Visiting the Shard

Views from the Shard
 

One of London’s newest attractions is the Shard, an 87 storey skyscraper consisting of offices, restaurants and a hotel, which together form Europe’s tallest building. For £25 for adult or £19 for children you can travel to the 68th floor to experience a 360 degree view from 800ft above the city.

However there is another way to enjoy the view from the shard as part of a night out. The shard currently has three restaurants, the Oblix and Aqua shard, both modern European styles with grilled meat and fish and Hutong a top end Chinese restaurant. Tables for these can be booked in two hour slots, with tables by the windows.

Oblix and Hutong are the premium restaurants with a three course meal plus wine costing over £100 per person, while Aqua Shard is slightly cheaper coming in at around £60-£75 person inc. wine.

These restaurants are fairly new and still experiencing teething problems, but the service is outstanding and very professional. Customers are asked at every stage whether things are ok with your evening, but we were advised that Saturday nights were “hectic” and that Sunday was much calmer.

The food at Aqua was expensive for what it was and the drinks were also pricey, but it must be remembered that you are paying for the overall experience and that is hard to beat with a street level venue. Their rib eye steak was £33 without sides, but was very well cooked and a good cut, however the rest of the menu was overly fussy and he steak was the most simple dish by far. Also a lack of side options was a disappointment.

If you do want to experience the restaurant but do not fancy paying the inflated food prices you could always get there early and grab a table by the bar and share a bottle of wine or comfort one of their cocktails, which will set you back around £14 per person and being on the 32nd floor you still get some of the best views in town!

 

Eating at Shards restaurants

To book the restaurants:

RESERVATIONS:

+44(0)20 7268 6700

INFO@OBLIXRESTAURANT.COM
WWW.OBLIXRESTAURANT.COM

HUTONG AND AQUA SHARD ARE NOW OPEN

RESERVATIONS:

+44(0)20 7478 0540
RESERVATION@AQUA-LONDON.COM
WWW.HUTONG.CO.UK
WWW.AQUASHARD.CO.UK

Views from the shard viewing platform:

£24.95 for adults
£18.95 for children

https://www.evanevanstours.co.uk/agent/view-from-the-shard.asp