Weekly Review: Marceline
Another big space with big food in Canary Wharf
Quick hit: NY-accented French bistro offering big, reliable flavours.
Details: Booking advised. Canary Wharf. £££.
Restaurant website. More on Instagram.
Find it on Google Maps. 5 Water St, London E14 5GX
Marceline is billed as a “floating French brasserie.”
And it is literally afloat in the new, mostly residential Wood Wharf section of Canary Wharf. (Sadly, the dessert list did not feature île flottante, which seems like a missed opportunity.)
Consultant Chef Rob Aikens seems to be the driving force behind Marceline. The brother of Tom Aikens, he trained at La Gavroche before spending 30 years working in New York and Washington.
He has applied that range of experiences to Marceline, which delivers its take on French with an American inflection.
The cocktail list features a “two sip martini” and an “absinthe sour.” The a la carte menu finds room for steak tartare and escargot, but also shrimp cocktail and “cheeseburger à l’americaine.”
Whatever you think of the bilingual nature of the menu, here’s one thing that Marceline gets 100% right: Brunch.
British people (and restaurants) seem to regard brunch simply as breakfast, but a bit later — little more than an overslept handover cure. In a country where culinary wrongness still occasionally resurfaces, this is one of the great crimes of British menu writing. Marceline understands that a Brunch menu should include both breakfast and lunch options, and delivers accordingly. There are Eggs Benedict and Rotisserie Chicken. French Toast and Steak Frites. If I awarded stars in my reviews, Marceline would get a bonus star just for this.
The decor and atmosphere pick up the New York vibe, as well. The space is huge. Bold. Over the top. New York sized. If ever full, it would buzz, big-time.
I met a friend for lunch on a recent Friday, only two weeks after Marceline opened. It was a pleasant sunny day, and we were ready to settle in for a couple of hours.
We began with a superb batch of oysters. Sadly, our waiter wasn’t sure precisely where they were from. “Scotland” was the best we could get. But they were among the best and freshest I’ve tasted recently.
For starters, it was the aforementioned escargot for me and a promising sounding warm cheese soufflé for my friend. The snails were classic. Drowned in garlic and butter with plenty of bread for sopping. Very good. The soufflé was next level. Tangy from Gruyère cream and rich with a hint of truffle, it was the highlight of our lunch.
For mains, we went for the rotisserie chicken and the “sugar pit bacon chop.” The chicken was great, with an incredibly rich chicken jus. The chop was sadly over salted and nearer to slab of bacon than proper chop. A conceptual and executional failure.
For dessert, the waiter steered us towards an option called “chocolate” and really sold it by telling us that it was moulded “into the shape of a slug.” So I ordered profiteroles while my friend went for creme caramel. Both were excellent. A solid ending, minus the slug.
Reflecting on the way home, it occurred to me that Marceline may be a little too American. Sweetness pervaded. There was a lot of salt. The food was good, but may have been a tiny bit heavy handed. There were some service issues, but we’ll write those off to newness.
Marceline also begs comparison with Henri, which I reviewed last week. Henri was more refined, cleverer, and much more French. Marceline was more fun, more gluttonous, and much larger.
A few weeks ago, I made the ostentatious claim that “Canary Wharf is cool. A place to go and eat.” And I argued that Roe was so good that it was worth a special trip to Canary Wharf to eat there.
Marceline isn’t as good as Roe. And it doesn’t merit a special trip to Canary Wharf. But it is a strong addition to the Wharf’s dining scene.
If you are looking for a place to host a colleague, client, or friend who happens to be in the Wharf, it’s a solid choice. Good food. Pleasant atmosphere. Comfortable. Good wine. Not too expensive. That’s especially true if you’re looking for a good place for breakfast or brunch, which the Wharf still sorely lacks.
Thanks so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed this review. I hope you’ll subscribe if you haven’t already, and please let me know if you make it to Marceline.