Fenchurch Bar and Grill, Sky Garden, 20 Fenchurch Street, London EC3M 3BY

Fenchurch Bar and Grill, Sky Garden, 20 Fenchurch Street, London EC3M 3BY

www.skygarden.london

07/01/2015

She said: The infamous walkie-talkie is open. We booked the Fenchurch Bar and Grill which was billed as the refined dining location set on the 37^th floor. We marched up to 20 Fenchurch Street reception only to be told the Sky Garden entrance is located at a side entrance around the corner. The receptionist had better get used to giving those instructions to wayward Sky Garden visitors. There was a short line at the ground floor reception to Sky Garden with two people seemingly sitting at the reception desk but only one functioning (the other remained fixated on a computer screen). When we reached the front of the line the supposedly functioning receptionist also decided to type on her screen for a few minutes before attending to us. We were then given a security pass and told to move towards the security check. The security check was equally silly and po-faced. Not the best welcome and anyone planning a business lunch will need to factor in extra time for all the faffing. We finally entered a lift which took us to the 35^th floor. Okay, now I can wow. The lifts opened onto a vast, jaw-dropping glass dome with the best views of London I have ever seen. Aside from a modest, circular bar, the rest of the space offers chic seating and plenty of room to amble. This level is flanked by a cascade of greenery and we were told to walk up to the top of a long flight of stairs to the Fenchurch. I oohed, and gasped at the breathtaking views all the way up until we entered the restaurant. Confusion followed. Who creates a fine dining restaurant in such a location to then not offer the very views the building is expected to showcase? Fenchurch is a chic looking space but the majority of tables look onto a steel and glass roofing frame and the floor below rather than out to the spectacular London skyline. There are about four tables along the rear side of the restaurant which do offer views and we were luckily seated at one of these. The menu was good and the food excellent. My Jerusalem soup divine and the sea bass also gets top marks. Everything was presented beautifully. There was a bit of a heavy push on getting us to purchase alcohol (first cocktails, then wine and even a champagne trolley pulling up) which made me wonder how non-drinking clients would cope but otherwise the dining experience was superb. We had a look in the Darwin Brasserie on the way down, which is billed as a more casual dining experience and it was certainly busier, noisier and a more informal space. But again Darwin did not benefit from the setting, even if the views were marginally better than Fenchurch with it being a little further down from the roof. This is therefore an odd review to write, as Fenchurch was a lovely restaurant in terms of food, service and décor and the walk through the bar space is very cool but I just don’t get why neither restaurant actually capitalises on the location?

He said: The Walkie Talkie is the ugliest skyscraper built in London after the Shreking monstrous BT tower. From a distance it is so hideously ungainly and lumpy that it could have only been built by someone's mate. And, by modern restaurant standards, getting into Fenchurch is about as pleasant as clearing security at Kabul airport: metal detector, and slow credential checks in a very noisy and poorly designed entrance. But once the elevator doors open on the magical Sky Garden all is forgiven. The view is breathtaking, no doubt the best in town.  And while high buildings are generally small and awkward spaces at the top, the Walkie Talkie's horrifically bloated upper floors become, seen from inside, a vast cathedral of steel and glass, every window filled with the mesmerising miracle of London. Tear yourself away from the view and behold this giant greenhouse packed with vegetation, like a botanical Noah's ark In the sky.  And set in the centre of all this, three eateries stacked on top of each other, in ascending order of price: cafe, brasserie, restaurant but, paradoxically and because of the weird architecture, with a descending quality of view.  We met for lunch in the restaurant, our table set at one end of the room, and giving us the best view over the city; tables on the long side of the room have practically no view because of the way the steel supports stack along the curved roof. But for me that was the only false note: flavours were excellent, portion size spot on, and the plating quite beautiful. The price was absolutely fair; Fenchurch could certainly have charged more, so definitely get there before they do. Me I'll go to the cafe next time: it's all standard stuff, paninis and brownies but in an amazing setting and at Pret prices.