Bokan | Wallpaper*

A restaurant sitting area with a white sofa, various sized chairs, a natural wood finished table, large windows and pendant lights.

(Image credit: TBC)

Bokan, the new sky-level restaurant and bar at the Canary Wharf Novotel, is a sharp lesson in not paying heed to first impressions. If you can get beyond the hotel’s location on a soulless, crane-heavy sweep of Canary Wharf and the lift potentially lifted from a 1980s office block, you’re on to a winner – because, even if there were nothing else, there is 'that view’.

Set over three levels on the 37–-39th floors (making it higher than any restaurant at The Shard), the space, unsurprisingly, offers up jaw-dropping views across London from just about every angle (including the toilets).

Quite frankly, cheese on toast would have been a satisfactory accompaniment to this, but the fare is considerably more sophisticated. The restaurant’s kitchen is headed up by Aurelie Altemaire, the talented former head chef at the Michelin-starred L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, and among the dusts and glazes and crisps and coulis, there are some nicely executed modern European dishes peppered with Asian influences – think grass-fed lamb cutlets with charred aubergine and chimichurri and whole lobster with green mango salad and jasmine sauce.

Cocktails, meanwhile, are whipped up by Danilo Tersigni (previously of Mayfair gin parlour Mr Fogg’s). Referencing the hotel’s dockside location and its history as a trading hub, offerings come with monikers like Blackwall Frigate, Bowsprit and East Indiaman and ingredients such as rum, brandy, tea, fruit and spices. Perfect for enjoying on the all-weather roof terrace.

A restaurant sitting area with a white sofa, different coloured cushions, different shaped chairs, round coffee tables, a patterned rug, pendant lights and large windows.

A restaurant bar area with a wooden counter, round wooden bar chairs, a wood and glass liquor cabinet, wooden hanging glass shelves and an industrial themed roof.

A restaurant with decorated wooden tables, brown covered chairs, leather benches, a patterned rug, pendant lights and large windows.

A rooftop sitting area with long wooden tables, round chairs, leather benches and a glass railing overlooking the city.

A bar area with a shiny wooden counter, leather bar chairs, orange covered chairs, round coffee tables, pendant lights and large windows.

ADDRESS

40 Marsh Wall

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Anne Soward joined the Wallpaper* team as Production Editor back in 2005, fresh from a three-year stint working in Sydney at Vogue Entertaining & Travel. She prepares all content for print to ensure every story adheres to Wallpaper’s superlative editorial standards. When not dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s, she dreams about real estate.