Canary Wharf’s The Parlour

Looking for a roast dinner on a Sunday lunchtime?

Yes, oh god yes. I need something substantial to plug the holes I made in my stomach through drinking so much that I also made my fingers go temporarily numb.

Do you want to go somewhere quiet and sophisticated?

Again, yes, yes and please yes. My head feels like it’s wandered into a P.E. teachers’ conference, wearing a T-shirt saying ‘Push-ups are for closet homosexuals.’

Great, we’re off to Canary Wharf.

Canary Wharf? But that’s where The Man lives! Why would anyone go there on a Sunday afternoon?

A very good point my literary artifice. Who does go to Canary Wharf on a Sunday afternoon when the whole of London is open and eager for your business? Well it turns out that quite a few people do, taking advantage of the open space and the fact that you won’t have to squeeze yourself in amongst squabbling families and early afternoon drinkers waiting for the football to start.

Canary Wharf is very un-London in its set up. The streets are arranged sensibly with their names not changing halfway along. Plus for a supposed epicentre of global evil, there is a sense of calm far removed from the manic pace found elsewhere in the city.

The newest place to get a Sunday roast with all the trimmings is The Parlour, a chic venue that is light and laid back. There is a sophistication and appreciation of its clientèle with anyone ordering a much-needed roast also receiving a complimentary Bloody Mary to assist in the healing process. My Bloody Caesar had just the right amount of vim and kick to prompt the idea that I might begin trying to form coherent sentences, which is one of the kindest things you can say about any drink.

Before the roast came along, my companion and I thought it would be wise to give our stomachs something in the way of preparation so we ventured for a crayfish flatbread. Sometimes restaurants get away with using a flatbread to dump a whole bunch of ingredients without much thought applied. Not so in this case with a very fulfilling combination of fish, tomatoes and salad.

Onto the roast and for the price paid, you get a serious amount of food for your money. My half of a chicken came with parsnips, roast potatoes, carrots and mashed sweet potatoes and was more than enough. My companion’s roast beef was sturdy and well prepared with her only complaint being over the crispiness of the roast potatoes.

Rather than take a dessert wine with our desserts, we each plumped for a dessert cocktail. My companion went for a Crème Brulee Martini whilst I went for a 3 Bears. The Creme Brulee Martini broke Noel Coward’s edict that a good martini should be made by filling a glass with gin and waving it in the general direction of Italy. But given this was a dessert cocktail, a little latitude is allowed.

The 3 Bears was fascinating in that they managed to produce a drink that tasted the exact same as a White Russian, even though they used completely different ingredients in the form of Auchentoshan 3 Wood whisky, oats, golden syrup and milk.

Canary Wharf might not be the first place you think of when going out to eat or spending a Sunday afternoon. But with the weather brightening, why not spend your free time where the food is of a very good standard, the service charming and the sound of frenzied parents far, far removed as you make your morning after recovery?

The Parlour
40 Canada Square Park
Canary Wharf
E14 5FW

Tel: 0845 468 0100

Image by Laurel Fan courtesy of Flickr