We went for our dinner at Canvas with much trepidation, as we had heard some negative reviews about the service and quality. I even asked Husband if I should cancel my reservation. However, he advised that we should see for ourselves before making any judgement calls.

I am so glad we went! Canvas exceeded our expectations in many positive and pleasant ways.

A slightly faulty sliding door leads you to a flight of stairs, past sheer curtains, to the basement level restaurant. When you make your way to the bottom of the stairs, curious and not quite knowing what to expect; that’s when the ravishing interiors are revealed.

The interior design of Canvas is an eclectic mix of larger-than-life installations, neat and comfortable furniture, sculptural lighting and ambient music, in an almost theatrical composition.

There are tables of two and four configurations, and one very beautiful round table with candelabras, which can be booked for a large party for a celebratory evening.

For our evening, we chose a Bookatable offer of 3 courses and a Bellini for £25.

While we got ourselves settled in our plush and immaculate chairs, the bellinis arrived promptly with a smile.

For our starters, we both settled on the Leek and Potato soup. It came with a perfectly poached egg and a swirl of truffle oil. As soon as the warm bowls were placed in front of us, we could smell the creamy, comforting, delicious green soup with garlicky flavour notes. It had a delicate taste and the poached egg was a welcome addition – an idea that I will incorporate for my future soup accompaniments. Husband also thought it was perfectly blended and the poached egg added a luxurious savoury element to it. Unfortunately, the pictures below are not a good indicator of this dish, but please take my word for it- it was delicious!

We both also chose the Beef Cheek Bourguignon, for our mains. It came with a side of Vichy carrots and Pomme Purée. This dish was absolutely sensational! The meat was rich and gamey, fell apart nicely with the  delicate touch of the fork and completely melted in our mouths. The rich, deep juices of the beef oozed perfectly into the creamy mashed potato underneath, soaking all the lovely flavours. It was a perfectly accomplished and decadent dish.

Not wishing to imitate the Husband for the third time, I decided to switch my last course choice to the cheese platter from my original choice of Chocolate Brownie with Vanilla ice-cream. I definitely regretted this last minute change of mind as my cheese platter was the least impressive of all three courses, and I didn’t like the fact that it came with bread instead of crackers. Nevertheless,  there was some good selection of cheeses, although tiny portions!

Husband, true to his word, ordered the Chocolate Brownie and this was definitely the better choice of the evening. The composition of the brownie was more cakey that fudgy (preferred by Husband), and the ice-cream was a good balance to the brownie – both in terms of taste and texture.

Musings

Overall, we were hugely impressed with Canvas. We had read a few negative reviews, but would urge fellow foodies to brush aside those doubts and give this place a chance. The Bookatable offer makes it a great value for money. Some of the a la carte dishes arriving at tables around us looked superb as well and well worth trying out.

Our date night turned out perfect thanks to Canvas!  I only wish they would fix the sliding door!