607ft above London you'll find Duck and Waffle.

The 40th floor of Heron Tower to be precise. Having the accolade of Britain's highest restaurant is definitely something impressive. Even if the trip in the glass sided lift caused me to squeeze my eyes shut and mutter obscenities, not quite, under my breath.

As the end of the year drew to a close my best friend and I chose to celebrate our annual tradition of wearing red and drinking gin with lunch at Duck and Waffle. Admittedly no gin was consumed here, but there was plenty to be had later in the day. 

Off we went. Up the frankly, terrifying lift, greeted and seated by a table around the edge of the restaurant. This gave us a front row seat to the stunning views of London. The floor length window showing exactly why there should be a restaurant that high and making the vertical journey more than worthwhile.  I have heard rumours about customers requesting a discount if the weather rendered the view unpleasing and while, yes, it was raining, I found that only heightened the feeling of being in London. Drizzly yet beautiful.

No sooner were we seated than we were sipping on our complimentary prosecco, thanks to my bestie booking us a good deal, and presented with a menu of various delights. There were so many choices it was hard to narrow down what we were going to enjoy first.

The menu, crafted by Executive Chef Dan Doherty and his superb team, is based on sharing plates. Portions for you to pick and choose from, and inevitably fight over the last piece. Just like at home.

With this in mind we selected a moderate 6 items. Our server advised that she would be able to 'design' our meal and bring our choices out throughout the meal. This seemed like a sensible idea especially as, although it was a great table, it wouldn't have all fit.

We started with bread.
Not just any bread, freshly baked and covered with onion jam and oozy stilton. When I stay covered I mean covered. In normal circumstances it would be considered rude to fill up on bread. No one would blame you for filling up on this bread. 

Next to arrive were my personal favourites of the whole day. Polenta with Parmesan and truffle. Bitesize morsels of soft polenta and cheese, lightly breadcrumbed and fried served on top truffle mayonnaise. I dream of these. We had to order a second helping because we foolish forgot to photograph them and missed them once they were gone.
Once I figure out the correct cheese to polenta ratio I may never eat anything else. Except of course Adam Handling's crab doughnuts.

Pollock meatballs with lobster cream and parmesan arrived next. Lobster cream, two words that will automatically get my attention. The meatballs were soft and delicate with a hint t of aniseed, I assume dill or fennel but may be mistaken. The lobster cream was rich, yet light and the parmesan added a slight oozy quality and it was finally topped with crispy breadcrumbs. There were 4. I ate 3. I regret nothing.

One of the main reasons for this trip was my best friend recently had a beautiful baby girl and this would be our first outing since she arrived in the world. My friend is also a huge fan of a steak tartare, 9 months without a stake tartare for her was very difficult. D&W's tartare consisted of angus beef, pickled onions, mustard, marmite egg yolk and dripping croutes.

The beef was beautifully tender and flavourful, the mustard had the perfect background heat and the pickled onions were sweet and sharp with slight crunch. I was a little reserved about the marmite egg yolk as I am on the hate it side of the fence with the small black jar. When I tried the egg yolk however the marmite seemed to add a milder flavour and subtle savoury flavour. The only thing I would have liked is more croutes. For texture but mainly because they were really tasty.

I love a doughnut. If you've read my many many many accounts of a crab doughnuts you know this well. I decided to branch out on my savoury doughnut experience with Dan Doherty's Ox Cheek stuffed doughnut. Bigger than my fist, chock full of slow cooked, spiced ox cheek, rolled in paprika and caster sugar and resting on a pool of sharp and sweet apricot jam. Smoky, sweet, spicy, crispy and soft. Almost all flavour combinations in one and it was glorious. Unfortunately my stomach was starting to protest at the sheer volume I had consumed and this was left unfinished.

No trip to Duck and Waffle would be complete without trying its namesake. a soft, freshly made made waffle, topped with a crispy confit duck leg, fried duck egg and a mustard maple syrup on the side. My friend was a little skeptical, and not the biggest fan of combining savoury and sweet. This turned her around. The waffle had more of a brioche flavour than that of typical waffles so wasn’t as sweet as we expected, the same with the mustard syrup, the slight heat just took the edge off the normally sickly sweetness of maple syrup. Not to bad mouth syrup of course. The leg itself was simply outstanding, the meat fell from the bones and the skin was perfectly crisp. The rich, slick egg yolk pulled it all together, almost forming a sauce with the syrup. Few restaurants can be named after a dish and what a dish to be named after.

After all of this one would think that a stomach could not fit anything else in. They would be right it was purely out of perseverance, gluttony and probably a smidgen of idiocy that dessert was also ordered. I went for the buttermilk and roasted corn mousse with popcorn, chocolate, pistachio and crispy milk. My friend on the other hand had a tiny bit more self control and opted for an espresso martini. 

My favourite desserts are always those that air on the side of caution with sweetness. Enough to hit the spot but not too much to render me a little too full. The mousse was as light and smooth as you could ever imagine with the faint sourness of the buttermilk. The flavour of the corn doesn’t hit you but rather lingers subtle and almost unexpected. The ice cream rich and the crispy milk and popcorn provided enough texture to keep you intrigued. The espresso martini was one of the best I have tried as well. 

All in all Duck and Waffle was all I wanted it to be, aside from the mild heart attack on the way down in the lift. My only regrets are getting too full too quickly and not managing to catch Dan Doherty to sign a copy of his book. Luckily this means a revisit is definitely on the cards. 

See you soon London.