Aqua Shard

With a few days of holiday left, I decided to go for a lunch date with Sheepa at the Aqua Shard :) Having been to The View From The Shard last year, I was keen to know what the food would be like.

On the menu, there was a choice of a la carte or a 3 course set menu for £34. Everything sounded great on the latter so we opted for that.

For starters, Sheepa had the Cornish beetroot carppacio with mandarin jelly, green salad and beetroot ice cream.

I went for the celeriac soup, which came with smoked potato, chestnuts and truffle oil. Our waitress cheekily served me a bowl with just the dry ingredients and I was about to say I didn't order this when she laughed and came back with my soup :)

I loved the thin vegetable crisps on the top, and the smokey pieces of potato. Everything was full of flavour but accompanied each other so well.

For mains, I had already set my heart and tastebuds on the Jack Be Little pumpkin risotto with crushed chestnuts and crispy sage (I asked them to omit the ricotta). It was delicious, warming and comforting. The risotto had been cooked perfectly and the sauce well seasoned. I loved the vibrant green, crispy sage leaves on top, which added a brightness to the plate :)

Sheepa went for the seared seabass, with cauliflower cream, broccoli, honey and ginger dressing. At first they brought out venison but quickly replaced it with the correct dish but they missed out the dressing! Although Sheepa assured me the fish was well cooked and seasoned, she essentially had been served a seared fish with vegetables. 

For dessert, I couldn't decided between the milk chocolate cranberry and chestnut Yule log and an a la carte dessert - Vivienne Westwood and Cool Earth. After much deliberation, I chose the latter. 

When it arrived, the presentation was so pretty and looked elegant with the dainty, colourful white chocolate butterflies. The little meringue was sweet on the initial crunch but then had a burst of sharpness, which was refreshing. The cranberry cream was quite tart that it was spine tingling if you had too much. The mulled wine jelly was smaller than a wine gum but full of fruity flavours. I just wish there had been more of it :( Also, in case you need to be tempted into dessert, half of the money goes towards the charity Cool Earth. 

After we had settled the bill, we walked around. It was was such a different scene once the sun had gone down. We were unfortunate with the day time weather and had to look at a grey London. But at night, the lights had been switched on, making it such a pretty sight. The view in the bathroom is also nice too. Do be warned, the toilets are like going into a mirror maze and it continues in each individual cubicle so you can watch yourself pee in 6 different angles (just in case it was on your bucket list).

I was still hungry after 3 courses but if you're after a well-presented meal with a view of London from the 31st floor (hopefully you'll have a sunny day if you're going for lunch), then Aqua Shard is for you.