If a luxurious and complex seven-course menu with a sweeping view of London is what you’re looking for to spice up your next date night, then this Canary Wharf restaurant is for you.
Located on the 38th floor of the Novotel building, 40 Marsh Wall, Bōkan's bar looks out over the metropolitan city.
On a clear evening, you could expect to see across the Thames to the Shard, the London eye and beyond.
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The experience is not for the light of pocket, however; the seven-course meal cost £100 and the wine pairing that accompanies it costs £79.
For the amount of food and drink you get, though, and the balance with which each course is created and then interacts with the next, it does exceedingly well.
As the seven dishes came out at the restaurant just one floor down from the bar, we were consistently kept guessing.
The dish that by far made the meal for me was the cod cheek. Fried with a tempura-like batter on the outside, and sitting on a green puree, the dish felt inspired by fish and chips but elevated to the nth degree.
Not only was the food pleasant and surprising, the dishes were built to aesthetically impress. The scallop, which came in a shell covered with champagne beurre blanc, seemed to almost float above the serving plate as it was served with an odorless mist.
As someone who is not the biggest fan of orange-flavoured foods, I was indifferent to the blood orange sorbet – a simple palette cleanser, rather than a welcome addition to the seven courses perhaps.
But the final blood orange masterpiece at the end really did impress. As much as, again, orange is not my favourite flavour for sweetness, this cake came perfectly sculpted as an orange itself, kitted with what tasted like a chocolate shell.
We were surprised as well to find a green, moss-like condiment on top of the chocolate soil which seemed to be made from bread.
All in all, not the most taste-bud-tantalising course for me, but definitely one I will remember for its creativity and fun.
The place was balanced between buzzy and dark-lit in the bar and more calming and quiet in the restaurant one level up.
The view from Bōkan's roof terrace on the 39th floor. Credit: Tara Mewawalla
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The floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over the water and across to the rest of London made the restaurant feel expansive and powerful.
Our trip to Bōkan was a very enjoyable one where we felt looked after, left feeling full and satisfied and excited after having tried dishes we’d never expected.
Address: 40 Marsh Wall, Canary Wharf E14 9TP
Website: bokanlondon.co.uk
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