Walking into the Harbour Kitchen at 4pm on a rainy Wednesday, I suddenly felt a little out of place, but my friends and I had decided to try something different so in we went.
The place feels like a fine dining restaurant and completely empty due to the weather and time of day, but I felt right at home when a very sweet and inviting waitress came over and welcomed us with some friendly words and found us a comfortable (albeit very trendy) black couch with a linen clad table to sit at.
The menu was extensive with delicious looking breakfast options (served from 12pm when they open) as well as lunch items, foccacias, pastas and to my friend's delight, chicken parmas. I ordered the vegetarian pasta and to my absolute surprise (I've tried a few before that looked as though a jar of Dolmio was warmed up and stirred in) I was brought a lovely bowl of penne pasta with snappy snow peas, florets of well cooked broccoli and real tomato in the sauce. My friend, the parma lover, got a lovely looking parma, just the right size, with well cooked chips and a really good looking garden salad. Needless to say, lunch left us very satisfied and the waitress, whilst not intruding, provided excellent service.
The other thing that caught my eye at the Harbour Kitchen had to be their self contained function room which is located just across the footpath and is decked out with couches, bar stools and floor to ceiling glass windows so you can enjoy the twinkling light of Docklands whilst celebrating. I was also very fond of the little beer garden where the riverside tree has been incorporated with little glass baulbauls to make a little fairytale area that you could sit in and be transported to somewhere in Europe.
I actually really enjoyed lunch at the Harbour Kitchen and though it's not going to make my every day list, I think it's at least worth a Friday night drink or very late breakfast.
Waterside dining
