Sunday 23 September 2012

No waffle: Duck and Waffle

It's the opportunity to take in some of the most breath taking views in London that excited me most about visiting Duck and Waffle. Located on the 40th floor of the Heron Town, the restaurant boasts an incredibly swanky cocktail bar and post-modern dining room that is not only astonishingly beautiful but is also incredibly trendy to hang out in, if you can get past the sea of suited up city-types.


Soon to go 24 hours, D&W is sister to the American chain SUSHISAMBA, but brings a very modern British style to the family. The menu is made up of a number of small plates including breads and bar snacks, raw, small plates, brick oven (served in hot skillets), and for the table. Unlike much of the other restaurants who have jumped on the small plate bandwagon, D&W offers hearty and rich meals meaning you don't need to go crazy and order one of everything on the menu.

The pigs ears were a great bar snack and worth a try but not really my bag. They were deep fried, crunchy and flavoured with a salty BBQ seasoning that I unfortunately relate too closely to Texas BBQ Pringles. The mackerel tartare was citrusy, dressed well and finished with creme fraiche. Served slightly too chilled, the fishy flavours didn't really surface until the dish had rested on the table for a short time. Compliments of the chef, the raw scallops were excellent. Fresh and served resting on lime dressed apple slices on top of a salt block, they were a very pleasant surprise.

Feeling brave in saying so, my favourite dish of the night was the foie gras all day breakfast. Seemingly controversial amongst fellow bloggers, the dish is inventive and worth a try if only to decide you hate it. Fried quails egg, crisp streaky bacon and duck foie gras sat on top chocolate-hazelnut spread bread, the whole thing is dressed with maple syrup and finished with black puddings. For me, this dish worked incredibly well as a whole. The foie gras was rich and almost melted on the toast with the creamy egg. The saltiness of the bacon brought out not only the richness of the foie gras and egg but also the surprising sweetness off the chocolate. Not necessarily needed but a nice addition, the black pudding was rich but under seasoned. My dinner partner however, felt almost the opposite about this dish claiming the chocolate simply overpowered it all. I agree in essence this may be the case for some but if you get the good side with just the right amount of chocolate the dish is perfect.


bbq-spiced crispy pig ears / £4


mackerel tartare / pickled cucumber / smoked vodka / crème fraîche / £6


foie gras all day breakfast / £12


shetland mussels & clams / n’duja / fennel broth / house bread / £10


roasted essex beetroot / goat curd / honey / watercress / £8

In some places the food was hit and miss, but hey let's put it down to teething problems. After discovering the rather exciting breakfast menu I have booked a table to return later this month. This is saying something as I rarely find time to re-visit a restaurant in London. I expect I will be blown away again by what will this time be an early morning view of London waking up. I can only hope the food impresses me again in round two.

Duck & Waffle on Urbanspoon

Thursday 6 September 2012

What it says on the tin: Burger & Lobster


Burger & Lobster indulgently offers but three things on it's menu: whole lobster, beef burger and what is essentially a lobster burger. Despite my review being so brief, the hype that has surrounded B&L for what must be going on a year is completely warranted. Quite simply B&L delivers well cooked, tasty, quick and affordable lobster (and a burger that also looks good).

There is the inclination that you're getting best value for money with the whole lobster. With a side salad and fries it's an easy choice for £20. The lobster is fresh out of the tank in front of you and comes steamed or grilled. Our lobster was cooked well. That said my only criticism is that for a restaurant that sets out to do only one thing they should do it impeccably well. The lobsters that came out for the diners next to us were far too charcoal verging on what looked to be inedible. Had one of those landed in front of me I would have sent it back - something I never do.



The lobster roll is more an exciting offer. What appears to be a whole lobster is chopped, dressed in Japanese mayonnaise and chives and stuffed into an intensely buttery brioche roll. It may look small, but once you take the first bite you soon realise it's not only overwhelmingly rich but also overwhelmingly filling.

Both the lobster and roll come with a garlic butter, which if your arteries can bare to endure is delicious. As are the thin cut fries and sentiment of a salad.

There is a reason people are still raving about Burger and Lobster. It is what it is. You should go, and go with the confidence that you'll be getting a lot of good, fresh seafood that would cost more elsewhere.

Burger & Lobster on Urbanspoon