Canton Blue at The Peninsula London

An exquisite Cantonese restaurant debuted at The Peninsula London, Canton Blue pays both culinary and aesthetic tribute to the historic maritime trade routes linking China and Britain.

The restaurant offers innovative Cantonese cuisine and a collection of magnificently decorated spaces – many of whose design elements take inspiration from the Keying junk, a trade ship that sailed between Asia and Europe during the mid-19th century. As the Keying once transported goods between China and Britain, so Canton Blue guides diners on an immersive experience.

Set on the ground floor of The Peninsula London, the restaurant provides an escape from the bustling streets of the capital. Canton Blue is a celebration of Cantonese heritage. Together with the Asiatic décor and Cantonese menus, the restaurant reflects the vibrant and longstanding exchange between the two cultures. 

Since the launch of The Peninsula Hong Kong in 1928, fine Cantonese restaurants have been a defining feature across the portfolio of luxury heritage properties. Canton Blue embodies the exceptional hospitality of The Peninsula London, where no request is too large or too small, and each intricate detail is carefully considered. 

A Sophisticated Setting

Designed by esteemed Hong Kong-based interior designer Henry Leung of CAP Atelier, whose work can be seen at The Peninsula hotels across the world including Paris and Beijing. Canton Blue features four dining rooms across multiple levels to reflect the Keying Junk’s upper deck. The Tea Room, The Music Room, The Silk Room, and the main dining room are accompanied by the ground-floor bar, Little Blue, where guests can enjoy cocktails inspired by flavours of the East. 

Upon entering Canton Blue guests are first met with a porcelain doorway welcoming them into the Tea Room. Replicating a mansion sitting room with a dramatic blue fireplace, a gilded wooden ceiling, and hand carved, wooden furniture; the space plays host to traditional Chinese tea ceremonies. A painted wall mural, meanwhile, illustrates the story of modern British tea culture as a result of trade between the nations.

In the main dining room, plush booths are adorned with delicate, intricately painted Chinese porcelain – the same sort that the Keying once carried from East to West. Above, a backlit ceiling panel depicts a celestial navigation map, whose night-sky constellations would have been seen by sailors aboard the ship. 

For intimate events, Canton Blue offers two refined private dining spaces: The Silk Room, whose Chinese silk-lined walls and striking red glass lanterns evoke a Beijing opera house; and The Music Room, which proudly displays antique Chinese instruments such as the yueqin (or “moon lute”) and double-stringed guzheng alongside calligraphy-inspired artwork.

Exceptional Cantonese Cuisine

Executive Chinese Chef, Dicky To, whose culinary experience has encompassed more than a decade in prestigious kitchens all over Asia including The Peninsula Shanghai, The Peninsula Tokyo and most recently The Peninsula Paris, creates timeless menus for Canton Blue – anchored in Cantonese tradition, but enhanced by recognisably British cooking techniques and ingredients. Whether ordering from the extensive à la carte and dim sum selection or the multi-course tasting menu, guests are encouraged to share multiple dishes in order to fully experience the myriad textures, nuanced flavours and heady aromas that characterise Chinese haute cuisine. 

Starters include barbecued Blythburgh pork; crispy bean curd rolls with mushrooms; and vibrant lo hei salad with grapefruit, Loch Duart salmon, soy, chilli and ginger. Soups include those flavoured with shrimp wontons, or double-boiled whelks with cordyceps flowers and white cloud ears.

The restaurant’s signature dish, whole Roasted Peking duck, is a true gastronomic event. Each duck is poached, dried, hung and roasted, and theatrically presented tableside in two servings: first, with pancakes and plum sauce; and second, with the meat sautéed, deep- or wok-fried. The knives used to the carve the Peking duck were exclusively crafted for Canton Blue by artisan blacksmith Leszek Sikon.

Main courses highlight British meats and seafood and alongside creative vegetarian dishes like black-truffle tofu and Hoisin-braised sweet potato with pickles and pistachio. Steamed sea bass fillet, served with Chinese black mushrooms in a lotus leaf, are cut in front of guests with bespoke scissors made by London’s finest artisans at Ernest Wright. Cornish blue lobster, braised with aged cheddar, Stilton, girolles and rice cakes and wok-fried Highland dry-aged rib eye are served alongside stir-fries of vegetables, rice and noodles, umami-rich with black bean, soy and oyster sauces, British Wagyu and shrimp.

Created by the restaurant’s Head Dim Sum Chef, Ling Ling Zeng, Canton Blue’s dim sum menu incorporates the delicate craftsmanship and traditional flavours implicit in its name (In Cantonese, the phrase “dim sum” translates as “touch the heart”). Chef selections include har gow – steamed prawn dumplings with bamboo shoots; siu mai – steamed minced chicken dumplings with black mushrooms; xiao long bao – steamed Shanghai-style minced pork dumplings; baked barbecue pork buns; and steamed crab meat and cuttlefish dumplings.

Desserts at Canton Blue are playful and contemporary takes on classic sweets, such as deep-fried red date ice cream with banana compote; and Tanghulu Surprise with almond milk sauce, an ode to the candied fruit beloved in Northern China.

The Peninsula London’s Director of Wine, Melody Wong, has curated a drinks menu for Canton Blue that embodies the traditions of both Asia and Europe. Rare for the U.K., the restaurant offers the largest hospitality collection of baijiu, a Chinese rice spirit with complex, savoury aromas; alongside a selection of over 200 fine wines from around the world.

Integral to the dining experience at Canton Blue is its selection of rarefied, small-batch, loose leaf teas which includes exclusive varieties such as the 1980’s Menghai 7542 Raw Pu-erh. Traditional tea ceremonies (Kungfu Tea Practice) and masterclasses on the best way to brew and maximise the flavour of tea are conducted at the restaurant.

Little Blue

Adjacent to Canton Blue, but with its own entrance from Grosvenor Crescent, Little Blue brings a fresh new drinks concept to London. Here, flavours from the East are paired with mixology techniques from the West. 

Little Blue offers a transportive experience from the moment guests step through the cobalt-lacquered doors. Upon entering, they are met with a striking painted bronze sculpture by artist Xie Aige, and a towering, white porcelain bamboo tree with gilded leaves that dangle from the ceiling. Beyond is the bar, whose numerous apothecary-style wooden drawers hint at the storage compartments used to transport herbs and spices along the maritime passage.

Bespoke ingredients for signature and classic cocktails are made daily on site, including tinctures of black pepper, nutmeg and mushroom; cordials made with saffron, Morello cherry and Sauvignon white grapes, scotch infused with Java long pepper, Lapsang Souchong and plum; and even a wood-based vodka. 

Each cocktail at Little Blue is perfectly crafted to excite and playfully, deliciously challenge even the most discerning palates.

The journey begins in Hong Kong with a celebration of Chinese culture. The fruity and electrifying Timur is an enhanced version of a Negroni made with cherry, grapefruit, orange peel and fresh pepper; the Terra, meanwhile, pays tribute to the volcanic Saint Helena’s Island with a blend of aromatic saffron, woody almonds, habanero pepper and cooked agave ash. The Fashion – an Old Fashioned made new – reinforces the link between Cape Town and New York City with a combination of rooibos, milky raspberry, vetiver, and orange; and London gets a nod with the Vintage, a rich, celebratory cocktail created using butter, marzipan, nutmeg, Black Trumpet mushroom, and Champagne.

No- and low-alcohol offerings equally spotlight fine ingredients and skilful mixology at Little Blue. Featured drinks include the Kellett, delicately perfumed with rooibos, orange blossom, cinnamon, and honey topped with soda water. 

From beers and ciders to aperitifs, spirits and softs, each option on the drinks list has been carefully chosen, including Little Blue Gin, made exclusively by Cambridge Distillery for the bar. 

Bar snacks run the gamut of sweet to savoury Cantonese delicacies and Hong Kong street food. Created to complement the Eastern-inspired flavours, dishes include piquant pickled vegetables with shimeji mushrooms and five spice; crispy prawn wontons with chilli bean sauce; and Wok-fried British Wagyu rolls and butterfly buns with a choice of barbecued pork belly or duck. Smaller sweet snacks include traditional Hong Kong milk-tea tartlets; and a taste of the Canton Blue mango pudding.