News, Reviews, West

Darcie & May Green – The Floating Restaurant & Bar

Located slap bang on the Grand Union Canal, you practically trip over Darcie & May upon exiting Paddington Station.

Named after family members, in keeping with the rest of the Green team, May is the barge bar where you can expect flat whites and banana bread in the morning before it turns into a full on bar come evening, complete with nine local craft beers on tap and live music if you’re lucky. Whereas Darcie is the dedicated sit-down floating restaurant, serving up their much-loved antipodean menu. Whichever you decide to go for, you won’t be able to miss the boats’ bright, eye-catching exterior, designed by legendary British pop artist, Peter Blake. They won’t be sailing anywhere anytime soon though, the engines were ripped out to make room for the kitchen. A small price to pay we say. The top decks are going to become our go-to for balmy, alfresco drinking this summer, but in the meantime we headed inside and wrapped up in the super soft throws provided on the back of each chair.

We’re big fans of Timmy Green (part of the Nova Food complex in Victoria) and were pleased to see some of our old favourites – we’re looking at you halloumi fries. However, with such an extensive menu covering everything from naughty to nice (in true Aussie style) there’s always plenty to return for. If you’re not sure what to expect, think bright, healthy, fresh Asian-influenced flavours & colours with a good dose of protein in the way of steaks (be it beef, tuna or tofu).

Opting to try some new things this time, we started with their take on a bao. Stuffed with crispy buttermilk fried chicken and smashed cucumber, it’s then drizzled with sriracha & lime mayo. YUM! Lamb chops impressed, you’d be forgiven for thinking they’d fired up a barbie on the deck, all charred and delicious as they were.

Served on pretty pink plates and placed on our marble top table, sashimi grade tuna steak was cooked perfectly rare and served with low carb raw Jerusalem artichoke, fennel and caper salad and vibrant salsa verde. We stole a few chips (dipped in truffle mayo, natch) from our dinner date who’d been seduced by the 28 day dry aged Sirloin supplied by aptly named and fellow Aussie, The Butchery.

Dessert, oh dessert. More pretty plateware, this time with a cheesecake concoction of dreams. Instead of your bog standard slice, here it’s been repurposed into a chocolate ball and stuffed with pieces of mars bar! We don’t know where they get their ideas from but we don’t want those creative juices to stop flowing. The only bathroom is in the bar barge next door, so you’ll have to nip in on your way home. Sooooo you may as well stay for one – ‘for the road’. It’s the perfect set up really.

The drinks menu includes a raspberry sour, an innovative take on an espresso martini, and an array of house made festive cocktails to warm the cockles.

Bringing an authentic slice of Australasia to Paddington Central, Darcie and May Green are a welcome addition to West London’s food and drink scene.

http://www.daisygreenfood.com/

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