Duck and Waffle, London



The weekend I had been waiting for since Christmas had finally arrived, and in eager anticipation I boarded the train from Norwich to Liverpool Street on a wet and windy Friday evening so that I would definitely be in London for our Duck and Waffle reservation on Saturday lunchtime - I definitely didn't want to take any chances on this meal...

Duck and Waffle aside from it's intriguing name has an even more impressive draw - it is the highest restaurant in the UK, located on the 40th floor of the stunning Heron Tower, and offers unparalleled views of the London skyline...24 hours a day. Yes, that's right, 24 hours a day...so whether you fancy their infamous breakfast and brunch menu, their evening a la carte menu, or a cocktail and bar snacks in the early hours of the morning this restaurant can cater for all of your round the clock foodie fantasies.

Heron Tower in all it's glory

We arrived at Liverpool Street station in plenty of time and walked the 5 minutes or so to the base of the Heron Tower. I was like a child eagerly awaiting the lift to the top floor (I had heard how quick it was and being an avid roller coaster fan I was almost as excited for this as I was the actual meal!), however these excitements were soon quashed when we were told by the lady at reception that the Duck and Waffle was closed for the day. We could hardly believe it, we were told the lift had been damaged, (highly plausible taking account of the winds the previous night) but I got the sense that there may be a tiny possibility if we hung around a little longer some miracle may happen. And I was right...we were told (if willing) we could go up the staff lift, and of course we jumped at the chance - I mean we would have walked the stairs to the top if they had let us!

Beautiful View

The disappointment about not being able to use the main, super speedy lift, was evident, but soon dissipated when we actually realised we were actually getting to go 'behind the scenes' so to speak, and we did have a lot of laughs in the wooden box of a lift around the back!
The slight inconvenience was lessened even more by the complimentary champagne flute presented as we got our first glimpses of a birds eye view of London, which really is breath-taking come rain or shine.

Champagne

The Duck and Waffle itself is really quite small as restaurants go, and it isn't fussy at all, with more of a warehouse vibe rather than fussy pretension. The staff are all incredibly friendly and were more than accommodating when we told them that one of the diners on our table was intolerant to gluten by giving us gluten free bread where possible and advising us on the best choices to suit everyone's tastes.

Bar

Duck and Waffle Interior

Despite asking for a window table when we booked, unfortunately (but not unsurprisingly) this did not happen due to a rather slow moving table who sat and admired the view for a little (ok a lot) longer than the any of the floor team had expected! It was fine though, we were happy with our table in the centre of the restaurant, and could get up to wander around for photos whenever it took our fancy!

Dates wrapped in Bacon

The first plate to come was dates wrapped in bacon, with linguiça sausage and a dandelion salad. Although not being something our entire table wanted initially we all absolutely loved the flavour combinations, with the sweet date and spiced sausage complimenting the salty bacon and fresh salad faultlessly.

Homemade bread

This was accompanied by the Duck and Waffle signature home made bread, served with hand-churned butter and puglian olive oil. The bread was warm, and really delicious, unique in taste - quite earthy which I imagine may be something to do with the yeast, but very addictive, we finished it very quickly as by this point we had worked up quite an appetite.

Negroni & Bloody Mary

The champagne really got us in the mood for some lunchtime treats and being a party of four we thought it would be rude not to try each of the cocktail offerings on the brunch menu. I like a bitter cocktail so I opted for the negroni which was very nice, although maybe a little bitter for the first meal of the day!

Marmite Black Velvet & Mimosa  

My friend opted for the incredibly unique marmite black velvet which consisted of a marmite and Guinness reduction and champagne. I was allowed a sip, and I have to say, for a 'non-marmite' fan I found it incredibly tasty. Unique, unlike anything I have ever tried before, but I loved it, and would certainly recommend it for any marmite lover out there.

Crispy Pigs Ears

Being a restaurant which suggests a tapas style way of eating we ordered a number of things which took our fancy, and hoped it would be enough! The first of our choices was the crispy pigs ears. These came presented in a brown paper bag and had the restaurants signature 'seal of approval'. I thought the presentation was really nifty, and again highlighted the rustic and fuss free feel of the place.

Crispy Pigs Ears

The pork scratchings were BBQ spiced and were incredibly moreish - like the best example of homemade frazzle crisps - a personal favourite of mine as a child, I kept going back for more, and there was plenty to split between four for a bit of a nibble which made for a great taste bud teaser for the remainder of our lunch.

Essex Beets

The next dish was a beetroot and goat's curd salad, served with hazelnuts, capers and sherry vinegar. The dish was warm, which was an unexpected but welcome surprise, and the classic combination of goats cheese and beetroot did not disappoint. The addition of the crunch of the nuts and the salty capers worked incredibly well, and we were all rather happy we had ordered something fresh and (somewhat) healthy, as our meal was dominated by carbohydrate rich plates! This was one of my stand out dishes, I just wish there was another salad type option on the menu, I think it would add more variety and certainly for a larger table would be a very welcome addition if sharing the plates.



Smoked Scottish Salmon

We also opted for Scottish smoked salmon with accompaniments of a caper salad and crème fraiche. There isn't really much to say about this plate other than the fish was extremely fresh, and made for a welcome change from the rest of our hot dishes. Worth mentioning as well was the portion size, it was incredibly generous, and could easily be shared between 3 or 4 people as part of a meal alongside a number of the other small plates.

Wild Cornish Pollock Meatballs

Next we delved into the Pollock meatballs which were served swimming in a gorgeous orange lobster cream - much like a rich bisque, and Parmesan bread crumbs. I thought these were a triumph, the cream was divine, and the meatballs had a strange springy texture which made them feel more like a Thai fishcake as opposed to the more crumbly English varieties with (in my opinion) often far too much potato and not enough fish! Although the flatbread (below) was served alongside the salmon this also tasted wonderful dipped into the sweet bisque, and mopped up the juices great when we couldn't dip anymore!

Homemade Flatbread

Upon a twitter recommendation from the head chef I made sure we also opted for the Ox cheek doughnut. It was certainly the most intriguing of the dishes we ordered, and absolutely begged to be cut into and devoured. The coating itself was slightly spiced but also sweet, which matched the soft sweet dough so often associated with a 'typical' doughnut.

Spicy Ox Cheek Doughnut

However the real genius came when you tried it with the shredded ox cheek, which was rich and meaty, and fell apart in your mouth, complimenting the sweet apricot dipping sauce in a weird but wonderfully intelligent way. This dish, alongside the duck and waffle signature dish (below) certainly challenges your taste buds and gets you to re-think what you know about classic flavour combinations, a skill only the most accomplished and of course adventurous chefs could attempt with this much flair.

Inside Ox cheek doughnut

I think we would all be lying if we said that the final plates of food to reach our table weren't the ones we had been looking forward to since we booked a table some 2 months ago. We had to see what all the fuss was about, and were hoping (because they decided to name their restaurant after it!) that the 'Duck and Waffle' would live up to expectations. On paper, a crisp confit duck leg, a fried duck egg, sweet waffle and maple and mustard syrup could either be the biggest foodie car crash known to man, or the most ingenious plate of breakfast food to ever grace my mouth. Thankfully, it was the latter - and I should never have doubted it's brilliance.

The 'Duck and Waffle'

The duck itself was cooked to perfection, still moist, but with an wonderful crisp skin. The egg, vibrant and runny, when burst married the meat and waffle combination together, and the addition of the syrup elevated this plate to brunch heaven. It was classified as a sharing dish - and feeling my arteries harden somewhat after all of the delicious plates food we had previously devoured, I could see why. However if you are just visiting for the one dish you could easily polish off this plate individually - although I wouldn't recommend it, there are too many other brilliant dishes you shouldn't miss out on.

And one more view...couldn't resist!

The Duck and Waffle is well deserving of all of the hype it has received since opening in the Summer of 2012. The view is astounding, and the service impeccable, we felt very welcome - and despite the mishap with the lift at the start of the meal, this was rectified and apologised for numerous times throughout the course of the lunch...champagne is always a welcome distraction too of course!

The meal came to around £170 for the four of us, I think this is fabulous value for money - especially if you take off the pretty pricey cocktails at £14 a pop, the quality of the food, and the remarkable views of one of the best loved cities in the world make it a 'must do' London eatery in my mind. Even if I did miss the infamous lift I would highly recommend this restaurant, breakfast food, in my mind, will never quite be the same again.

http://duckandwaffle.com/