Tower Hill, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

“Love the ambience… no pressure to quit the table and nice to overlook the river” – such are the plus points of these flexible, comfortable and welcoming homes-from-home in the Home Counties and in London near Tower Bridge and in Putney. Celebration? Both locations also feature funky little Thames-side ‘igloos’ seating up to 8. Looking for great food too? Don’t bother! “Disappointment” is often registered regarding the salads, pizza and other very middle of the road fare – keep your celebrations as liquid as possible…

From the 14th floor you can see as far as the hills (geddit!) at this foliage-strewn venue within the 120 Fenchurch Street tower. Part of The Evolv Collection (fka D&D London), it offers a brasserie menu majoring in steak and inspires only limited feedback: some of it of the view that “its view is the only redeeming feature!”

The Level 36 brasserie at the top of the Walkie Talkie tower in the City is a “great place for a family gathering – you can gather before and after your meal in the Sky Garden”, which surrounds the dining area and is the best vantage point for spectacular views over London. The standard British fare is not exorbitantly expensive for the setting, but – in the absence of the “incredible view” – you wouldn’t seek it out.

On the 37th floor of the ‘Walkie Talkie’, this posher option when dining at the Sky Garden complex (see also Darwin Brasserie) is overseen by Anguilla-born Kerth Gumbs, whose menu mixes his Caribbean roots with top British ingredients. There wasn’t enough feedback for a rating this year: you can eat from a tasting menu for £110 per person, there’s an à la carte with main dishes for circa £40 each (and watch out for the chef’s set menu offering two courses for £47 per person).

2022 Review: Near Aldgate, a new hotel – a ‘with-it’ extension of the Hilton brand – opened in April 2021. Later in the year, this large new rooftop terrace and restaurant opens to help it live up to the hotel’s name. Attractions will include an all-day menu from breakfast.

“Fabulous: make sure you allow enough time to enjoy the whole trip!” – you are advised to allow 2-4 hours to get the best out of the culinary fable provided by Tom Sellers at his now-famous temple of gastronomy, near Tower Bridge (which added a new floor, terrace and bar after a refit ending in 2024). You don’t get a menu: instead a 9-course tasting menu unfolds in the course of your meal (which costs £250 per person). On most accounts, the journey “is a delightful and romantic experience… expensive, sure, but memorable for all the right reasons with faultless well-paced food (we arrived at 7 and left at 11, very happy and full)”. Even fans concede it is “very pricey” though, and one or two still “had expected more considering it’s a Michelin two star”.

“The most amazing views of London” from the 40th floor of Norman Foster’s ‘Gherkin’ are the big draw to this brasserie run by catering company Searcy’s. Set-price menus are served at lunch and dinner, but a “fantastic afternoon tea” is the meal of choice here – and “the team are very generous with the food and drink”.

Rainer Becker’s 32nd-floor venue is divided into two dining areas – ‘Oblix East’ that’s more bar-oriented (and where there’s afternoon tea); and ‘Oblix West’ for more substantial fare. You get a “spectacular view” in either case and on most accounts some “pretty decent grub too”, with much of the food in ‘West’ produced on a charcoal grill (so there are many steaks, including a 1200g wagyu tomahawk for £245, but also chicken, pork, lobster, cedar-smoked black cod…). But while all feedback rates the scoff as good or better, nearly half say it’s nevertheless “overpriced”.

This “top City venue for a business dinner” in Threadneedle Street won’t make the front pages for gastronomy, but it shows a heartening commitment to doing the job for its key audience of dealmakers. Classic British pies and cheeses are among the highlights of the wide-ranging brasserie-style menu.

As a “great place to have an afternoon tea” (themed for Peter Pan), this scenic dining room with commanding views from the 31st floor of the London landmark continues to win some approval. More generally, though, the experience of dining here continues to generate limited and mixed support: even those rating the food as good can view the experience as “overpriced” and with the hint of a “conveyor-belt” approach. Perhaps the June 2025 appointment of a new chef – Mark Abbott – who has worked in many top kitchens will pep up its offering: he arrives with the aim of ‘celebrating British produce and emphasizing seasonality’.

“Really stunning panoramas of course” are a high point of this 35th-floor perch, high up The Shard, which is open all day from early on, and which fans say is “a brilliant breakfast venue”. English-style Afternoon Tea is also a feature, but by night the cuisine turns Asian. Fans say “presentation here is first class and if you get a view it’s worth every penny”. There’s not sufficient feedback, though, for a really wholehearted recommendation as a culinary destination.

“A useful addition to the Wolseley family” – the “impressive interior” of “the old House of Fraser building at the north end of London Bridge” provides “lovely rooms and architecture” to backdrop a meal at this year-old spinoff from the famous original near The Ritz, to which it’s “similar but not the same”. Like its sibling, it’s “very good for a business meal” and is highly popular for its “quick and efficient breakfast”. But while the original has never been a foodie destination, the cooking is even more “so-so” here (“such a pity, as it could be done so much better with a bit more care and attention”) and – though service is generally “attentive and friendly” – it can also be “patchy”. All in all, it’s a “a great option for the City dining scene” but will need work to fulfil its potential and capture a wider audience.