Rum & Sugar

Now run by contract caterers Ampersand rather than Searcy’s, this is the smartest of restaurant/bars in a row of warehouses on West India Quay. Its name comes from the provisions once stored here (check out the exhibits in the adjoining Museum of London Docklands), & the heritage lives on in the form of bespoke mojitos & vintage rums. The British menu of platters, small plates & stuff on toast is done ‘with a twist’, but that’s understating it: a seafood cocktail comes with lettuce pannacotta & saffron jelly, while salmon tartare gets the miso & wasabi treatment. At other times, the kitchen goes conventional with signature fishcakes, bite-size Yorkshire puddings with rare beef, classic mains & sandwiches. The flexible raw wood & brick space welcomes everyone from single diners at the bar to office get-togethers on the terrace.