I have visited over a 100 cities around the world and ate in most of the main restaurants, but I must say Canary Wharf in London is really the best place to dine out and relax. Recently we went for a romantic dinner at the Boisdale Restaurant and had a spectacular experience.
Set on the second floor of a Gotham City-style Art Deco building overlooking the fountains in Cabot Square with a view to the Thames and the City of London skyline, the restaurant is one of the most majestic premises to have opened in Canary Wharf and that we have visited in recent years.
I must admit I am partial to anything Scottish and this restaurant oozes with the heritage and grandeur of Scotland. The Whisky bar, in the restaurant holds over 1,000 bottles of malt whisky and is undoubtedly be one of the most extensive and magnificent whisky bars in the world.
We booked over a week in advance and arrived at the appointed hour to canary Wharf. We had to take a private lift to the 2nd Floor and were greeted with grandeur and luxury of the distinctive Boisdale design of lacquer red and dark green walls, rich mahogany panelling, with an eclectic collection of classical and modern original artwork.
We were ushered to a window table facing the outside Cabot Square and that formed the recognisable rounded dome like shape of the building. After admiring the views for a few minutes, a waiter brought over our menus and we got down to business. I was keen to dine at this restaurant because of it’s famed Whisky bar and hence I started checking the Whisky menu while Bhavani started looking over the food menu.
The Whisky menu was ok but the Wine menu blew me away. Some of the bottles were £2000!! Not sure who would be drinking a bottle of wine that would cost as much as a decent car! I ordered some wine (not the £2000 bottle but still quite a pricey one!) and Bhavani ordered the food.
While we waited for the food conversation turned towards the upcoming India trip and Bhavani and I discussed some of the logistics. The restaurant started filling up and we could some recognizable faces (the Who’s Who of London).
For starters, I ordered the ‘The ménage á trois’ – salmon selection (Dunkeld wild cold-smoked, dill-cured gravadlax, confit with crème fraîche) and Bhavani ordered the Atlantic prawn cocktail (English lettuce, green Harissa mayonnaise & Marie-Rose sauce). The starters were not your usual ones and had quite a flair and Michelin Star attitude.
For our main course, I ordered the Aberdeenshire chopped steak tartare (classic accompaniments, thin cut chips) and Bhavani ordered the Fish & chips (certified sustainable line-caught haddock, tartare sauce, mushy peas). I am a big fan of steak and especially when it comes to Scottish steak, you can not stop me. However, Bhavani is quite picky about the kind of meats she eats so her only option was Fish and Chips. There was no chicken for the main course.
To finish off the meal, I ordered a glass of 18 Year old Jack Daniels Silver Select. You can not go to Boisdale and not try one of their premium whiskies. That would be sacrilege! The Whisky was a special rare blend, not to be found commercially and a Whisky connoisseur came to my table to explain how it was blended and all. I was absolutely thrilled!
Finally the main event that we were waiting for – Live Jazz! A band from the US came in and played the most wonderful Jazz. I and Bhavani rolled our heads and tapped our legs to the rhythm and music and before we knew it, 2 hours had passed. It was with regret that we had to leave the restaurant before the next live music band came in.
All in all, the Boisdale is an awesome restaurant for a nice romantic occasion. If you are a Whisky enthusiast then you will simply fall in love with the place. It will be a night to remember!
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