Before I get started I want to note I have never 'reviewed' a restaurant in writing before, and I am far from a professional critique. I can however say that I like food and nice places and therefore I want to write about my experiences of these two things.
I'll admit I have been to Duck & Waffle before, so the anticipation of returning was unbearable especially as I kept it a secret from my Hubski who I was treating to a night out (for no other reason than wanting to thank him for being so supportive of my endeavours over the past year).
Duck & Waffle is situated on the 40th Floor of Heron Tower in London, the highest restaurant in the UK with fantastic panoramic views over one of my favourite European cities. The restaurant is open 24/7 so you can enjoy the panorama at any time that suits you - we think we might go back sometime to see the sun rise and devour the signature dish again.
The reception area is a large open space with an eclectic décor and island bar. The staff are welcoming and the bar tenders are quirky in their braces and bow ties. We had an 18:00 reservation so at this stage there was an air of calm throughout. We were shown to our table and ordered cocktails to start with. Due to some other mishaps we did wait over 15 minutes to receive menus to peruse, however we were kept busy with admiring the view, spying on the plates coming out the kitchen and slurping our drinks.
The menu is rustic and fresh, with flavours you wouldn't normally think to put together and yet when you try them you wonder why you've never had them before. You're encouraged to order 'for the table' a little like a tapas style feast, this is ideal because although the menu is concise it's still tough to make a decision. We went for:
This was probably more than we needed for two but we struggled to narrow it down and we felt like indulging ourselves. We swished this all down with a cocktail and a glass of champagne.The signature dish, Duck & Waffle is divine and we wished we had ordered one each, which we most certainly will next time. I don't want to go into too much detail about the food because it speaks for itself if you get the chance to try it and you can see for yourself how delicious it looks in the snaps I took.
The restaurant area got livelier as we were preparing to leave, we were glad there had been less people around while we ate as its such an open space, with an open kitchen that the noise levels get quite high. The bill came in just shy of £140 for food, drinks and service, but you get what you pay for and while my plastic might have groaned, my stomach was delighted.
We were given a comment card, which I completed noting our delay in receiving menus, not to make a fuss but just to raise the issue with whoever reads the comment cards. To my surprise the manager (I think) took our payment, read our note and gave us a drink each on the house by way of an apology, so we gratefully sipped another glass of champagne in the bar area before we made our way home.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed myself, I'll be back and I definitely recommend a visit.
I've decided I'll be scoring restaurants I visit with forks, 1 Fork is poor and 5 Forks is fabulous! The score will take into account ambience, price, food, drinks, location and service. With this in mind I score Duck & Waffle 4 Forks!
Kx
I'll admit I have been to Duck & Waffle before, so the anticipation of returning was unbearable especially as I kept it a secret from my Hubski who I was treating to a night out (for no other reason than wanting to thank him for being so supportive of my endeavours over the past year).
Duck & Waffle is situated on the 40th Floor of Heron Tower in London, the highest restaurant in the UK with fantastic panoramic views over one of my favourite European cities. The restaurant is open 24/7 so you can enjoy the panorama at any time that suits you - we think we might go back sometime to see the sun rise and devour the signature dish again.
Upon arriving at the base of Heron Tower you take an express glass lift up the outside of the edifice that only services floors 38, 39 and 40. You'll notice a pressure change in your ears which reminds you just how high you are!
The menu is rustic and fresh, with flavours you wouldn't normally think to put together and yet when you try them you wonder why you've never had them before. You're encouraged to order 'for the table' a little like a tapas style feast, this is ideal because although the menu is concise it's still tough to make a decision. We went for:
- Cherry Tomato & Goat's cheese bread
- N'duja and Gruyère bread
- Pollock meatballs
- Harissa spiced herdwick mutton slider
- Bacon wrapped dates
- Duck & waffle
- Minteed jersey royals
- dark chocolate brownie sundae with peanut crunch
This was probably more than we needed for two but we struggled to narrow it down and we felt like indulging ourselves. We swished this all down with a cocktail and a glass of champagne.The signature dish, Duck & Waffle is divine and we wished we had ordered one each, which we most certainly will next time. I don't want to go into too much detail about the food because it speaks for itself if you get the chance to try it and you can see for yourself how delicious it looks in the snaps I took.
The restaurant area got livelier as we were preparing to leave, we were glad there had been less people around while we ate as its such an open space, with an open kitchen that the noise levels get quite high. The bill came in just shy of £140 for food, drinks and service, but you get what you pay for and while my plastic might have groaned, my stomach was delighted.
We were given a comment card, which I completed noting our delay in receiving menus, not to make a fuss but just to raise the issue with whoever reads the comment cards. To my surprise the manager (I think) took our payment, read our note and gave us a drink each on the house by way of an apology, so we gratefully sipped another glass of champagne in the bar area before we made our way home.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed myself, I'll be back and I definitely recommend a visit.
I've decided I'll be scoring restaurants I visit with forks, 1 Fork is poor and 5 Forks is fabulous! The score will take into account ambience, price, food, drinks, location and service. With this in mind I score Duck & Waffle 4 Forks!
Kx
