'I'm bored, are you free? Lets go for dinner'
Cameron is probably the worst influence on me in the world, and thats really saying something considering I need no convincing to do anything; in fact I'm always the ring leader. We always end up, well, getting ourselves into ridiculous, yet brilliant situations which almost always leaves our bank accounts groaning the next day when the thrill of spending money has worn off... (for at least 20 seconds anyway)
This was one of these evenings.
I replied promptly with 'Of course, so bored, no plans. What did you have in mind?'
He was meeting and old friend in Canary Wharf for drinks so I said I would just meet him there as it is so easy for me. Just pick the place as I haven't the faintest clue about CW apart from thats where bankers make millions, right? (this should have been the first clue that it wasn't going to be a cheap evening)
' Plateau, 8.30 its French, we will be in the bar'
Mmmmmmm french food, pretty irresistible, I changed, donned my coat and headed out into the chilly night and for my good old friend the DLR.
I arrived at Canary Wharf feeling like a midget in a giants land, wiggled my way round to Canada Square and jumped in the lift up to the restaurant. I found Cam and his friend exactly where they said they would be, at the bar with a lovely bottle of red open and slid into a chair.
Surrounded by men in suits, with the most excellent company in front of me, this was exactly what my Wednesday needed.
There are 2 sides to Plateau, the Grill side which is in the bar, noisy and filled with after work diners and then the restaurant. The a la carte menu, large marble tables but still filled with diners. The menus between them are different but also the prices are considerably different. We had opted for the grill but after a mix up and a bit of Toing and Froing, we, obviously because its us, ended up in the restaurant. What we should have done is waited it out for the cheap seats (I say cheap in a loose way and in comparison to the a la carte) but we just relented and followed the host wordlessly into the restaurant.
It really was the loveliest set up with a huge view out over Canary Wharf and huge marble tables of various sizes dotted through out the restaurant. Time to feast our eyes across the menu. I immediately wanted everything. My favourite part about eating out with Cam, apart from his wonderful company is that we have very similar tastes which makes for an excellent sharing partner.
We bummed and ahead over getting starters as well as mains (due to the eye-watering prices) but after a very quick calculation of our bank accounts we decided we just couldn't not and that it would be totally worth it. Plus due to sharing we would essentially be having 4 dishes each, right?
Next we turned to the all important wine, a brief thought crossed us that maybe we should stick to tap water, but it was brief and fleeting and we should the awful idea from our heads.
Sadly we had to ignore all the Burgundy's and Bordeaux's and opted for a little Romanian number. We were pleasantly surprised, it was light and fruity and very drinkable.
We chose our food and sat back and waited...
The starters appeared before us and we stopped and admired them before diving in
Cam had opted for the Duck and Foie Gras ballotine with a quince puree and pickles
Certainly not the most attractive thing we ordered but it tasted divine
I had steered away from my usual meatiness and gone for the buratta with confit shallots and quails eggs. Mainly because I cannot resist either buratta or quails eggs.
This was pretty as a picture, as you can see, so heres a close up..
Ooozing mouthfuls of buratta smeared on the hunks of fresh bread they had brought us, obviously with a thick layer of creamy butter.... mmmmmm butter. The key to all things french.
We swapped half way through and nodded with full mouths at each other.
Next up caused even more silence between us... which is hard to do
I had ordered the lamb cannon with spiced shoulder and saffron cous cous
Which looked achingly good and then the waitress poured a thick velvety jus over the top of it and it just got better.
Inside that samosa was the spiced lamb and I honest to god could have eaten about 100 of those crispy deep fried mouthfuls of flavour.
Im so nice I even shared it with Cam because he just couldn't miss out on it
Not that he has anything to miss out on with his plate of food.
Venison with butternut squash, creamed sprouts and a potato fondant.
His little croquette was also a little nugget of heaven! Clearly these guys know their stuff when it comes to frying. Well they clearly know their stuff when it comes to food!
Again half way through we swapped and I couldn't tell you what was my favourite. We'd even forgotten to drink most of our wine!
Part of the amazing presentation here were the glorious plates. I really really would like a selection of plates like that in my house (instead we have my parents 80s throw backs, which I'm VERY grateful for.... not so much aesthetically though...)
We then sat and finished up the rest of our wine, refusing pudding (mainly because we couldnt afford it) and chatted away whilst the other tables gradually left around us.
As a parting gift our charming waiter brought us some petit fours (there were more than in the picture but we ate them...) and what I loved more than anything about this place is that he didnt continue to bother us. He asked us all the necessary questions, coffee dessert etc, and then left us alone until we finally decided to leave.
The time between the courses was also just to my liking because I never felt rushed. They were never hovering to take our plates. It was the epitome of a long relaxed dinner. Right up my street.
The bill finally arrived and we winced and handed over our cards. Then we thought about the food we had just eaten and already the bill was a distance memory on my easily distracted mind.
I would highly recommend Plateau, everyone needs a little decadence in their lives and if you were searching for a date places to impress someone this would certainly be it! I would be anyone's if they brought me here, actually I'm anyone's if they buy me dinner...
I will conclude with, this was worth every cent and I would do it again tomorrow!! Having said that even if I was down to my last fiver on earth I would probably spend it on food. A girls gotta eat!
You'll find them on the 4th floor above Waitrose at Canada Square. Heres the website if you fancy...
http://www.plateau-restaurant.co.uk
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