Cooksister | Food, Travel, Photography

Food, photos & faraway places

  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • About me
    • Contact me
    • Work with me
    • Legal
      • Copyright notice & Disclaimer
      • Disclosure
      • Cookies and Privacy Policy
    • Press and media
    • Cooksister FAQs
  • RECIPES
    • Recipe Index – by course
    • Baking (savoury)
    • Braai/Barbecue
    • Breakfast & brunch
    • Christmas
    • Dessert
    • Drinks
    • Eggs
    • Fish
    • Gluten-free
    • Leftovers
    • Pasta & rice
    • Poultry
    • Pulses
    • Salads
    • Soup
    • South African
    • Starters & light meals
    • Vegan
    • Vegetables
    • Vegetarian
  • RESTAURANTS
    • British Isles restaurants
    • Dubai restaurants
    • France restaurants
    • London restaurants
    • Montenegro restaurants
    • New York restaurants
    • Pop-ups and supperclubs
    • Serbia restaurants
    • Singapore restaurants
    • South Africa restaurants
    • Sweden restaurants
    • Switzerland restaurants
    • USA restaurants
  • TRAVEL
    • All my travel posts
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • Canada
      • Dubai
      • Cruise ships
      • France
      • Germany
      • Greece
      • Grenada
      • Hong Kong
      • Hotel reviews
      • Italy
      • Israel
      • Jersey
      • Mexico
      • Netherlands
      • Norway
      • Portugal
      • Singapore
      • Ski & snow
      • South Africa
      • Spain
      • Sweden
      • Switzerland
      • UK
      • USA
      • Wales
  • PORTFOLIO
    • Freelance writing portfolio
    • Speaking and teaching
    • Photography portfolio
    • Buy my photos
You are here: Home / Restaurants / London restaurants / 1802 @ Museum of London Docklands [CLOSED]

1802 @ Museum of London Docklands [CLOSED]

by Jeanne Horak on December 12, 2007 6 Comments in London restaurants

Do you ever get the feeling you simply don’t have enough stress in your life?

Well, now you can solve that little problem.  All you have to do is decide to organise a surprise party for your husband’s birthday!  Plus then you make sure that the two of you see and socialize with almost ALL of the guests in the weeks before the party, consuming copious amounts of wine, so that your panic about somebody saying the wrong thing and spoiling the surprise is maximised. And then make sure that 20 minutes before you are due to walk through the door of the restaurant and hear people yelling “SURPRISE!!”, your husband and your friend Paul decide that this is a good time to rewire the entire network of computer equipment in your house.  And of course, you can’t say “we have to go, there are people waiting!”.  You just have to stamp your foot till they listen.

Sounds like fun, huh?!

The one thing I didn’t want to stress about was the restaurant – I wanted somewhere I knew and liked, and that was unfussy enough for Nick would like.  It would also be a bonus if it was kid-friendly and not too crazy busy.  I have to say that I did call the Gaucho Grill in the docklands, but they were so uppity with £35 a head set menus for tables of 8+, funny seating times etc. etc. that I gave up almost immediately.  Heaven help you if you plan to eat there with a large family!  And then I remembered 1802. In the interests of full disclosure I will point out that the head chef at 1802 has been a friend of my brother’s since school back in South Africa.  So when my brother came to visit me last year, we went for lunch at 1802 to see what it was that Gustav was doing to earn a living.

1802 is the restaurant and bar (operated by the Searcy’s group) attached to the Museum in Docklands and both are housed in the historic Gwilt sugar warehouses that line West India Quay in London’s docklands.  The name derives from the year that the warehouses were built, and the interior preserves the original brickwork and beautiful timber supports.  The area is divided roughly into a bar area (with wonderful squishy leather sofas) and a dining area.  The attractively backlit bar is very well stocked and very busy on weeknights.  In fact, during our lunch we had a discussion about the volume of draught beer sold there per week and let me assure you, it’s staggering!  I think this rampant popularity as a drinking spot for off-duty Canary Wharf bankers is what makes people dismiss the restaurant:  pop your head round the door on a Thursday night and it just looks like a hundred other packed docklands wine bars.  But, as I have discovered, there is another side.

My first visit was last Spring, on a weekday lunchtime, with brother, sister-in-law and young nephew in tow.  When the room is emptier, you notice the original features and it is actually a rather restful and inviting space.  The menu is largely dictated by the fact that you are in the heart of a historic British area and sticks fairly closely to the Modern British idea.  Seasonal produce treated carefully, reworked classics – you get the picture.  But what sets it apart from many other places doing this, is the amount of love and care that has obviously gone into the sourcing of excellent ingredients, not messing with them too much, and the truly lovely plating of each dish.  Here’s what I had:

 

Cured ham and pecorino starter

 

Sea Trout on crushed JerseyRoyals

 

To start, I had the fantastic air-dried Cumbrian ham and truffled pecorino cheese on roasted cherry tomatoes and balsamic glazed baby onions.  This dish knocked my socks off.  Really. The ham could rival the best that Spain and Italy has to offer and was living proof that all is not lost for regional British specialities.  I have a weakness for truffled cheese and this pecorino was a particularly lovely example.  And of course both the salty meat and cheese worked fantastically well with the sweetness of the roasted tomatoes and glazed onions.  Inspired.  And my main was the beautiful seasonal dish pictured above right:  pan-fried fillet of wild sea trout on crushed marjoram Jersey royals with a white asparagus veloute.  This is exactly the way I like to eat fish.  Just cooked, but with a lovely crispy skin, allowing the natural flavour of the fish to shine.  The marjoram scented Jersey Royal potatoes were the perfect accompaniment and the asparagus veloute tasted of spring without overpowering the fish.

 

 

I didn’t take pictures of everybody’s food, but my brother or his wife must have had the renowned 1802 lamb burger with tzatziki (either that or I went around taking pictures of random strangers’ food – anything is possible!).  The burger itself is more of a slightly flattened lamb meatball than the traditionally flat ‘n flaccid grey rubber that passes for burger patties.  The fact that it is so thick means it can be thoroughly cooked on the outside for the proper burger flavour, but the inside remains pink, lamby and flavourful.  The tzatziki gives the whole thing a slightly Middle-Eastern twist – it really works for me.  And we won’t even start on the stacked chunky chips which were crisp outside, fluffy inside and as fresh as can be.  For dessert, there was no way I was going anywhere except directly for the chocolate creme brulee.  I don’t know whose evil mind thought this up, but bless their cotton socks.  Eating this is like eating solid chocolate that has been thoughtfully pre-melted so as to soften it and spare your mouth the hard work.  I ate with a teensy spoon and ate slower and slower because I never wanted it to finish.  All I might have said was that it needed something a little tart to balance the chocolate, but that did little to detract from the deliciousness of this dessert.  And just to prove 1802’s kid-friendly credentials, here is my adorable nephew tucking into his strawberry ice cream before going to play in the museum’s activity room.

 

Chocolate creme brulee

 

 

It was these warm and fuzzy memories of 1802 that made me decide on it as a suitable venue for Nick’s surprise birthday lunch recently.  In total contrast to the Gaucho Grill, they had no problem with a big table ordering a la carte, they didn’t need a credit card to confirm the booking, and they weren’t fussy about what time we could be seated – all rare attributes in a London restaurant.  To be fair, weekend brunch is not their busy time so they can afford to be a little more relaxed – but it is definitely a winning situation for the customer.  The weather was particularly foul that afternoon – a howling gale channeled into wind tunnels by the Canary Wharf tower blocks and driving rain – but arriving at the restaurant was like arriving at your extremely wealthy friend’s loft apartment.  The warm colours of the wooden floors and ancient brickwork were accented with twinkly Christmas lights and sinking into the leather couches felt like coming home.  I’m sure it didn’t hurt that I know the chef, but I must say that we were treated like royalty from start to finish.  All our friends turned up promptly at 12h30 and as soon as they identified themselves as part of our group our charming waitress Raphaele brought them a champagne cocktail each.  Nick was extremely surprised to find them all there when we arrived 40 mins later, and the scene was set for a long and lazy afternoon of eating and drinking with good friends.

The menu over weekend is a brunch menu as opposed to the full a la carte available on weekdays, but there were still a good 5 or 6 starters and main courses to choose from.  Best of all was the 2 or 3-course special price – a ridiculous £14 for 2 courses or £17 for three.  At that price it would be churlish not to go the whole hog.  But before we even got to what I ordered, Gustav had prepared a little surprise for Nick’s birthday:  a pre-starter of Cape Malay prawn and chicken curry pictured below left.  This was fantastic, and a voyage of discovery for the tastebuds of our friends who do not know South African cuisine that well.  Cape Malay curries are known for their intriguing sweet-savoury flavours rather than their toe-curling heat and this was no exception, with the sweet and spicy sauce gently livening up the chicken and jucy prawn.  I’d like to order a main course portion of this! For my starter I was torn between the pan-fried livers on toast, the nut-crusted goat’s cheese and the mushrooms on toast with a poached egg.  But in the end, the promise of a perfectly poached egg (something that I never make for myself at home) won the day.  And I was not disappointed! The bread had all the sinful deliciousness of a giant crouton; the mushrooms were plentiful and drizzled liberally with truffle oil; and the poached egg was perfection personified.  I also had a taste of Nick’s delicious London Particular – a robust pea soup made with bacon stock and named after London’s famous “peasouper” fogs of the early 20th century.

 

Seafood risotto

 

Mushrooms and Poached Egg On Toast

 

For my main course I was once again dithering between the intriguing pollack on smoked haddock mash, but given the wintry weather outside I could not resist the lamb chop with a rosemary balsamic reduction, anchovy butter and lashings of garlic, with a giant portabello mushroom and spinach on the side.  And I must say, seldom has so fabulous a piece of lamb graced a London plate.  In effect, it was two conjoined lamb chops, thickly sliced so that it could remain demurely pink on the inside, while the outside could be grilled to perfection.  The rosemary and balsamic reduction was spectacular, particularly as it mingled with the anchovy butter.  And the mushroom was a meal in itself.  Carnivore heaven.  If I had one complaint it was the side order of chips that we ordered separately.  These were soggy rather than crisp – which is odd because the chips that came with the fish and chips were crispy and delicious, so it’s not as if they can’t do properly crisp chips… But the garlicky mayonnaise that accompanied it went a long way to making up for the lack of crunch.

By rights, I should have stopped after that.  But you know how it goes.  If two courses can make me feel this good, imagine how good three courses will make me feel!! And so I went for the blow-out and ordered the one and only chocolate creme brulee again.  It was as perfectly textured and flavoured as I remembered, but this time I was more aware of the balancing burnt-caramel flavour of the topping, and it was served with a compote (cranberry?) which was wonderfully tart and provided the perfect foil to stop it from being overpoweringly sweet.  I would quite happily have licked the bowl had we not been in company.

 

Lamb chop

 

Chocolate creme brulee

 

 

As I said, the brunch menu costs a ridiculous £17 for three courses, so if one of your criteria for a good restaurant is value for money, you will fall instantly in love with 1802.  I, on the other hand, remain in love with the casually elegant room, the friendly and efficient service (our table of 15 all got our food at the same time, and hot, which seems to be an impossibility in some restaurants…), the excellent ingredients and the unfussy style of cooking.  I maintain that it’s the best kept value-for-money secret in the Docklands.  But don’t tell anybody.  I’d hate the secret to get out 😉

And as a final bonus pic, here we all are, celebrating Nick’s birthday at 1802!

 

20071208_nickbirthday06_group

1802
The Museum in Docklands
No.1 Warehouse
Hertsmere Road
West India Quay
London
E14 4AL

Tel. 0870 444 3886
Fax  020 7537 1149

More deliciousness for you!

  • Habas con jamon – and Magritte time at chez CooksisterHabas con jamon – and Magritte time at chez Cooksister
  • Individual apricot upside-down cakesIndividual apricot upside-down cakes
  • Saturday Snapshots #123Saturday Snapshots #123
  • EoMEoTE#10 – The Cat in the Hat editionEoMEoTE#10 – The Cat in the Hat edition

Never miss a Cooksister post

If you enjoyed this post, enter your e-mail address here to receive a FREE e-mail update when a new post appears on Cooksister

I love comments almost as much as I love cheese - so if you can't leave me any cheese, please leave me a comment instead!

« No-knead quick brown bread
Blinde vinken braised in Grimbergen beer »

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  1. Craig says

    December 13, 2007 at 7:42 am

    14 pounds for a bottle of Boland Chenin!
    Retail price back home is about 2 pounds – ok sure maybe 4 with the restaurant markup.
    Enjoy
    C

    Reply
  2. santos. says

    December 13, 2007 at 1:11 pm

    my goodness, what a wonderful birthday surprise. all the food looks gorgeous, i’m jealous. those chips !!!! or should i write |||—||| it’s like a rubik’s cube of carbs.

    Reply
  3. Rethabile says

    December 13, 2007 at 2:20 pm

    With posts like this one, of course I voted for you. Go, go, go!

    Reply
  4. Nilmandra says

    December 16, 2007 at 11:05 am

    That chocolate creme brulee looks fantastic. I’m going to point this out to my friend who lives not far from the Docklands, I’m sure she would like the food there.

    Reply
  5. Sarah Pipilini says

    December 17, 2007 at 1:05 pm

    Helllooo Dahling! Me again.
    I notice my invite to this little soiree was conspicuous by its absence??? Not to bother, rvenge was sweet, too sweet in fact. Remember that slab of chocolate in your lounge? Or the sundae languishing in your larder? Well, guess what???
    Tons of love from your everbearing fruit tree…
    Sarah
    PS: You really shouldn’t leave your guest book lying around like that. The tempation to accrete my literary secretions proved too great!

    Reply
  6. Ludovic Windsor says

    December 18, 2007 at 10:31 am

    I remembered it looking very appealing… while I was running this year’s marathon. Will try to not be running next time I’m in the area!

    Reply
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Never miss a Cooksister post!

Get my latest recipes delivered by e-mail!

Search over 500 recipes

Recently on Cooksister

  • Perfect broccoli and Stilton soup [keto, low carb, GF]
  • Masalchi by Atul Kochhar – Indian street food in Wembley
  • Barbecued salmon with blood oranges and capers
  • Roasted Brussels sprouts with feta, pomegranate and pine nuts [GF, V]
  • Love Yourself healthy meal delivery [Review]
  • Antillean
  • Festive roast lamb with pomegranate glaze
  • Rustic blood orange and pistachio galettes

Archives by month

Archives by category

Popular posts

Peppermint Crisp fridge tart - a South African treat
Oxtail and red wine potjie
Nigella's Bakewell slices & the Big Bakewell Taste-off
Gem squash 101: how to find them, how to grow them, how to eat them!
Jan Ellis pudding - a classic South African dessert
Roosterkoek - a South African braai essential

Featured on

Also available on

The wonderful Museum of the Moon installation - a The wonderful Museum of the Moon installation - a 7 metre diameter scale model of the moon suspended in the Painted Hall at the  @oldroyalnavalcollege in Greenwich this week, by @lukejerramartist. A surreal and fabulous sight!
Do you enjoy free art installations? Then you need Do you enjoy free art installations? Then you need to get down to @canarywharflondon between now and Saturday 28 Jan to catch the free Winter Lights 2023 event, back for the seventh year.

My favourites include @lukejerramartist ‘s Floating Earth; Tom Lambert’s Out of the Dark; Fluorescent Firs; Toroid by This is Loop; and the surreal and mesmerising Anima by MEATS - a tunnel filled with hundreds of thin optical fibre lights that change colour and move in the breeze 😍 

Have you been to Winter Lights? What was your favourite?
“When we look down at the Earth from space, we s “When we look down at the Earth from space, we see this amazing, indescribably beautiful planet. It looks like a living, breathing organism. But it also, at the same time, looks extremely fragile.” - International Space Station astronaut Ron Garamond

To experience the “overview effect” (a phenomenon experienced by astronauts viewing the earth from space), head down to Canary Wharf in the London docklands this week where you can see @lukejerramartist ‘s beautiful Floating Earth installation as part of the Winter Lights event. 

This giant 10m diameter installation is created using high resolution NASA images to create a floating scale model of the Earth, lit from within so that it glows from its current home on the Middle Dock, surrounded by the headquarters of international banking and finance corporations.

The artist hopes that viewed in this context, the installation will make visitors and the bankers working in surrounding buildings question how their money in savings and pensions is invested, and whether investments can be greener.

Aside from being a thought provoking piece, it is also mesmerising and surreally beautiful, so make sure you visit the free Winter Lights event before ends on Saturday 28 Jan.
Happy lunar new year! [Invited] To celebrate the Happy lunar new year! 

[Invited] To celebrate the arrival of the Year of the Rabbit, why not head over to @mamachensdumplings currently doing a residence at the @thegantrylondon in #stratford where you can feast on prawn & chive dumplings; pork, Chinese cabbage and shiitake mushroom dumplings; pork & prawn wontons with Mama Chen’s chilli oil; vegetable dumplings; smacked cucumber salad; and spicy noodles coated in garlic and Szechuan pepper oil.

And afterwards, make sure you head up to the @unionsocialoc bar for a cocktail - I loved the Moreish Fashion with bourbon, PX sherry, chestnuts and mandarin orange bitters!
Got leftover Stilton (or any blue cheese) from Chr Got leftover Stilton (or any blue cheese) from Christmas? Turn it into this super simple and super indulgent broccoli and Stilton soup! So easy to make and soooo delicious to eat - and it is low carb and GF. What more could you want?! Click the link in my bio for the full recipe. What’s your favourite soup?
CELEBRATE. So the fireworks are over, the champag CELEBRATE.

So the fireworks are over, the champagne is finished and the leftovers are all eaten. We are one week into 2023 and I have had some time to think about what my intent is for the year. 

In 2022 my brother had a life saving kidney transplant. Since the operation, he has had a Peanuts cartoon as his WhatsApp profile pic, where Charlie Brown and Snoopy are sitting on a pier talking. Charlie says “Some day, we all die Snoopy.” And Snoopy replies: “Yes - but every other day, we will live.”

Waking up in the morning is a gift, every day, and it is so easy to forget this. The last few years have been difficult for so many people and the coming year promises its own challenges. But every day that we don’t die is a day to live, to celebrate life in some small way.

So my intention in 2023 is to celebrate. Celebrate our achievements however small. Celebrate our friends and family. Celebrate small things. Celebrate life.

Did you make any resolutions or goals for 2023? I would love to hear them in the comments! Wishing you all the very best for 2023 🥂
Happy new year, everyone! Here are some scenes fro Happy new year, everyone! Here are some scenes from last night with friends in Deptford. My deconstructed avocado ritz; @twinkleparkstephen ‘s bobitie; Giles’ Ottolenghi tomato salad; and Jean’s clementine trifle - and the London night sky ablaze with fireworks!  How did you spend your evening? 🥂🎇🎆
Merry Christmas to all those celebrating - I hope Merry Christmas to all those celebrating - I hope your day was merry and bright, filled with family, friends and love 🎄🥂. Mine was spent alone at home - my choice and the result of a combination of Covid (not mine!) and rail strikes 🤦‍♀️ but very relaxing and indulgent!
Looking for a stylish and easy Christmas starter y Looking for a stylish and easy Christmas starter you can make ahead? Look no further than my individual smoked salmon terrine! Hot smoked salmon, cream cheese and chives wrapped in cold smoked salmon in a ramekin. Still one of the most popular Christmas recipes in my blog, it looks cheffy but is soooo simple to make - and will save you time and effort on the day! Get the recipe by clicking on the link in my bio.

How is your Christmas meal prep going? Are you entertaining at home or going to friends or family? 🎄🥂🎄🥂🎄
Load More... Follow me on Instagram

Follow Jeanne Horak-Druiff's board Recipes by Cooksister on Pinterest.

Cooksister

The South African Food and Wine Blog Directory

The South African Food and Wine Blog Directory

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Jeanne Horak is a freelance food and travel writer; recipe developer and photographer. South African by birth and Londoner by choice, Jeanne has been writing about food and travel on Cooksister since 2004. She is a popular speaker on food photography and writing has also contributed articles, recipes and photos to a number of online and print publications. Jeanne has also worked with a number of destination marketers to promote their city or region. Please get in touch to work with her Read More…

Latest Recipes

Bowls of broccoli and Stilton soup
Salmon with blood oranges dill and capers
Brussels sprouts with feta and pomegranate
Roast lamb with pomegranate glaze
Blood orange & pistachio galettes
Cauliflower topped steak with melted cheese
Plate of potted smoked salmon with slaw and a glass of champagne
bowls of pistachio pomegranate bircher muesli

SITEMAP

Home

Contact

About me

Recipe Index

Restaurant Index

Copyright & Disclaimer

Cookies & privacy policy




blog counter

© 2004 - 2023 · Jeanne Horak unless otherwise stated - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. You may not reproduce any text, excerpts or images without my prior permission. Site by RTW Labs

Copyright © 2023 · Cooksister on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Cooksister cookie consent
We use cookies to ensure you receive the best experience on our site. If you continue to use this site, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions. Accept
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT