This week I had the pleasure of yet another visit from my mother. We had actually agreed to just to hang around in Kensington and enjoy a bit of cosy mother/daughter time, but then I suddenly realised that my mother has never been to The Sky Garden! As I still haven’t written a post about Sky Garden on my blog, I decided that this was the perfect opportunity to give my readers and my mother a breathtaking experience… Furthermore I am a huge fan of dinners with a view, so no excuses. New adventures were waiting for us!

20 Fenchurch Street – locally known as the Walkie-Talkie, the 38-storey building is the fifth tallest completed building in London. 155 metres up, the spectacular Sky Garden offers views across the city and far beyond

Sky Garden only opened in early January 2015 and it was top of my ‘must-do’ list when moving to London.

When you enter the building, be prepared for airport-style security before a lift whizzes you up to the 35th floor. This means you’re not allowed more than 100ml of liquid unless it’s either baby food or medication. We didn’t know whether to bring passports or not – but this time it wasn’t necessary!

On the lift that took us to the 35th floor! 

Finally here. I love the look of new visitors faces when they enter Sky Garden! Even though my mother is a bit afraid of heights, her curiosity certainly got to her and she enjoyed every minute!

The enlarged glass dome of 20 Fenchurch Street is dedicated to three storeys of exquisitely landscaped public gardens and London’s most exclusive social spaces, including observation decks and an open air terrace. (Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to go outside this time! Keep an eye on their website to make sure this doesn’t happen to you!)

Quite impressive. Don’t you think?

Before we headed to the bar for drinks we took a round trip of the entire space which is split into a lower and upper floor. The entire space is clad in glass which means you can get a 360 degree view of the city if you walk around the whole room

Frenchie showed my mother all the famous buildings! 

And I had a little rest…

This is Darwin Brasserie, where we had our dinner reservation booked

But first a pre-drink at The Sky Pod Bar. The prices are more or less the same as many other central-placed bars in London and given the fact that this is no ordinary bar, I found the prices very reasonable! 

Salute! 

Here I am in front of Darwin Brasserie. It was time for dinner! Yay! 

Overlooking the Thames on Level 36 is Darwin, a rooftop all-day brasserie inspired by the very best of British. 

I always get so excited, when I get the menu card! Being a real foodie this is such a thrilling moment! 

Frenchie and my mother helped each other finding a suitable bottle of wine!

Short – but sweet! I usually prefer a menu card with more dishes to choose from, but even though the selection was limited, many of the dishes looked really tempting! 

Bread, butter and wine! So far so good! 

For starters my mother and I went for The Goodwood Estate Beef Tartar with horseradish, soy & crisp bread! We both agreed that was one of the best tartars we have ever had! Highly recommendable!

Frenchie chose the Smoked Ham Hock & Chicken Terrine with honey & mustard mayonnaise and grilled sourdough. He was also very pleased with his starter!

Bonus info: If you are planning on doing something special for a loved one – this is the place! Frenchie took me here on one of our first dates ever and I fell in love… with him and Sky Garden! 

Moving on to mains… My Mum probably chose the best dish of them all! This is Smoked Haddock with colcannon, poached egg & mustard butter

Frenchie went for a Goodwood Estate Beef Burger with confit brisket, cheddar cheese, barbecue sauce, dill pickles, house slaw & fries. The meat was brilliantly cooked! 

And I had The Black Truffle Risotto with leek fondue & Parmesan. Unfortunately this dish didn’t taste of anything at all – so we all agreed that I had to tell our lovely waitress. She immediately apologised and asked me, if I wanted something else. 

5 minutes later this beautiful Imam Bayildi with black olive crumb, crème fraîche & grilled sourdough was served to me. I can only say, that even though the Risotto was a disappointment, the staff handled the situation to perfection! Because of the quick change, I could still enjoy my food with the rest and I was happy!

We had such a lovely experience here – and I would definitely do it all over again!

Even though we really couldn’t eat any more, our waitress managed to persuade me to taste the Banoffee Cheesecake with ginger ice cream. It was soooo good! Thank God I was wearing a loose dress that evening! 

Sky Garden looked amazing in the evening light (and my mother was in a great mood, so she decided to sneak in front of my picture waving eagerly…)

Sky Garden is truly a must-see and I hope that this review and my pictures have inspired you to go and enjoy a drink or a nice meal at this spectacular place. If you have any questions or comments for me, please feel free to say hi. I would love to hear from fellow Londoners or visitors of this great city of mine

X Louise