The Canteen makes the best out of its limited space with clean décor, stylized photographs of street food and a long aisle. There’s not a lot of privacy to be had here, but the food was good, the vibe non-phony and the service largely upbeat—so we didn’t mind. The menu offers starters, mains, snacks, desserts and drinks imbued with a local flavor and the Les Amis touch (la mian in truffle oil, anyone?). Their signature X.O. sauce lo shi fun was a flavorful, slightly spicy mix of lo shi fun, minced pork, century egg and X.O. sauce. We liked it—but the serving could have been larger. The bak kut teh with white pepper was tasty and not too peppery; while the Canteen crab mee pok was a smooth, sinful bowl of mee pok with crab oil, crab meat and a piece of soft shell crab (more crab would be nice). Lastly, the lychee jelly made a refreshing dessert. This is a nice place to have a meal, but not to linger. However, for the relatively steep prices (for local food), The Canteen needs more interesting dishes and great service to justify the pricing.
