Duck & Waffle

I recently visited the much talked about Duck & Waffle, situated on the 40^th floor of the Heron Tower in the heart of The City with three friends, Hannah, Leila and Mindy.

Having heard much about the place since it opened in the summer, I was itching to try out a few of the dishes for myself and get a load of the much-applauded view.

The first exciting thing to happen was the journey up to the restaurant in the high-speed elevator that has some seriously spectacular views over the financial district and beyond – it really did put me in mind of Charlie & The Great Glass Elevator and immediately the big kid in me was awoken.

You are welcomed into the bar area as you come out of the elevator, and even though it was only 6:30pm (the only time we could get a table!) and early in the week too, the bar was quite busy and had a great vibe. As I generally come home from anywhere in London via Liverpool Street station, I can see this being a regular watering hole on the way home!

We were shown to our table in the smart interior of the restaurant, and we immediately selected some mocktails (a combination of antibiotics, drivers and December hangovers prevented us from drinking). I had a Virgin Mary, which wasn’t on the menu but which was happily provided for me and was delicious with a fiery kick – perfect for the cold evening it was. 

Garlic & Rosemary Bread

The ‘All Day’ menu is separated into different sections, all aimed at being sharing dishes, and with lots of cheeky sounding, fun things on the menu. From the snacks menu I simply insisted on ordering the BBQ Spiced Pig Ears. From here we also chose the Rosemary & Garlic Bread and the retro sounding battered sausages. As suspected the pig ears were ridiculously good, tasting like pork scratchings, but less meaty – they were SO moreish and I literally couldn’t stop eating them until there was none left in the brown paper bag that they arrived in, complete with rubber, branded seal.

BBQ Spiced Pig Ears

The Rosemary & Garlic bread was tasty, the garlic was roasted beautifully sweet and the bread was topped with crunchy sea salt so made for a great flavour combination. The battered sausages were exactly that, although good quality, frankly I liked them as a schoolgirl for the naughtiness they represent, and they are still as good today, as a 28 year old.

From the ‘Cold Cuts’ section of the menu we simply selected the Rabbit Rillette that came on crunchy sourdough bread. This was lovely, meaty, juicy and exactly as a pâté should be – with the gentle flavours of a mild oniony chutney enhancing the delicate and sweet rabbit meat. A great dish.

Crab on Toast

We selected three more dishes, all from the ‘Small Plates’ section. I was quite keen to try the Spicy Ox Cheek Doughnut which comes with an apricot jam, but my friend Leila who’d visited before has said how she was under-whelmed by it previously so we omitted this one – but after reading another recent review, I will definitely be giving this a try next time (there will be a next time).

Instead we opted for the Hake and Haricot Beans, my old favourite – Crab on Toast, and Clams with Nduja. 

Rabbit Rillette

Regular readers will no-doubt notice a pattern between my being unable to resist crab on toast wherever it is on offer, and I’m unashamed of this fact – it is simple, delicious and a beautiful, beautiful thing when it’s done well, as it was, once again at Duck & Waffle.

The Hake and Haricot Bean casserole was for me, the one dud dish of the day. The Hake was ever so slightly over-done, but was flavoured well in a saffron-hinged sauce but the beans were so underdone to the point of being crunchy and just simply weren’t enjoyable – such a shame.

Hake & Haricot Beans

Our final dish, the Clams with Nduja was a triumph, served with a crunchy flat bread and a plentiful dish, the clams were seasoned well in a herby, Nduja flavoured broth – it really was a delight and mopping up the juices with the bread was a joy.

Clam with Nduja

All in all I would say the views at the Duck & Waffle are worth the visit up the great glass elevator alone for a drink, but the food is pretty bloody good too. Our waiter was attentive, friendly and knowledgeable helping us decide with drinks and food dishes too and the value for money was also good. We paid £104 (including service) for all of the above dishes, one gin, a round of mocktails plus water for the table and some olives which given the quality and the fun-factor I thought was really reasonable. Next time I go I want to try the Ox Cheek Doughnut for sure and something from the ‘Large Plates’ section of the menu – but the smaller plates option means you could pop in for lunch or a quick bite too, which is great.

Duck & Waffle really has a fun, almost child-like vibe and I can see this being a popular venue for city workers for a long time, the impressive views across London make it a great place to entertain clients, friends or even a date.

For once, one of these seriously talked about venues, truly has lived up to the hype.

The Opera Tavern

This venue has been on my ‘wish-list’ for a while and during August I finally got to see what all the fuss was all about. Tucked away just outside of Covent Garden, The Opera Tavern specialises in Italian and Spanish tapas and so my lovely dad was the obvious companion for this jaunt – Spanish tapas is his absolute favourite. We had tickets for the Women’s Football Final at London 2012 and enjoyed a lovely meal here prior to a fantastic and atmospheric evening at Wembley stadium.


The downstairs area where we were seated, close to the open charcoal grill, was small but perfectly formed, smartly attired with stalls at the bar. We were in a bit of a rush so ordered straight away following some enthusiastic and knowledgeable recommendations from our friendly Spanish waitress.

My dad couldn’t help ordering the Italian Scotch Egg, which he loved – with a soft, perfectly cooked egg, covered in citrus-infused Italian sausage meat and herby breadcrumbs. Eggs are one of the few things that I just don’t like, so I left my dad to enjoy this, which he did so immensely – in fact he said it was the best one he’d ever had and would have happily ordered another if we didn’t have a full flurry of dishes coming our way. It did look very appetising too, though I didn’t try this.

One of the signature dishes at The Opera Tavern is the Mini Ibérico Pork and Foie Gras Burger – I’ve read lots about this dish from reviewers and other bloggers and so was keen to try it. The Ibérico pork at The Opera Tavern is imported directly from Spain, and the actual patty with the foie gras running through was divine, nicely pink and juicy in the middle and with an incredible flavour, an outstanding quality of meat. A little melted cheese and some gloriously sweet red onion chutney were included in the soft burger bun, with a little aioli and this was served on a board with a mild green chilli. It’s the kind of dish I’d happily pop into the restaurant for on my own and order with a Cruz Campo – one of my favourite bottled beers and sit happily at the bar with – gorgeous.

We also tried the Roasted Scallops with Braised Peas and Prosciutto, Pea Purée and Truffle Butter, which was presented beautifully on a slate in the shells. The scallops were ever so slightly over-cooked which was a shame but the flavours together were good and I can see that this would be a good dish.

 

Another dish that looked exceptionally pretty was the Roasted Salt Hake with Saffron and Almond Sauce, Courgettes and Broad Beans. This was one of my favourite dishes – the fleshy white fish was cooked just right so it flaked away nicely and with the flavours of the saffron and almond evident in the customary yellow hued sauce which had clearly been made with some glorious fish-stock as there was a definite flavour of the sea on this plate. The seasonal courgette and broad beans added to this dish, and again this is something I’d order if I were to visit again.

One of the standout dishes of the evening was the Confit of Old Spot Pork Belly with Rosemary Scented Cannellini Beans. Now, my pictures really don’t do these dishes justice as the presentation was fantastic throughout, and I’d forgotten my camera so had to rely on my battered Blackberry, and for this dish in particular, the meat looks quite dry in the picture. It wasn’t at all – it had been slow cooked and the meat fell apart with a delicious overall flavour. Coupled with the rosemary-infused white beans this was really delicious, and something I’ll be trying to recreate at home. 

Our final dish was a salad of Buffalo Mozzarella and Heritage Tomato’s with Grilled Peaches, Thyme and crunchy breadcrumbs. I’d never have thought of combining peaches in such a salad but it was lovely, and the mozzarella had just the right amount of salt to contrast with the sweet flavours.


As we’re both greedy sorts, we couldn’t resist trying one each of the desserts – my dad had the Calasparra Rice Pudding with New Season’s Cherries, Marcona Almond Ice Cream and Fresh Thyme which he practically inhaled, despite complaining that he wasn’t keen on the thyme used in a dessert. I tried this and was delighted to find it was nothing like any other rice pudding I’ve endured, it was rich, creamy and flavoursome with a savoury edge. Our waitress once again gave me her recommendation for the best pudding and so I took her advice and opted for the Cold Chocolate Fondant with Salted PX Caramel and Milk Ice Cream. This was a chocolate-lovers choice and so suited me perfectly. The fondant was soft, mousse-like and pure, dark chocolate heaven and the ice cream was frankly to die for. It was a good note to end on. This was a great meal, thoroughly enjoyed and with great service to boot. I’d recommend The Opera Tavern to anybody who likes tapas and a laid-back atmosphere.

(Apologies for the dodgy photography - it was courtesy of my not-so-fabulous phone and for some reason I'm unable to rotate them so if anybody has any pointers on why this might be please do let me know!)