Last night me and my friend Ellie soared up to the 40th floor of the Heron Tower and ate at the amazing Duck & Waffle.

We met after work and headed straight for Dirty Martini on Bishopsgate for a couple of cocktails before we went to Duck&Waffle. I’m a huge fan of Dirty Martini – it serves great cocktails, there’s always a good atmosphere in whichever one I’ve been to, and the Happy Hour is brilliant! Half-price martinis are served at Bishopsgate from 5pm til 10pm, I had the blood orange and vanilla martini, Ellie had the winter pear, both were delicious.

Once we’d had a couple of martinis we headed down the road to Heron Tower, which is also home to SushiSamba and Drift. Greeted by a friendly host on the pavement outside, the red velvet rope was taken aside and we were directed to the lift. The Willy Wonka-style glass lift shoots you up into the sky (rather fast) and the view at the top is simply stunning.

Once at the top we were met by some of the friendliest staff I’ve ever met. Everyone was so helpful and so accommodating. We were shown to our table (which was right by the window!) and we watched the sun set over our beautiful city.

After some guidance from our lovely waiter, we ordered and ate, probably the most delicious food I’ve ever eaten. Executive Chef Daniel Doherty has really stepped up with his menu, full of modern British and European cuisine, it’s sublime.

We started with bbq-spiced crispy pig ears, which were like the most heavenly pork scratchings and freshly made rosemary & garlic bread, divine.

We followed that with wild cornish pollock meatballs with lobster cream, scotch bhadji, and coal charred aubergine with sumac yoghurt. There is a special place in heaven reserved for Daniel Doherty and that scotch bhadji. It was a beautifully soft egg wrapped in cumberland sausage which was then surrounded by onion bhadji. Served with a caramelised onion yoghurt and a warm cauliflower, mustard and lime pickle. It was the best thing I’ve eaten in a very long time. Everything was utterly delicious. Ellie and I ‘ooohed’ and ‘ahhhed’ as every dish was presented to us and cooed over how incredible everything tasted. Amazing.

We then finished with the restaurant’s namesake, the Duck & Waffle. A fluffy, slightly crispy sweet waffle with a confit duck leg, and a fried duck egg on top. Served with it is a pot of mustard maple syrup. It’s exactly how you know it will be, and as our waiter said ‘it’s two in one, desert and main at the same time.’ Sweet, savoury, unctuous, delicious.

But what was most tremendous about Duck & Waffle is that when you’re eating this incredible food, you’ll glance to the side and be treated with the most beautiful views of London. We went just before sunset, so everytime I looked out over the city, the view changed. More and more lights lit up, the sky changed from a pale blue, to pale lilac, to navy blue.

I cannot recommend this place highly enough. The only thing I would comment on was the price of the drinks. Wine started at £27 a bottle, £8 a glass, cocktails were £13. But all in all, we paid £100 for food, drink and service, which I thought was amazing value for the quality of the experience. I will definitely be back soon!

Have you tried Duck & Waffle? What did you think to it? Any more restaurants and bars in the sky you can recommend?

Rx

Ps. apologies for my appalling food photography – I will practice and get better!