| Everyday London Life Restaurants

Dining at Altitude – Oblix and a foggy day at the Shard

I love London and I believe one of the best ways to see the city is from a high vantage point; this way you can take in all the iconic structures that now characterise the London skyline.
And while you’re admiring London you might as well eat!
With that being said I thought I’d write a series of posts looking at my favourite restaurants where you can enjoy dining at a high altitude.
I met my friends Theresa and Jess three years ago on a six month events management course. When the course was over Theresa moved back to her home town of Bristol but missed the sights and sounds of the capital city. So where better to go to enjoy London-town than our latest sky-scraping landmark, The Shard.
Oblix was our restaurant of choice, on the 32nd Floor of the Shard, it is currently the fifth highest restaurant in London. We were very excited to see the view while we dined Rainer Becker’s New York inspired restaurant.
Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work out that that way.

 

A very foggy day meant the views were less than spectacular.
But Theresa, Jess and I adore each other’s company so a little fog didn’t cloud our fun!
Sat in our comfortable booth, we enjoyed what we could of the views and a lovely bottle of bubbly. I loved the buzzy atmosphere of Oblix, which was made even more atmospheric by the big open kitchen.

 

A delicious and warm loaf arrived at the table while we debated what to have.
There were so many things that we wanted, we thought it wise to order four starters to share…
Grilled diver scallops in ginger, lime and tamarind cream had the silky taste of peanut butter.
My favourite thing ever…
Tuna tartar…

 

Topped with a quail’s egg yolk.
A spicy, refreshing lobster and scallop ceviche.
And a crisp and warm soft shell crab
All the starters were small and light, perfect for sharing.
For main course we all stuck with fish… and this as the rather excited reaction when it came…
A rather stunning whole lobster, enhanced with butter and perched aloft two potatoes. It kind of resembled tower bridge itself!

 

A perfectly cooked whole seabass and grilled prawns served with fennel. The dishes at Oblix are fairly simple but everything is cooked to absolute perfection.
We really didn’t have a bad word to say about the food, we were enjoying ourselves so much.
We rounded the meal off with a coffee and a pick and mix jar of sweet treats before heading up to the Shard’s tallest view point.
The Shard usually offers 360 degree views, forty miles across the London skyline…

 

 

But on the 72nd floor and 1,016 feet up, we didn’t have much better luck, in fact it was worse as were now more level with the fog and clouds rather than below it was we had been at Oblix.
It wasn’t too hard to numb the disappointment though…
Watch this space for more in my dining at altitude series.
What’s the highest restaurant you’ve ever eaten in?
Oblix
Level 32
The Shard
31 St Thomas Street
London
SE1 9RY
0207 268 6700
Oblix on Urbanspoon