Harden's survey result
Summary
Zooming up to the 38th floor of the Heron Tower in one of Europe’s fastest lifts… looking out with a cocktail on an open terrace overlooking the scrapers of the City, it’s easy to get swept up by the glamour of the original, “buzzy” branch of this US-based chain. And its popular WC2 spin-off is also “always a pleasure to visit”: looking out onto the back of the Royal Opera House from the huge terrace on the top of Covent Garden Market. Fans say the luxe, Japanese/South American fusion cuisine in both locations – taquitos, sushi, steaks, samba rolls, black cod from the robata – is “delicious and remarkably inventive” too. But ratings for it have sunk post-Covid, and while pricing here has always been toppy, there is a growing gripe that “food which is average at best is accompanied by a bill that’s distinctly not average!”
Summary
“Views are to die for” on the “glitzy” 38th floor of the Heron Tower, which – with its swish bar, outside terrace and vibrant dining space is “still a great place to see and be seen!” With “imaginative” and luxurious Japanese/South American fusion cuisine, the City branch of this US-based group should have it all, but enjoyment is blunted by the “exorbitant bill” and “service that seems like it’s ‘dialled in’”. The Covent Garden location, on the first floor of the market itself and with a large outside terrace overlooking the back of the Royal Opera House, also occupies a prime London site: feedback is more limited, but similar in tone.
Summary
“A fun night out” is not in doubt at this glitzy (if ever-so slightly “impersonal”) duo: be it on the 38th floor of the City’s Heron Tower (accessed via western Europe’s fastest lifts); or perched at the top of Covent Garden market, overlooking the back of the Royal Opera House. You get superb views in either location (particularly in the Square Mile, with its über-glam rooftop bars), plus “loud party music and great cocktails”. And, in fact, the Japanese/South American fusion food is yummy too. It’s just so “horrendously overpriced” that for a large proportion of folks it’s just “not really worth it”. The US-based group is an international one, with venues in Las Vegas and (scheduled for late 2021) Dubai.
Summary
“The lift ride up to the 39th floor is part of the fun”, when you visit the “amazing” City branch, in the Heron Tower, of this US-based chain (with siblings in Vegas and Miami): a Hollywood-esque scene, complete with a ritzy cocktail bar; vertigo-inducing outside terrace; and svelte dining room boasting “incredible views”. But while it can offer an all-round “great experience” – not least “fabulous” funky, fusion fare – its “pretty-looking” dishes come at extragalactic prices and sceptics feel that “you can eat this style of cuisine better elsewhere” nowadays. (Gripes of an overly “sweet note” to dishes also crept in this year). Its two-year-old WC2 sibling likewise has a superb setting on top of Covent Garden Market, overlooking the back of the Royal Opera House. But while it, too, is “all very slick and fashionable”, it, too, charges “obscene prices albeit for decent food” and – lacking the high-rise glam of the Square Mile – can seem more “clinical” and “pleased with itself”.
For 33 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).
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Restaurant details
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Opening hours
Last orders: 10 pm
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