address, I never heard anything back.

I’d happily settle for an IHOP

Go to any “Breakfast Club” restaurant in London. There’s literally a line down the street of people queuing. They cater to their crowd. There’s plenty of cheap fry up alternatives around FH/HOP.

I only went there once a couple of years ago and never went back. I don’t mind paying money for good food and service but neither were apparent. It took an age just to pay and it seemed overpriced for what it was - especially the wine.

I thought it rather strange that, if eating, the bill was brought to you, but if only drinking (alcohol) although the waiter/waitress served the alcohol, the bill had to be paid by the customer at the till.

Found food to be ok but nothing special. The place to me always feels rather impersonal and generally lacking in warmth on the part of the staff. Service painfully slow.

I think it’s good that we have something like Canvas and Cream in Forest Hill. If I want a greasy spoon budget brekkie I can find that elsewhere. It is a bit pricey so that’s why it’s a once a month treat with my Mum and partner. I like the service and they do give tap water without any fuss which I really appreciate and the veggie roast is delicious!

Is tap water without a fuss unusual?! Most places have jugs of water and glasses on the side don’t they?

It is sometimes an issue. I won’t name and shame but there was one place in Honor Oak Park that coached their waiting staff to ignore requests for tap water. They have since realised that it is a massive turn off for customers.

Every time I’ve visited, they’ve had a jug and glasses on the side near the cakes?

Had my first full english from Canvas & Cream. It’s definitely pricey, but I had a damn fine time in there. Nice to have both somewhere like this and Aroma down the road. Best of both worlds

Decent fry yesterday at C&C - bit lumpy at 11 quid mind you. Plus the bubble was pretty much mash with a bit of cabbage in it - ditch that and serve some frozen hash browns instead or at least make an effort to give it a crust. Good quality meat products. Overall an enjoyable plate but as is said by other posters, not cheap.

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£11

Getting used to Norfolk prices?

Morrisons Little Boy Breakfast is £3 pounds something and it includes fried bread and black pudding so YES!

I seem to recall they get their sausages and bacon from the Butchery so it should be good. That bubble and squeek though. Erm no.

I saw this weekend that they are doing an evening service from Thursday to Saturday. Sharing plates and cocktails. Anyone tried this yet? The introductory offer looked good.

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Big breakfast cafe - Perry Vale. Body builders breakfast £7.20 including mug of tea or coffee.
2 eggs,2 bacon, sausage, burger, black pudding, bubble squeak, beans, mushrooms and fried slice.

Not as salubrious as C&C but makes the point better value makes for better business, which several establishments in FH could take note of?

I’d probably rather pay a bit more for c&c quality but it’s definitely each to their own.

Sorry to say that, judging by that pic, it was OK but not what I would call quality. I wish C&C every success but £11. Way too much for what is on offer.

I did say the environment was perhaps of a more agreeable standard, but quality? I believe both establishments off free range eggs, and reliably sourced meat products so comes down to formuca tables and chalk boards as opposed to art and shabby chic.

That’s the crucial question: what is it about a C&C breakfast that is worth an extra nearly four quid? You’re getting less grub (I think) but is there an assumption it’s better quality grub? Better cooked? Or are you willing to pay for the atmosphere?

To be clear, I’m making no judgement either way. Things are worth what we’re willing to pay for them. I’m just interested to know on what basis C&C would be judged better ‘quality’ than a greasy spoon cafe.

In my experience of c&c vs other local caffs the meat, particularly sausages, are of a better quality.

By quality I mean less rusky, higher pork content, better flavour.

I agree with all posters, atmosphere quality of the food, service etc all matter. That said restaurants are going out of business due to lack of custom, i have a couple of friends who run a cafe & a restaurant both catering for the mid range and base their marketing on a mix of quality local products and good quantity both are doing very well financially. Its simple maths really cost of food +overheads, wages etc should give you an average cost per cover and number of covers per week/ month required to make profit.

Well BB Breakfasts which is good has a terrible cocktail range and their handling of my latte is diabolical. Plus they never seem to have avocado for my extra side order on toast.

Well, if you insist on turning up to a builder’s caf dressed like this, Starman, what do you expect??

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Never had BB down as a hipster cafe, who knew?

C&C food is pricey but we are not just paying for the food. It’s the vibe, staff and way it’s all put together. I can’t afford to get a £11 breakfast every week but I do understand why they charge a bit more. If I want a no frills mystery meat brekkie on a plastic table there are places I can go for that

Not exactly the weather for it at the moment, but their Knickerbocker Glory is the stuff of dreams. Overall, I think their desserts are their strong point.

I had the tapas menu last night. Really enjoyed it. Good value at £40 for 6 dishes with 2 cocktails.

More than once we’ve had lunch elsewhere and desert in C&C

Went there last weekend. Group of 8. It was absolutely rammo’d, but I have to say they handled our order with panache. 5 eggs benedict and one more dish with poached eggs. All the eggs came out beautifully.

This did bring up a discussion on how the hell they managed to poach so many eggs that fast. It surely wasn’t just us who were dining on the EB’s that day.

A friend of mine suggested that they had a bath full of poached eggs ready to go. Could this be the C&C secret? Insiders knowledge required please

You just pre-cook them - SOP for busy restaurants.

I do this whenever I cook brunch for a buch of mates. The trick is to plunge the eggs is an ice water bath to stop the cooking.

Finding the new Lazy Chef closed, we popped into Canvas and Cream for a full English. Pricey at £11 it was the best full English we’ve had to date in Forest Hill. Perfectly poached eggs on top of thick cut toast. Beans which were more beans than sauce. A perfectly cooked portobello mushroom and fried tomatoes. Thick cut bacon with crispy fat and a plump juicy sausage.

Yummy.

ETA the bubble and squeek was mostly potato and delicious.