Working Lunch: We try the Menu du Jour at Canary Wharf’s glassy staple Plateau

Plateau
Canada Square, E14

WHAT AND WHERE? Plateau is a smart, loosely French restaurant that sits atop the fourth floor of Canada Place, a glass cube filled with office escapees wining and dining their clients during the week. Incredibly, it still overlooks the Canary Wharf ice rink – when is that thing going to close?

WHO? Heading up the kitchen is Frederick Forster, a Raymond Blanc and Gordon Ramsay survivor who cheffed his way to the top of the Ritz before joining the D&D Group in 2015 at Le Pont de La Tour. The group owns Plateau, as well as City stalwarts Coq d’Argent, Fish Market and One Michelin-starred Angler.

WHAT’S THE DEAL? Plenty of corporate diners seemed to be taking advantage of the Menu Du Jour at lunchtime, which is pretty darn reasonable at two courses for £25 and three courses for £28 (not including drinks). Four options for each course is also generous.

Lamb loin at Plateau

ORDER THIS… I went for a tender confit duck leg starter, swimming in ‘supreme’ sauce (from a chicken supreme main), sitting delicately on nutty ratte potatoes and topped with an egg. It was wet, but comforting, like shakshuka or a dog’s nose. In time-honoured tradition, Plateau offers up a mushroom risotto for the vegetarian main (it’s all they deserve). Everyone else will be torn between the roast pollock and lamb rump, but go for the latter. Pink and glazed in a sticky rosemary jus, it’s delectable, rich and draped across couscous, so you shouldn’t be snoozing at your desk.

ROOM FOR DESSERT? Push the boat out with a creme brulee that’s slightly bitter thanks to the inclusion of tonka beans, or play it safe with a rhubarb crumble, with creme anglaise poured at the table in a spiral shape on top.

BUSINESS OR PLEASURE? It’s clearly a business hotspot already, but it’s also surprisingly unstuffy; bright, comfy armchairs soften the all-glass exterior and you can gaze up romantically at HSBC from the garden terrace, a pot-plant haven.

AND ANOTHER THING… One of the private dining rooms looks like a white wedding in a glass box and the other has a Klimt in it. Book the right one.