Like all my trips to see friends in their home ground. I started my most recent trip to London by requesting that my old school friend, Arwel, take me to his favourite spot. Unfortunately for me, he didn’t have one. But his flatmate suggested a café in Canary Wharf called Ole & Steen. Upon hearing the name I thought of the American Televangelist Joel Osteen and giggled to myself, and then told him I’d love to eat there.
Like anyone with anxiety does, I searched the internet for a menu to get an idea of what they sold and in my search I saw that Ole & Steen have multiple locations around the world. Hosting two locations in London, one in Central and the Canary Wharf one I was going to.
When we entered the café, I was hit with the delicious smell of fresh bakes. As you walk in you are met with the sight of cakes and other sweet treats lining the cashier desk as well as bread rolls and pastry in the window for all to see and drool over from a distance. Ole & Steen being a danish all day bakery chain, probably means the rolls on display were fresh for the day too and not just for display. Looking at what they had to offer in the shop there was a lot of choice, from breakfast items like avocado and salmon on toast to the sweetest cakes you can imagine.
I ordered the Gateau Marcel for £4.75. This was a small chocolate dessert that was a chocolate shell, filled with mousse on a layer of chocolate cake. And let me just tell you, it was divine. The mousse and cake were rich and creamy. The chocolate shell was probably chocolate ganache as it was soft to cut into with a fork, but it was perfection. I had initially wanted to get the Passionfruit Cheesecake, but I am not a fan of coconut and as someone on a budget I didn’t want to pay for a cake that I would have a corner off and then not eat the rest of it. My friend and tour guide for the day, did order it instead and from his reaction I believe it tastes good.
When it came to the presentation of the food the cakes looked 10/10 and because it was packed, we decided to eat outside. This meant the cakes were boxed up and I quite liked how simple the boxes were. On the day we went the weather was quite chilly but I imagine during summer, with a warm and gentle breeze it would be a dream to be sat outside with a cake and cold drink.
Overall, my experience at Ole & Steen was quite nice, and I found their food to be very good and I think next time I go I might go for one of their breakfast options to see if they’re as good as the baked goods.
Have you ever been to Ole & Steen?
The NewRxmantic 