The successful regeneration of London Docklands has brought about a new and popular commercial centre in Canary Wharf and its environs. Good restaurants now abound and the latest to open, Battery, is one of the best in the area.

The Venue
If there was any doubt about the success of the regeneration of the Docklands, those fears have been dispelled. Today it is thriving and likely to remain so. It may be a jungle of brick and concrete with very little greenery but Docklands is here to stay, and with it come more restaurants to sustain an ever-growing demand. The Inc Group of restaurants has already transformed the eating and drinking habits of Greenwich and the O2 Centre. It is now also making its presence felt in Docklands with Battery.

However, you have to know where you are going if you want to find Battery. It’s on the former site of Ubon, sister restaurant to the central London branches of the Japanese Nobu restaurants. Westferry Circus runs past the Thames near Canary Wharf and Battery is up a flight of steps and situated within the same building as the Virgin Active health club. The decor is elegance personified. Windows on three sides make the most of the view from a beautifully appointed room with green pillars matching the light green chairs. Tables are well spaced, with fine linen cloths and napkins, the best china, glassware and cutlery. The room exudes a feeling of luxury that bodes well for the cuisine.

The Atmosphere
Not really a place for the passing trade that many of the other restaurants are used to in bustling Canada Square, the main Canary Wharf building, Battery nevertheless boasts what must be one of the best views in London. Perched on the fourth floor above a bend in the river that affords distant sightings of the London Eye and The Gherkin, the room is just so well placed that you’re bound to fall in love with the area at a glance. Dining at Battery whilst surveying the river and watching the Thames Clipper boats going back and forth is somehow soothing to the soul.

The Food
Sustainability is the watchword here along with sourcing of the best ingredients. Originality is also there right from the starters (£8.50 - £14) which include Dorset crab with creme fraiche and avocado, Spanish ham, beef carpaccio with blue cheese and walnuts, mackerel with Bayonne ham, rabbit terrine with foie gras and bramble apples, beetroot with goat’s curd and liquorice, squid with salt and pepper, and a ravioli of pig’s cheek with celeriac, passion fruit and sweet sage, among other good things. Main meat courses (£26 - £34) cover sirloin of beef with foie gras and caramelised onions, lamb with olives, anchovies and tomato, corn-fed duck with butternut squash and squab pigeon with parsnips, chicory and citrus fruit. Fish (£24 - £27) is well represented by sole with brown shrimp and nut brown butter, sea bass with artichokes and Scottish langoustine, and monkfish with veal belly, apricots and the Moroccan flavour of harissa sauce.

Obviously this is fine dining at the high end of the market, a fact that is reflected in the prices. However, there is also a set lunch menu at £28 for three courses, as well as a tempting tasting menu, a selection of dishes from the main menu designed for diners to sample and share a number of dishes with their guests. Here the starters are priced at £4.50 to £7 whilst the main courses are from £12 to £14. The appearance of these dishes is superb. The mackerel comes as two tiny steaks with the ham and a nicely piquant vinaigrette dressing. The crab with creme fraiche and avocado has a really fresh taste of the sea and the curls of beetroot surrounded by the goat’s curd are incredibly appetising – it’s hard to believe that a modest vegetable could taste as good as this. Perhaps best of all is the squid, a heap of minuscule, soft and tender squid rings breaking out of their lightly battered coats to get at the squid ink aioli. They are just a divine dream of a dish – miles away from the tough, chewy elastic bands in greasy batter you sometimes find at other restaurants.

The main courses also do not disappoint. The cod with a puree of artichokes is the whitest, flakiest fish you could wish to enjoy, whilst the lamb rump, hearty chunks of the meat done to a well-timed pinkish turn, have the full flavour of lamb that has lately become a distant memory. It is served with purees of courgettes, olives and anchovies in much the same way that a painter might decorate a canvas, daubs and splashes of colour in a masterpiece of presentation.

Puddings (£9 - £15) offer chocolate fondant, a Thai-inspired panna cotta, warm prune and Amaretto frangipane, a souffle with passion fruit, ice creams served in cones, and an Elvis peanut butter parfait with bananas and strawberry jellies. For two diners the apple tarte tatin (£15) is ideal. This is the upside-down dessert of puff pastry with caramelised apples which is flipped over after baking. Served with cinnamon ice cream it’s a real winter warmer of a pudding, soft, yielding, sticky and delicious, best possible finish to an extraordinarily outstanding meal.

The Drink
As befits a restaurant of this class, Battery has an exceptional wine list boasting some 140 bottles. They are priced to suit every pocket and wallet and represent most parts of the wine world, including France, Italy, Spain and the New World. Bottles are priced from under £20 rising through the hundreds and even thousands (for example it’s £3,740 for the Screaming Eagle 1998 from the California Napa Valley). Some of the wines are available by the glass and the Spanish Terrassa Viura white, 2008 (£5 a glass, £19 for the bottle) is perfectly acceptable and very drinkable, as is the Sicilian Nero d’Avola red, 2008 at the same prices. You have a very wide choice and can order according to your budget. A list of classic cocktails at £9.50 also offers more local names such as the West Ferry (scotch, vermouth and cherry brandy), the Broker’s Martini (lemon vodka, fresh mint and watermelon syrup) and The Clipper (coconut rum with pistachio, lychee, mango juice and cream). Teas, coffees and infusions (£4.50) complete the feast with excellent petits fours.

The Last Word
Battery deserves a long life and it sets new standards not only for Docklands but also for the whole of London itself. It is difficult not to recommend it too highly and it is deserving of at least ten stars.

venue information venue map view london review user reviews (3) image gallery (1)