AMERIGO VESPUCCI, CANARY WHARF

Every winter I turn into a very keen ice skater, I am not particularly talented but I can make it round and round the rink without falling over (touch wood) and I find it a lot of fun. Arabella and I went to the Natural History Museum rink with friends, then Pascal, Arabella and I always go to Somerset House and The Delaunay as our Christmas tradition. Finally last night Pascal and I went to the Canary Wharf ice rink for the first time as it has a "skate path". In fairness, it was a hell of a lot smaller than I was expecting, but it definitely added some excitement to the skating experience. 

I remembered eating in an incredible Italian over in the Canary Wharf area 5 years ago and luckily managed to get a table at late notice (Canary Wharf is wonderfully peaceful at weekends - a great place for Christmas shopping)!

Amerigo Vespucci is one of the longest established restaurants in Canary Wharf and has the main restaurant area, a private dining area, as well as terraces with fantastic views of the docks and it is next to the water.

The menu is vast (anti pasti, pasta for starter and main, meat, fish) and I wanted several different dishes but I also didn't want to end the meal by exploding so I had to restrain myself!

I started off with some marinated olives as a pre-dinner snack.

I was tempted to have lasagna for starter and then steak with a blue cheese sauce for main but I reined it in and instead chose crostini di funghi selvatici e caprino which was wild mushrooms, pan fried with fresh garlic, served with crisp ciabatta bread, topped with creamy goats cheese and grilled with grated Parmesan cheese. What a great choice!

It was just as described and so tasty - a great selection of mushrooms and plenty of cheese - right up my street. 

Pascal was also equally impressed by his starter. He ordered tortellini con mozzarella, pomodorini e basilica which was parcels of pasta filled with ricotta cheese and spinach, served with a light butter sauce seasoned with fresh basil, ripe cherry tomatoes and chopped mozzarella cheese. He claimed it was one of the best pasta dishes he has ever had.

For mains I chose the lasagna alla Siciliana which is fresh homemade Sicilian lasagna made with salami, garden peas, ham, mozzarella, and laced with tomato and chopped Parmesan. 

This was good however it needed some seasoning and extra Parmesan and then was absolutely perfect - it made me realise that lasagna is really one of my favourite foods.

Pascal went for scalloppa alla bolognese which was veal escalope, pan fried, and topped with Palma ham, mozzarella cheese, seasoned with garlic, fresh oregano, laced with sliced asparagus and tomato.

Even though he was expecting something bigger and for the veal to be in breadcrumbs, he raved about his meal and could have eaten it all over again, he said all the ingredients were so fresh and flavoursome.

As a side we ordered a rocket and Parmesan salad, our new favourite, which was yum.

The pudding menu looked good but we were fit to burst unfortunately. It was quite a trek home but the journey had been worth it. If you are ever in Canary Wharf, I would recommend this place, the service was delightful, incredibly friendly, the food highly commendable, it is very reasonably priced and I expect it is a perfect place for a lazy lunch in the summer, I look forward to coming back.

Amerigo Vespucci

25 Cabot Square,
Makenzie Walk
Canary Wharf
London 
E14 4QA
Tel: 020 7513 0288