Blacklock, Canary Wharf

It was time to test the roast dinner matricks, and head to Blacklock in Canary Wharf.

Yeah, I know I’ve reviewed Blacklock before. Yep, Blacklock in Shoreditch, Blacklock in Soho, Blacklock in Covent Garden and now Blacklock in Canary Wharf.

I deserve it after this year.

Shite roast dinner from The Lock Tavern.  Don't worry...not Blacklock.
Shite roast dinner from The Lock Tavern. Don’t worry…not Blacklock.
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Seriously.

I really fucking deserve Blacklock in my life after what I’ve gone through this year.

It’s not been a year full of unbridled joy in the roast dinner world.

Before Blacklock, an average rating of 6.90 – the second worst year since I started, yet with an average price of £25.08 – up 10% from 2023, despite inflation supposedly under control.

Testing The Matricks

You may have noticed that I am mis-spelling matricks, but this is because I’ve decided to remove both the letter X and the letter Z from the alphabet, the former because a white supremacist has taken it over, the latter because it now belongs to Putin and his gulag of genocidal criminals. We don’t have a swastika in the alphabet, so I’m also banning these letters henceforth.

Apologies to anyone called Zoe, but you are now called Chloe. Likewise Xavier is Javier – I’m only changing the spelling to how it is phonetically, so you shouldn’t worry too much. Zak…best I can come up with is Gak, so maybe we need to rethink that.

And, finally this also means those stupid American spellings like optimize and criticize really are spelt correctly now. Though whether I get to criticise anything to do with Blacklock in Canary Wharf is doubtful.

Let’s try anyway.

The approach to Blacklock, Canary Wharf
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It’s hidden away – as unpretentious as you’d anticipate, for Blacklock don’t do glamour. Inside is as you’d predict from the other Blacklocks, that classical look with dark green leather upholstery, solid wood, dark painted walls – and fairly dimly lit.

They manage to replicate the vibe well across their sites.

We Have A Glitch In The Matricks

Service wasn’t quite as joyful as in previous roasts in both Soho and Shoreditch – though always there when we needed something, there wasn’t the effusive welcome or the charm I’ve had in the past, but also maybe we just got lucky in the past. A little less of the performative edge, and it did take quite a while to take a drinks order.

Nearly a criticism…nearly. But still much better service than most places I’ve reviewed this year.

Roast dinner menu at Blacklock, Canary Wharf
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You likely know the score here (and I don’t just mean a minimum of 8.00 out of 10), but in case you don’t – beef rump at £25.00, leg of lamb at £24.00, pork loin at £23.00, cauliflower “chop” at £17.00 or the all-in for £27.00.

My father’s friend (who somehow doesn’t get hangovers) wanted the all-in, and nobody else did, so I did the honourable thing and ordered it with him.

There was a bit in me that worried about going to Blacklock again. Neither Blacklock Soho or Covent Garden matched the astonishing initial encounter at Shoreditch – the former gave us a notably burnt Yorkshire pudding, the latter watery gravy and off-ish service.

Maybe Blacklock peaked pre-covid and was only very good now, maybe they are living on past glories – plenty of restaurants do. And I swear quality of food and service at restaurants has gone downhill this year, not just in roast dinners.

Even scarier – my father’s friend, who was on our table, has high standards – and whereas I will write a blog if something goes wrong, he will be a little more, erm, assertive in requiring a real-time resolution, shall we say.

The Matricks Brings Us Roasts Tonight

The all-in for two at Blacklock
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Starting with the carrots, which were mostly orange, sliced diagonally and nicely roasted. A hint of smokiness too – these were good. Though there was one yellow carrot which was tough…almost a complaint…almost.

The cabbage wasn’t especially stand-out, but it complimented the gravy well, and was soft.

Ensuing was the cauliflower cheese, which we paid separately for. I didn’t get any of the top layer, so perhaps my happening (desperately trying not to use words with newly-banned letters) is only second-best to others, but I thought it perhaps lacking the cheese-power of previous versions. Creamy and somewhat cheesy, but not the wow I’ve had before.

The roast potatoes were banging. Phew. Crispy edges not always evident but more or less towards crispiness, but they were properly fluffy inside, and good quality spuds too.

There’d be an outcry if Blacklock started doing smaller yorkies – hell, the Daily Mail would probably scream at them for serving “woke yorkies”. But I wonder if the fluffier nature of smaller yorkies would improve Blacklock’s roast dinners further. This large Yorkshire pudding was respectable, quite soft and fluffy on the bottom, though a bit slightly-aged crispy to top.

The Meatricks…Gosh These Headings Are Lamb This Week. Actually Meant To Write Lame, Not Lamb.

I don’t recall having any of the beef, unless it tasted of lamb – in which case the beef was heartily lamb-ish. But I was happy eschewing the beef to my fellow all-in accomplice, from previous intimacy happenings adventures, I think Blacklock are better at lamb and pork, than beef.

As I mentioned, the lamb was rather hearty but also rare and tender.

The star of the whole show, for my tastes, was the pork which was utterly soft and tender – as close to melt in your mouth as pork loin can come, and boy can I easily make pork loin very un-tender if I cook it. Some smokiness on one side, gluttonous fat on another side…oh my.

Finally, the gravy, which was as addictive as you might suppose from a Blacklock. Hearty, a tad salty, quite thick, quite dreamy – one of the best gravies of the year.

Roast potato close-up
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Of course that wasn’t really final.

You know, I don’t miss Twitter.

Not in the slightest. That I moved to Threads/BlueSky before The Guardian did, surely makes me even more woke…hang on…I meant to write about the dessert.

Of course I had the cheesecake – though worth noting that they also had a bread and butter pudding on the menu. Worth noting…but I’m only there for the cheesecake. In fact, I’ve often walked past the various Blacklock restaurants and wondered if they’d let me take some cheesecake home with me.

Blacklock's amazing cheesecake with cherries on top.
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Aha. It is still the best dessert in London, in my opinion, but if you are reading my blog then my opinion is the most important in the world, more important than your opinion, and even more important than Elon Musk’s opinion. Gosh I cannot wait for him to enjoy his free speech echo chamber with all his fellow far-right turds.

It’s the white chocolate curls which just make this cheesecake stunning, but assimilated with the creamy cheese, the biscuit and with cherries on the top. Oh. I was totally in heaven.

Blacklock in Canary Wharf

Clearly, the matricks isn’t broken. Why was I even worrying?

Did I mention that the wine was superb? We shared a bottle of Malbec, which was around £68.00 and was just astonishingly good wine – at least for my fairly Neanderthal standards. I also enjoyed Blacklock’s IPA – which is rather refreshing.

Ahhhh all the superlatives, but was it perfect? Not quite. I’m being picky, but the yorkie was respectable – not superb, I’m sure the gravy used to be even better, the cauliflower cheese wasn’t quite as outstanding as previous, and service didn’t quite have the pizazz (how many banned letters in one word, but fuck it, I really like the word “pizazz”) that I’ve had before.

But the problem is, I’m comparing it to Blacklock Shoreditch, as opposed to comparing it to all the other 309 roast dinners, almost all of which were nowhere near as good as Blacklock in Canary Wharf.

Best dessert in London, addictive gravy, pork loin that is illegally tender, banging roasties…so much to love here.

Roast dinner at Blacklock.  Same photo as earlier.  Not sure why.
© Copyright – Roast Dinners In London 2024

Scores around the table were a slightly low 8.20 from my father, a 9.00 from my mother, a 9.10 from my father’s friend with the high standards, and a 9.30 from my sister, the regular accomplice.

If I was including wine and dessert in the score, then it would be in the 9’s, but I feel an 8.71 out of 10 is the score for me. Not actually the best roast dinner of 2024 – that still stands with Sussex Bar & Restaurant, but an utterly delightful afternoon.

I note Blacklock have recently accepted investment from the British Growth Fund, so with a bit of luck there will be more Blacklock reviews in the years to come. I’ve still yet to review Blacklock City though…maybe in a couple of years.

I’ll be back in a week. No definite plan yet, though I have to be in the office on Monday, so definitely no Sunday Funday, alas.

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Summary:

Blacklock, Canary Wharf

Station: Poplar

Tube Lines: DLR, Elizabeth, Jubilee

Fare Zone: Zone 2

Price: £27.00

Rating: 8.71

Get Booking

https://theblacklock.com/restaurants/canary-wharf/

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Loved & Loathed

Loved: Best dessert in London, addictive gravy, pork loin that is illegally tender, banging roasties...so much to love here.

Loathed: I'm being picky, but the yorkie was respectable - not superb, I'm sure the gravy used to be even better, the cauliflower cheese wasn't quite as outstanding as previous, and service didn't quite have the pizazz that I've had before.

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