Up the Shard – Pardon me! You really need to check this place out for dinner – we did – please let me tell you about it….
Aqua Shard, located on level 31 of The Shard serves innovative contemporary British cuisine. The restaurant boasts breath-taking views from its main dining room, private dining room and a spectacular three-storey high all-day atrium bar. Dishes feature carefully-selected fine British produce and combine the staple ingredients of British cooking with innovative techniques. The restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner.
Having seen the building, London’ tallest on the way in to Heathrow we’d really been looking forward to this culinary extravaganza and we were not disappointed. The Shard is a landmark building in London and a superb location for a really elegant restaurant. I have been fascinated with this building for the last couple of years watching it grow every time I travel to London – each time getting a bit bigger.
Aqua Shard and sister restaurant Hutong have their own entrance at the bottom of the building, with an express lift to take you to the 32nd floor. As soon as you walk through the doors and take the huge staircase down to the 31st floor where Aqua Shard is based, you’re just completely overwhelmed with the 180 degree view over London. It is breathtakingly, jawdroppingly, impressively beautiful. The Shard’s large glass windows allow an unobstructed view, and Aqua Shard’s triple-height ceiling in the main bar when you walk in just adds to the experience.
We started off with a cocktail in the bar, which directly faces The City and all its high-rise buildings, has the Thames right below, and pretty much every other London landmark within sight. Aqua Shard unashamedly want you to enjoy the view as much as you can – they cleverly use angled mirrors throughout the restaurant so you can see any part of the city at any given time. You could be looking at Canary Wharf and yet see the West End simultaneously, the view almost becomes an optical illusion. It’s a great space made even greater by it interior design.
Unlike its Asian Regent Street counterpart, Aqua Shard offers a contemporary British menu by chef Anthony Garlando. The food is seasonal and sourced as locally as possible, with a list of all their suppliers on the menu – something I always appreciate.
We had a GREAT menu which our guests really enjoyed.
Must close now as need to grab some sleep before we’re off to deepest Wales in the morning. Will be in touch tomorrow