Duck & Waffle

The new restaurant on the 42nd floor of Heron Tower on Liverpool street.
Its more for the view really...
The food was so so.  Most of the dishes were very stodgy.  was quite disappointed

Spicy Ox cheek doughnut with apricot jam

It was coated with tonssssss of paprika.  

The dough with a bit too thick without much ox cheek inside

Its signature dish - Duck & waffle, served with maple syrup

creamy duck egg served on top of a confit duck leg.  

it's not bad.. 

bbq pork ears 

it's quite nice but we've noticed some hair still attached to it.. 

Texture

Went there for the set lunch menu 

It's not far from Selfridges with very grand interior but still very relax atmosphere.

Forgot to take photo of the starter and amuse bouche

For amuse bouche we had a bowl of thin wafer with minty yogurt dips. 

Then we were served a small bowl of cold carrot soup which I wasn't a fan of. 

Their sour dough was veryyy nice - crusty and meaty in the middle

We had Salmon ceviche as starter which was beautifully presented, light and refreshing

Main - Duck 

The portion was very big

There was one piece of duck breast and 2 legs! 

The skin was crispy and the meat was moist and pink :)

Dessert - Earl grey chocolate ganache with icecream 

Star anise macaroon - the ganache was too soft and the shell was too hard

Cardamon Chocolate Truffle was nice

On the whole.. the food was nice but not very exciting

It was very good value though - roughly 30 quid per person incl service

Via Jante - 2nd visit

We really enjoyed our visit last time so decided to go again :)  (Last visit)

However, I have to say I'm slightly disappointed. 

Before we went there, I have sent them the menu we had last time and said if possible, it would be great if they could try and serve us something different.  

However, they have paid no effort to accommodate at all ... so same old dishes.  

I'm not expecting them to plan a whole new menu for me.  However there are people who ordered 9 courses and with us ordering just 6 courses - can they not move the dishes around and serve us something different? 

It was very disappointing... 

The food was still very good but just not as exciting as the first time. 

We probably won't go there again in the near future.  

Ameijoa Bulhao pato 

It is not the normal type of razor clam.. cant remember exactly which breed it was... 

It tasted a bit jelly like. very light.  A nice start :)

we had this last time already. 

Amaranth with sorrel - with popcorn crumbs

I find it a bit dry this time round

Drumstick beans with goatscurd

Gordal olive soup

Their bread is always good - potato baguette + pancetta flat bread

Love their butter - very light and soft with some crunchy bits on top 

On the right - the butter was smoked  with crispy chicken skin on top

Potato with yeast

- this is our fav canape out of all 

we had something similar last time but this time it is served with a little piece of olive bread 

Langoustine with Brussel Sprouts and rye

- lovely langoustine with flavoured oil. 

Brussel sprout is still not very pleasant to eat even at Michelin star restaurant :p

bitter and doesnt add to the dish

Pike with roe and egg yolk

We love this dish.  Pike was cured - very soft and oily

Another one pleaseee

Brill with vanilla and daikon

- very light, with the fish perfectly cooked

couldn't really taste the vanilla

Salsify with spruce bark and black truffle

Iberico Presa with fermented squash

The pork tasted soooooo gooooood. Soft and juicy.  

Palette cleanser - Cucumber with reduced milk and lemon

We've had that last time too

very refreshing  

Milk - had that too 

It was very pleasant to eat.. just a bit boring to have the same thing again .. 

Brought my nice camera this time and took a few photos of the open kitchen/ interior

 

Chef busy cooking 

We asked for a table facing the open kitchen. 

It is always fun to watch how they carefully put the plate together 

Ottolenghi, Islington

With a window display as amazing as this... who can resist dropping by for a quick bite! 

It was very packed.  I personally don't really like long benches.. 

Had to wait for a while for a table.  

It gives you no privacy at all.  

We were there for lunch.  All the food was cold.  

For roughly 14 quid -  you can choose 

- one main course out of 5? choices - beef , salmon, chicken.. quoinoa burger, quiche,

2 side dishes - e.g. roasted fennel/ rice/ butternut squash etc

Everything perfectly seasoned

A lot of nice cold side dishes.  perfectly seasoned.  

We weren't very hungry so we shared one between the two of us with a bread platter - which was lovelyyy 

Love their corn bread

We had  Seared English fillet of beef with sour cream, mustard, horseradish, tahini and rocket sauce as main and for side dish, we chose

- Roasted aubergine with spicy nuts and seeds, Iranian lime yoghurt, harissa and pomegranate

  - Roasted kohlrabi, wintergreens and cavolo nero with chilli, fish sauce, coriander and sesame seeds

Fresh mint tea and macciato 

THIS WAS SOOOO GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDD

Passionfruit Meringue tart. 

Very soft and rich passionfruit curd.  Thin crispy pastry. 

Soft meringue

Unfortunately, I had to share this tiny tart with my husband..haha

I could have finished a few of them by myself