db Eats: Duck & Waffle

London is one of the world’s great cities, but for those who live within its beating heart, it’s easy to take it for granted. Preoccupied with the daily grind, you acclimatise to its grandeur and become desensitised to its majesty. That is, until you see it from a height.

Housed on the 40^th floor of the shiny Heron Tower – the tallest building in the City, Duck & Waffle affords you this privilege. Arriving at the restaurant, a doorman ushers you into a Willy Wonka-like great glass elevator that whizzes you up at giddying speed, forcing the concrete labyrinth to unfold in front of you like a pop-up book. Suddenly, everything from St Paul’s to Tower Bridge is in sharp focus and within touching distance. The city is brought closer to you in the most heart stopping and life affirming way.

Safely back on terra firma, the first thing you notice about Duck & Waffle is its refreshingly understated design. Floor-to-ceiling wraparound windows make the view the star of the show, rather than the pared down interiors dotted with cappuccino-coloured banquettes and marble topped tables.

Spicy ox cheek doughnut

Its most striking feature is a futuristic undulating golden ceiling. My dining buddy and I are sat at a table within kissing distance of the Gherkin and I find myself momentarily transfixed by the view.

Open 24/7, Duck & Waffle’s British and modern European menu devised by heavily inked head chef Daniel Doherty focuses around sharing plates including the likes of juicy giant Puglian olives and crispy pig’s ears with a spicy barbeque coating recalling bacon Frazzles.

Cocktails meanwhile, are shaken by D&W’s charismatic and cavalier head bartender Richard Woods, whose creations are influenced by Heston Blumenthal’s playful approach to ingredients. The Dark & Stormy therefore, comes in a guilt-inducing brown paper bag tied with a string, while the unlikely duo of rosemary and white truffle feature in a smooth and critic Whisky Sour.

Having read rhapsodising prose about the spicy ox cheek doughnut, I was keen to see what the fuss was all about. Expecting it to be modest in size, instead, I was presented with a giant sugar-coated sphere that looked like an ostrich Scotch egg. Undeterred, I rolled up my sleeves and pulled apart its paprika-laced russet shell, which revealed a fluffy interior generously stuffed with tender beef cheek.

Scallops

Running the gamut from a bonfire smoke beginning to a rich, meaty middle and sweet finish, as the waitress admitted, it’s a bit of a Marmite dish, but one that I loved.

So much so, having been defeated half way through, I was given the remainder in a doggy bag closed with a red wax seal baring a duck face – if only all restaurants were so accommodating.

Doherty’s playful nature was also evident in his scallop dish, served on what looked like a pink brick and turned out to be an ice-cold block of salt doused with lime. Resting on slithers of apple and topped with a razor-thin shaving of black truffle, the combination of the salt and the lip-smacking lime mirrored the invigorating freshness of a Peruvian ceviche minus the chili.

Having hoovered up the tiny delights, I picked up with pink block and licked it from end to end, savouring every last limey drop, much to my companion’s horror.

Doherty is not shy of bold flavours, in fact, he seems to go out of his way to whack you around the chops with punchy combinations, such as those found in his signature Duck & Waffle dish, featuring a fried duck egg balancing sunny side up on top of a hefty, crispy-skinned confit duck leg perched on a pair of fluffy waffles. The ensemble is designed to be bathed in the accompanying mustard maple syrup to create a clever sweet-savoury interplay.

Signature dish: duck & waffle

While the duck was exquisitely cooked, the mustard played truant from the maple, making the dish close to cloyingly sweet, but ideal for soothing killer hangovers at breakfast time.

Speaking of breakfast, having some sort of weird death wish, I proceeded to order the foie gras all-day breakfast, a tag team dish to the duck & waffle composed of two pillow thick slices of seared foie gras laying on a thick hunk of sweet brioche topped with bacon, a tiny quail egg and a swoosh of Nutella.

In hindsight, it was too similar to the superior duck & waffle to make a lasting impression, and the richness of each of the ingredients made the whole slightly unbalanced, though foie gras fans would lap up every last bite.

Lightening the mood was a zesty bitter leaf salad with stilton, orange and hazelnut that refreshed both my palate and my spirits. As did my strange but beautiful Bone Marrow Cosmopolitan, its citrus notes and sprig of fresh rosemary transporting me to the cicada-filled, sun-drenched south of France on this snowy March night.

Chocolate brownie and peanut butter ice cream

Suddenly, Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Song floats though the speakers and it feels as if I’m stuck in some Goundhog Day time warp of eternal winter. I take a large gulp of my Cosmo and think sunny thoughts.

Meanwhile, my death wish is almost fulfilled by dessert – an uncontrollable urge compels me to order the deep-fried Mars bar, which arrives peeping from a coffee cup with the wrapper balancing in the handle. It delivers everything you’d expect from a deep fried chocolate bar: warmth, fun and artery-clogging fat. In contrast, the warm chocolate brownie with peanut butter ice cream and crunchy caramel is just the right side of decadent.

Fearing I may need to be rolled into the lift like Violet Beauregarde in her blueberry phase, I leave Duck & Waffle, doggy bag in hand, utterly spent and deliriously happy.

While the food errs on the rich side, sometimes at the expense of elegance, dishes are reasonably priced and pleasingly filling. This is classy comfort food served by friendly staff in breathtakingly beautiful surroundings that make you fall in love with London all over again.

 Duck & Waffle, Heron Tower, 110 Bishopsgate, London EC2N 4AY; Tel: +44 (0)20 3640 7310