One Canada Square Restaurant and Bar

Slice of brunchy goodness in soulless Canary Wharf, One Canada Square definitely hits the spot and delivers a true boozy brunch experience.
We came here for V-​day and there was a good mix of doting couples and giggly groups of single women doing their own day of love shin-​dig. I liked the Great Gatsby feel of the dark green art deco architecture, the crossed staircase, and the glassy surroundings. Very professional, attentive staff and elevated overall feel of the place.
Breakdown:
²⁰⁄₂₅ quid for ²⁄₃ courses and add another 20 quid for unlimited
–prosecco,
–bloody marys, or
–mimosas.
They are very good at taking your next drink order once your glass is empty so good on them. The bloody marys were not quite there with the spice but pimped out with a skewer of gherkin, olive, and cucumber. The mimosa’s are definitely the loser drink here as its just half prosecco, half juice. However, it’s a good option for someone taking it slow.
The food was above average, but not what I’d expect from a restaurant in the second tallest building in our lovely London. My leek and sweet potato rosti with avocado and poached egg was very nice. The burger I had to follow was also quite good though now I wish I had gone for the steak tartare. My boyfriend’s egg benedict was definitely stand out with a nice wholegrain mustard cream sauce. The squid ink and crab, however, was a bit failing. There was a trifling amount of actual crab meat on the plate and it was not well sauced or seasoned for flavor.
However, there is such a good menu here — much better than most infinity drinks brunches which have only the standard classics to choose from. I would definitely recommend it and would even go again when the menu changes.

I would give it 3.5 stars but am rounding up.
I went as part of a corporate function. We had canapés upstairs, then dinner on the ground floor. I chose the beetroot salad, fish and sticky toffee pudding for my course. I enjoyed my starter and main, although both lacked that last bit of «special sauce» to make it astounding. I was rather disappointed with my dessert. It was too dry overall, and the pudding needed to be more moist and soft.
Ambience was sophisticated overall, though the noise level did go up as the evening progressed. Not the place to be if you’re looking for intimacy and quiet.
Service was great. The staff members were all polite and very prompt with topping up our glasses and bringing out our courses.
Overall, a solid place, especially for a corporate function.

Decent environment for a few drinks with colleagues; definitely on the pricy side so hopefully the boss is paying.
Loved the vibe there and especially feel sophisticated when people around you are ordering things like ‘Old Fashion’ and Hendricks for a change.
Restaurant side though it is quite pricy. I can’t think of a reason to eat there unless it’s work related functions. Just too corporate.

Infinity Brunch Club Outing #10: One Canada Square
For our (slightly longer than a) year anniversary of the Infinity Brunch Club, we ended up at One Canada Square. We were a small group this time, but we all trudged out to Canary Wharf to try out what turned out to be one of the better boozy brunches in London.
The food is £20/£25 for two/​three courses with a supplemental unlimited Bloody Mary/​Prosecco/​Mimosa/​Wine for £20. Huzzah! We all started with the two courses, but the food was really quite good (and not massive portions), that we all ended up getting dessert as well.
I started with the soft shell crab benedict with jalapeño hollandaise. Loved it. Delicious, light, fried soft shell crab with an amazing sauce and a perfectly poached egg. Yummy! The steak tartare was great (and frustratingly better than we had in France). I had the apple pie with custard for dessert and it was a winner, even though the custard was a little bit curdled.
Unfortunately, there were a few times when our glasses were empty, but unlike other places, it was toward the end of the meal, not the beginning. And it didn’t really seem like that big of a deal because we were relaxing and having a great time being serenaded by the piano player. He definitely saw we were enjoying ourselves, and kept looking at our table and smiling.
Honestly, I’d be tempted to come back for brunch or for dining another time because it was great and we had a really good time.

Anything sweet always catches my eye, and I got a little excited when I saw that One Canada Square was doing a special Ice Cream for Breakfast Day menu.
They were also doing their Bottomless Brunch Menu that day which obviously tempted the both of us to go for the two course option, hence enabling us to save space for dessert later on.
I don’t usually drink much during the day, but it was a weekend after all… and I just could not resist having the raspberry bellinis.
For starters, we ordered the smoked salmon and the soft shell crab ‘Benedict’. The smoked salmon was a nice, light option, although the blini were quite flat and not quite fluffy enough.
We both really liked the soft shell crab ‘Benedict’ which was light and crisp, and the egg had a lovely runny centre.
I ordered the steak tartare as my main, the portion slightly smaller than I was expecting, but nicely presented with lovely vibrant colours. I liked the texture of the meat which thankfully was not minced up too much or overly seasoned.
The Dorset crab linguini was also quite tasty.
The dessert selection from the brunch menu looked pretty decent, but I already had my eye on the Ice Cream for Breakfast Day menu…
Pan fried peanut butter and jam sandwich served with maple cured bacon ice cream. I loved every single ingredient listed in the description, so I knew that I was definitely going to enjoy this. The bread was nice and crisp, and sandwiched between them were scrumptious layers of peanut butter and jam. The hot ricotta cakes were stacked up with pieces of bacon strips in between, and topped off with creamy blueberry ripple ice cream. The food overall was tasty and good value for money as well, especially if you opt for the bottomless brunch. Service was also efficient, and they made sure that my bellini was always replenished…
There is also live piano music on Friday nights, and Saturday brunch and evenings, which is always a nice touch.
A place to consider if you’re looking for brunch options, and I would recommend making a reservation as they do get booked up, especially on weekends.
Check out my blog for the full post with photos x

in the HSBC building they managed to create a pub like situation. Had mussels, were excellent. Wine was perfect, but winelist is rather pricy. Service top.

Amazing tuna tartare. I had the soft-​shell crab eggs Benedict which was the best I have ever tasted. Those eggs thou … The yolk was a deep orange I think the chicken literally just laid it in the kitchen. The bottomless bellinis kept coming and the service was perfect. Open seating restaurant in the corner of the main lobby of the building which gives it a unique feel. I came here because I heard the chef had previously worked at the Ivy club and his food is phenom. I was not disappointed! Absolutely worth the visit. Perfectly presented and expertly served. Good job!

After booking this restaurant for my boyfriend’s birthday, I was expecting One Canada Square bar and restaurant to really be something special. All the reviews say it is an amazing place and so I was really disappointed when it didn’t live up to my expectations.
I didn’t get the wow factor when my starter arrived. In fact, I had the honey roast kiln salmon to start and it was far too overpowering. Because the fish was so strong I could’nt taste anything else on the plate which were quite delicate flavours.
The main course didn’t have the taste sensation I was hoping for. Apparently it was supposed to be a fillet of sea bass and I had to pick a few bones out. My boyfriend even found a hair in his main course! Gross! As my boyfriend is polite he didn’t want to kick up a fuss about it and as it was his as special day, I didn’t want to make a fuss either.
I ordered cheesecake for dessert but was told I could’nt even have that as they had run out, after battling with my rock hard meringue we asked for the bill which took ages to come and only arrives after we asked a second time.
On top of all this I was charged £45 for service charge and tip!
I would definitely not recommend this restaurant to anybody and I will not be coming back here again.

All I have to say is — get the lobster! You won’t be disappointed!
I probably should try something else here at some point… but…I absolutely LOVE the lobster. It is cooked to perfection here!

I can’t even review this page without thinking about that amazing dessert, I was MIND.BLOWN. A green tea and walnut sponge with caramel sauce, peanut ice cream and pistachio brittle. The trick to get the most intense cake was blend the tea leaves AND matcha powder together, this was paired with a slightly burnt caramel sauce and a super sweet peanut ice cream. But eaten together, the balance was JUST right, right amount of tea intensity, bittersweetness and crunch! The brittle was not sticky to the teeth and it was so so so good. I WANT ANOTHER ONE NOW. I DON’T CARE IM WRITING THIS IN THE MORNING. NOW.
Right from when we say down to when we left, the service was impeccable and faultless. Our waiter was knowledgeable and attentive, with a dash of humorous sarcasm! Apparently being the difficult customers we were, we asked about the whole menu, but you know, for the benefit of Unilocal obviously! My fellow diners opted to get the soft boiled gulls egg and the dramatics were great, it came in a gulls nest hidden under straw! It was a bit finicky though– shell to take off and wasn’t as runny as they’d like — also they brought out 4 eggs but then stated that the price was per egg, which was a bit weird. But I guess they were clear about that! Saying that though, it tasted amazing, or so I was told.
Then the mains, gosh the beef cheek I had was beautiful, soft and rich and just the right amount of food on a plate (along with a salad side) It was a beautiful plate of dish and I was recommended a glass of red which paired really nicely! I think it was the Morgan! Aside from one of us, most of us opted for beef from steak to steak tartare and they were lovely enough to do a mains portion of steak tartare for my friend. Unfortunately the steak wasn’t as great as the boys expected– steak was wonderfully big but that was it’s downfall, it wasn’t soft enough! And one of my diners had the market fish which was the Dover sole in a Beurre blanc sauce and it was massive. The mains alone are well worth the 30% off!
So ups and downs, and I wish I could give it 4,5 stars because aside from the minor steak fiasco, the food was beautiful, the service faultless even when they knew that we were not full paying diners! With drinks and everything, it wasn’t cheap and it’s something for payday for sure– 5 of us came to about £40+ a head…

Quality place!
Nestled inside Canada Square is this lovely, classic bar/​restaurant.
I organised a chat & chew session for my friends here and this place did not disappoint.
The venue is not huge, in fact it is built up — literally. There is the ground floor, split as a dining restaurant and the bar. It works. There is a definite demarcation here. We didn’t look around in the ground floor restaurant much but there was a pianist entertaining patrons during our visit. Nice. The music was in the background — no disruption to your conversation. Other venues might want to take note of that.
As a note, if you are afraid of ascending/​descending open stairs do not come here because the impeccably clean toilets are on the second level and even though the stairs are a gorgeous design, it is easy to see how some would be a little nervous on them.
On this second level is another restaurant. Seemingly for those more private events but equally as gorgeous and well designed.
The host/​hostess are welcoming on arrival, bar staff mixes some tasty & attractive looking concotions. We indulged primarily on the Six at Six Cocktails and the small plates — delish. I had the shrimp & scallop sliders which includes fries — tasty but not really seeing the justification of £12 for these. My friends had the Veal Meatballs, Squid & Pasta dishes. All good.
Service is really good here — attentive without being intrusive.
Also, water was served to us in the cutest crystal glasses — without us even asking for it. Another nice touch.
The only thing preventing a five star review is that they do not take bookings for the bar area, shame because it isn’t a large area and does get busy — more during the week than weekend.
This place is a winner!

Ordered: Scallop and Kimchee burger, and Cronuts amongst others
Price: £17 Scallop Burger, £5 Cronut
Review: TERRIBLE CRONUT. DO NOT ORDER. Scallop Burger — hmmm. interesting combination, I was neither impressed, nor turned away. I think I will come back if I am feeling lavish. But I think I will stick to my favourite brunch place down the road near Credit Suisse. A bit over priced and the space is small (I know it is in a small space!), but the bar in the evening… give that a shot!