Review: dion champagne bar

By Giles Broadbent on June 5, 2008 5:02 PM |

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By Raksha Malde-Kara Dion restaurant in Canary Wharf not only claims to have the longest quality champagne list in London but has now added a host of culinary delights to its menu.

The champagne list is as thick as a telephone directory and boasts the finest champagne brands, including a vintage bottle of Krug Collection Magnum 1979 at £1,500 and even a nebuchadnezzar at £1,700.

Affordable so far? This is the ideal place to splash the cash on someone you want to impress.

The interior is uber stylish, with a nod to modern-minamalist, and atmospheric due to the soft, moody lighting.

Surprisingly, the food menu won’t give your account manager a coronary – starters range from the ubiquitous soup of the day (£5.95) to the more specialist pan seared diver scallops with asparagus (£8.95), and foie gras terrine with homemade toasted brioche (£9.95).

For mains (which start at £8.95), restaurant manager Anthony Arumugam recommended the steak. The menu states the cuts which feature rib-eye, sirloin, fillet and prime rib (for two if sharing), are from the finest selection of Irish meats, which have been matured for 28 days.

Having taken Anthony’s recommendation on board, I opted for the roasted lamb gigot steak with red wine lentils and rosemary. Why? Because I didn’t want to follow the herd (sorry, couldn’t resist the pun). My companian, however, went for the fillet, which was thick, tender and cooked to perfection.

Both mains were served with sides of hand-cut chunky chips (crispy), humitas (sweet and smooth) and seasonal veg (crisp).

We opted for a mid-price wine, the Cantena Malbec, Mendoza 2005 (£35) to accompany our meal but the comprehensive list featured tasty little numbers from a reasonably priced £16.

Our final indulgence – well aside from the double espresso and port that followed – was dessert. We both plumped for the rhubarb crumble with custard (£4.95), served in golf-ball sized pots.