After spending 24 hours in Canary Wharf, I can confirm it has transformed from a purely financial district into a vibrant leisure destination, offering everything from minimalist hotels to BBQ boats on the docks.
From Financial Hub to Leisure Destination
Once a disused Docklands site, Canary Wharf was transformed from the 1980s onwards into one of London’s biggest financial districts, home to major banks and thousands of office workers. For years, that was essentially its identity, and I can understand why people thought of it as sterile or soulless outside working hours. But the area has changed considerably, with new restaurants, cafés, bars, green spaces and activities giving people more reasons to visit when they aren't being paid to be there.
I have always associated Canary Wharf with skyscrapers, suits and people rushing to work, so I was intrigued when I started hearing it described as a leisure destination rather than simply a financial one. I decided the best way to find out whether Canary Wharf really had changed was to spend the night there, so I checked into TRIBE in Wood Wharf.
A Hotel That Doesn't Feel Very Corporate
TRIBE is minimalist and modern, but it doesn't have that slightly stiff feeling I sometimes associate with business hotels. The rooms are designed around style, functionality and comfort, with plenty of natural light, city views and the essentials you actually need rather than endless unnecessary extras. I loved the message on the room TV explaining that, while TRIBE wants to make your stay as comfortable as possible, the room only comes with the essentials, although that does include a great speaker. The idea is to avoid adding to the choice fatigue we’re increasingly faced with in modern life, and I actually really liked that philosophy.
Downstairs, there is a coffee shop and social space where you can work, meet someone for a drink or simply sit and watch the world go by. That immediately made the hotel feel less like somewhere you crash between meetings and more like somewhere you could genuinely spend part of your day. My room looked out towards Wood Wharf, and one of the things I noticed during my stay was how late people were still wandering around outside. At around 11pm, the streets didn't feel like they had emptied after office hours, which might sound like a small thing but is actually a pretty significant change for Canary Wharf.
Forget the Business Lunch
I didn't even have to leave the hotel to find somewhere for dinner, because TRIBE is home to Feels Like June, a Californian-inspired restaurant bringing together European and West Coast influences. The airy interiors, greenery, oval bar and terrace make it feel a world away from the traditional image of a Canary Wharf business lunch. The menu is colourful and fresh, with everything from breakfast burritos and salad bowls to grilled meats and a cocktail list designed for lingering over dinner. There is also a two-cocktails-for-£15 offer between 5pm and 7pm, which seems almost tailor-made for convincing people to stay in Canary Wharf after work rather than immediately heading home.
The jackfruit wings are the menu item making me come back next week. They were easily one of the most unusual things I ate, but also one of my favourites, especially with the ranch dip on the side. I also tried their California rice bowl, which was light and healthy, with tofu and kimchi, leaving me with just enough room for an extra cocktail.
My BBQ Came With a Captain's Hat
The next day, I tried one of London's most unusual dining experiences: a BBQ Boat on the Canary Wharf docks. I had seen the round boats floating around before and wondered what on earth people were doing on them, so I was very happy to discover that the answer was essentially having a barbecue while sailing around Canary Wharf. You check in, get your captain's hat and then you're ready to set sail - and set grill. The barbecue sits right in the middle of the table, making it incredibly easy to cook your own food even if, like me, you're not exactly a barbecue expert.
And the food is definitely not an afterthought, with juicy burgers, a vegan option, plenty of sides, corn, sauces and add-ons to choose from. You can also order drinks from the bar, which came in particularly handy on a 30-degree day. I expected sitting around a barbecue on a boat in the middle of summer to feel unbearably hot, but the umbrella and breeze coming off the water made it surprisingly comfortable. More importantly, you get to eat, drink and admire one of the most recognisable skylines in London at the same time.
For this kind of experience, I thought the BBQ Boat was surprisingly affordable, starting at just £35 per person. You can even bring your own food and turn it into a picnic on the water. SKUNA Boats also offer other experiences I definitely want to try, like floating hot tubs, saunas on the dock and cocktail cruises.
Is Canary Wharf Cool Now?
So, after spending the night at TRIBE, eating at Feels Like June and barbecuing on a boat, has Canary Wharf convinced me that it is cool now? Honestly, yes, although I think the most interesting thing is that it has managed to become something different without losing what makes it so distinctive.
Canary Wharf will probably never be Hackney, Soho or Peckham, and I don't think it should try to be. There is something quite fun about eating Californian food or taking a BBQ boat around the docks while surrounded by enormous financial towers and some of the most recognisable architecture in London. The biggest change is that Canary Wharf finally feels like somewhere you can choose to be rather than somewhere you have to be. There are now enough hotels, restaurants, shops, green spaces and experiences to turn a place that was once famous for empty weekends into somewhere I could happily spend one.
