143 The Canopy Restaurant

Obviously a very popular restaurant now, and I do not think they knew it? I popped in a printed review and the manager seemed surprised anyone performed on line reviews as they do on Unilocal and Qype?

The Canopy is at the higher end of what is admittedly a rather narrow spectrum of restaurants in Epsom.
We visited during a busy-​ish lunchtime and were still there almost an hour and a half later: this is perhaps not the place to go if you’re in need of a quick bite. My wife went for the two-​course £13 lunch menu, choosing a delicious sliced chicken breast with aubergine compote in a red wine sauce, and the chocolate brownie went down very nicely afterwards. My omelette was tasty and cooked properly (i.e. not nuked to a dry and wizened husk, unlike many restaurants). Drinks are slightly on the expensive side but not outrageously so.
Aside from that, the serving staff are friendly (though the kitchen was possibly somewhat overstretched), the décor is bright and modern, and overall The Canopy is a good choice for an intimate meal. Add a star if you enjoy leisurely dining and a chat while waiting for your food.

Quick glance:
+ novel (gimmicky?) way to cook steak
+ choice of 3 men’s fragrances in the loos
+ wheelchair accessible
— don’t bring children if you plan to have steak!
— small inconsistencies
Full review:
Four of us came here for dinner on a Thursday night and were seated at the small round table by the bar. For starter, I had the special of the day which was chicken liver salad with bacon. The presentation was a bit on the brown side — brown leaves, brown-​ish bacon, and of course the brown-​ish liver, but it tasted good. Some of the other starters were more colourful and very tasty, including the prawns (which had a good punch from the chilli) and crab cakes (also a nice kick from the mango and chilli mayo) from the a la carte menu.
For main, all four of us ordered steak — two sirloin and two fillet steak. The steak comes on «volcanic rock» slabs which are in turn placed on wooden platters along with the sides, which were a tight squeeze on the small round table for four but we just about managed. The rocks are red hot and used to cook the steak to your liking as you eat. It’s novel but a little gimmicky, and although the steaks were of good quality, the price tag was a bit on the high side considering you had to cook the steak yourself. Note: do not order this dish if you are with small children or accident-​prone, as the rocks stay hot throughout the entire meal.
There was a small oversight: my portion of steak didn’t come with carrots, whilst my three companions had them. But these things happen and it’s not the end of the world. The restaurant is cosy and there is one toilet that is wheelchair accessible and stocked with three men’s fragrances (no idea why).
Overall, the ingredients were fresh and food of good quality. The steak dish is novel and a good conversation topic.

I love supporting local independent restaurants and so, I was really excited to spot the sign for The Canopy Restaurant as I drove through Epsom recently. It’s nice to see a new place open despite the adverse economic climate
For those with long enough memories, The Canopy occupies the site of the old Roosters fast food joint near the back entrance to the Ashley Centre. It closed amidst a sea of rumours and the site has been derelict for a few years.
My salsa friend Hilary and I booked to try The Canopy before we went dancing on Friday. They have given the space a good facelift — it brought a smile to my face to see a chandelier in the old Roosters space! The overall ambiance in the evening is quite intimate
The menu immediately caught my eye — very cleverly written to have a broad appeal, cater to different markets but still retain a wow factor. They offer a nice lunch menu (sandwiches, create your own omelette, etc), a great value afternoon tea (unique for Epsom) as well as dinner, which has more grown-​up dishes and some dishes with pizzazz like steaks being offered on volcanic hot rock, which is cooked at your table
It was quite busy on Friday evening and we checked with our server that they would be able to serve us 3 courses before we had to leave for salsa. This demand for speed may have led to the kitchen making 1 or 2 tiny errors, like the mash for one of our main courses being a bit lumpy though the other mash was fine
We shared a starter — spinach roulade with roasted red pepper cream, and saffron dressing. The plate was well dressed but we probably needed more of the punchy dressing to accompany the roulade which lacked a little flavour on its own
For main course, Hilary had the pan seared fillet of sea bass with Italian potatoes, vine tomatoes and caper-​berry sauce — she enjoys fish and pronounced herself very satisfied with it and proved it with a clean plate
I had the lamb’s liver served on a bed of creamed potatoes topped with smoked bacon and onion gravy. This was a good combination of flavours — rich liver, salty bacon and sweet onion gravy. Presentation-​wise, perhaps the liver could have done with searing on a griddle to develop those heavy scorch lines, which impart umami flavour but it tasted just fine
The star turn of the evening though was an outstanding sticky toffee pudding with a rich toffee sauce. Our server was very sharp to straightaway notice that the vanilla ice cream was missing from our dish and this was duly delivered. The sticky toffee pudding was heavenly — light, moist and unctuous. Top marks!
This is their third week after opening and as the bugs are ironed out, I trust they’ll go from strength to strength. I wish them every success and I hope this will be a lovely addition to the dining scene of Epsom for many years to come