After hearing aplenty of the famed Duck & Waffle, dining at the UK’s highest restaurant made it to the top of my housemate’s bucket list. Little did I know that joining in on the realization of her to-dos would place me far above London on the fortieth floor of Heron Tower. Not actually having heard any of the hullabaloo surrounding Duck & Waffle myself, you can imagine my pleasure of the entire experience.

 

 

Before stepping a single foot in the restaurant, I was already on an exhilarating, even nostalgic kind of ride. One of two great glass elevators transports you to the restaurant, nearly at the top of Heron Tower. The smooth takeoff, bullet speed, expansive sights: Charlie Bucket and I must have shared similar feelings of delight and awe.

​

The entrance is a bit awkward, as you have to walk along a corridor past the bathrooms to the bar. Once at the bar, there’s a desk that looks suspiciously like the hostess stand, only there’s no one behind it. The other peculiar thing is people will allow you to stand there as long as it takes for you to realize that the front desk of the restaurant is actually on the other side of the bar.

 

Once you’re finally seated and able to put that mildly bizarre entrance behind you, it’s really hard not to find yourself in an exalted mood. The restaurant boasts floor to ceiling windows on three sides, and the views in the day are just as dazzling at night. The floor staff is unobtrusively attentive, except this first time we had a server who was a bit pushy in trying to get us to order things we didn’t want, and she kept cracking jokes that weren’t funny and didn’t make sense. Bless her though; she was trying.

 

 

And now, what we’ve all been waiting for—the signature duck and waffle. Duck confit, a salt-cured duck leg cooked in its own fat resulting in moist, tender meat encased in a delectably crispy skin, plated on a soft, Belgian waffle with a perfectly sunny egg to top it all off. No waffle is complete without syrup, and this one comes with a mustard-infused maple variety, however despite being visible, the whole-grain is not really palatable in my opinion. The dish is an impeccable composite of flavors and textures, amalgamating the sweet with the savory, the gooey with the crispy and the fluffy.

 

 

While the menu flourishes countless other offerings from ox cheek grilled cheese to foie gras crème brûlée, I’ve never had anything during my revisits as satisfying or impressive as the namesake duck and waffle. I guess there’s a reason why they named the whole joint after it. And you’re meant to order a number of different items and share them, thus allowing a wider sample of the British and European inspired menu, but you’ll soon learn that the duck and waffle isn’t exactly ideal for sharing. The portion is quite small and the dish is so good, you’ll be hogging the entire thing anyway.

 

Duck & Waffle presents a wow-factor across multiple levels, and probably one of the best parts is the fact that it’s open 24 hours. Despite the fact that they’re serving at all hours of the day, it’s always a good idea to make a booking whenever possible, especially for prime times such as weekend brunch or weekday lunch. To be expected, the prices are less than modest (the duck and waffle comes at £17), so not ideal for your regular lunch spot but magnificent for bringing guests from out of town. Because of its convenient location in east London, the restaurant is also primo after a drunken night out when you’re more inclined to shell out a few extra pounds.

​

​

​

​

THE DEETS

 

Brunch

Duck and Waffle, Heron Tower, 110 Bishopsgate, London EC2N 4AY, +020 3640 7310, http://duckandwaffle.com. Closest tube Liverpool Street. Expensive.