Expectations for Canal are ludicrously, toweringly, almost worryingly, high.
That’s what happens when your team already runs one of London’s best restaurants; distinguished sausage slingers of Shoreditch, Bistro Freddie. They’re also behind those charming playboys of the seasonal small plates scene; Crispin, Bar Crispin and Crispin at Studio Voltaire in Clapham. Does Canal match their majesty? Yes. Well, almost.
It is like taking an entire Sicilian beach into your mouth, minus the sand
The glossy riverside retreat sits pretty on a new-build chunk of yet-to-be battered brickwork by the Grand Union Canal. There’s a waterfront terrace outside with views of wall-to-wall west London graffiti and inside is all glossy chrome tables and putty-coloured plaster walls, with bathrooms that seem lifted directly from a louche 1960s architect's Barbican bolt-hole. The staff too, may be the best dressed in London, in their baggy denim slacks and matching fishing gilets designed especially by counter-cultural menswear titan and eternal cool guy Nicholas Daley.
The chef too, has everything going for him. New York-born Adrian Hernandez Farina has the kind of CV that most cooks would chop off a finger for. Here in London he’s done stints at Humo, Luca, Hawksmoor, Smokestak and Chiltern Firehouse, while he’s also served time at the irreproachable triple-Michelin starred French Laundry in California.
Some dishes reach the giddy heights of Bistro Freddie. Mangalitza sausage is juicy and pert, with a satisfying snap on the skin and draped with fronds of pickled chilli and served with a splodge of apricot brown sauce - a beau monde, Notting Hill version of HP. Bream crudo with moody cherries is also a winner, the fleshy slabs of fish swirled into the gothic bleed of the fruit and perked up by a smattering of dill. Also great; honeydew melon slices, simply accessorised with a light layer of speck and lifted further to the heavens with a dusting of lemon rind and sea salt. It is like taking an entire Sicilian beach into your mouth, minus the sand.
Two slices of crab toast however were a little too heavy on the bread and the delicate crab itself needed much more salt. Meanwhile, the dish we’d heard hyped to high heavens before arriving – chicken in a charred-corn sauce with summer girolles – was disappointingly small for a main (especially when we’d seen the hearty size of the dish in pictures from launch week), and the meat itself verging on dry. These however, seem like easy to iron out issues. Canal is basically a great restaurant, it just needs to remember to act like one.
The vibe A waterside bistro for Westbourne Park’s fooderati.
The food Good-looking Euro sharing plates full of seasonal goodies; peaches, cherries, summer tomatoes.
The drink Lots of great wine, including collabs from sister restaurant Crispin. When it comes to cocktails, which are made in collaboration with A Bar with Shapes for a Name, ignore the overly sweet raspberry gimlet and go for the savoury olive oil negroni.
Time Out tip You’re only a very, very short walk from one of London’s best pubs; Irish boozer Angie’s. Go for a post-dinner Guinness.