Boisdale of Canary Wharf

REVIEW – 20th March 2017

Canary Wharf, E14

We love Boisdale at Canary Wharf. Well, we love all of the Boisdale restaurants, but Canary Wharf is our favourite – not just because its close to us but because the food is great and the music is fantastic. For those of you who don’t know, Boisdale Canary Wharf has one of the most extensive collections of malt whiskies in the world (one 1,000) – it also has a cigar room – so that is reason enough to visit!

We popped in for a quick steak on Monday and were glad to do so. Monday is normally a quiet evening at Boisdale – no live music and the restaurant is never too busy. The menu is straightforward offering sophistication without any pretension. The food is grounded in the finest and freshest food from Scotland and England and the kitchen is led by Andy Rose, a classically trained chef who likes to keep it simple.

Food-wise, I started with a Seared hand-dived Scottish Scallop with salt-cod croquette, black pudding, smoked celeriac and apple; Mrs M had the Szechuan pepper & chilli squid with pickled cucumbers, spicy harissa mayonnaise. For our main, we had the sirloin steak, chunky chips, wilted spinach and field mushrooms.

The scallop was perfectly cooked and the croquette a really nice balance. Excellent black pudding and a well-balanced smoked-celeriac purée. If I have any criticism, for £14.95, it’s a very small scallop

These little strips of squid were delicious. Coated in a spicy crumb and accompanied by a spicy harissa mayonnaise – scrummy! The pickled cucumbers added a nice crunch. Good value for £9.75

7 oz Sirloin Steak (£19.50) cooked medium rare – what’s not too like. This is a classic example of “shrinkflation” – the size of the steak gets smaller while the price remains the same or even goes up. A 7 oz steak looks small to the eye, almost a mean portion. But in reality, it’s a perfect size for most. Mrs M was full and I, for once, felt I had not overeaten.

We washed it all down with a bottle of their House Red (Crusan Grenache-Merlot, Pays d’Oc 2015 @ £22.50) – the first time I had tried this. And very pleasant it was too!

A small observation about the restaurant – Boisdale seems to run with with a minimum number of waiting staff who work really hard but are stretched. It’s not a big issue, just relax and enjoy the ambience – you will have time to do so.

Boisdale of Canary Wharf has recently been awarded Best Restaurants in Tower Hamlets 2017. There is stiff competition in the Borough, particularly around Canary Wharf and this award is well-deserved.