Aqua Shard — Restaurant in London

My mum took me here for my birthday and I cannot explain how awful the service was. She had rang up and emailed weeks in advance to make sure that she gets a really window seat with the best view, she had also told them that this is a surprise for my birthday. When we got there they spoilt the surprise first thing by saying “whose birthday is it? happy birthday” when my mum had clearly said it’s my daughter‘s birthday like why would you ask whose birthday it is? Why would you even mention that when you have been told not to? Then we got seated in what possibly could’ve been the worst seat they had available. We got put right at the end of the restaurant near the bar and we literally got given one of the last window seats with possibly the worst view, bear in mind my mum has been emailing for the past month to make sure everything goes perfect and they’ve literally messed up twice, within the first five minutes of us being there. So when we got seated, I grabbed one of the staff and explained to them the situation and how I’m not happy with my seat she then said these seats are for people who have paid extra for the view and I said that’s exactly what my mum has done but she has also been emailing you for the past month going back-and-forth, making sure that everything is perfect and it is literally far from that right now she then said she can give me another table which wasn’t any better. It was maybe three or four tables further on I said no this isn’t good enough so then she proceeded to find me another table with a better view. We got seated the way to camera round and gave us our menus. The menu is so limited and there’s an extra charge for probably most of the good mains which is such a rip-off after you’ve paid £135 per person for a limited menu anyway. Once they take your order, your cutlery will just get placed straight on the table rather than on a napkin which is just mind blowing to me and so low class. They brought us out some bread and butter and some complimentary soup but even though we was finished with it all of this including our starter plates were just sat on the table for the longest time and they weren’t cleared until I had to actually tell the waiter, please can you take away our empty plates which I should NOT have had to do at all. When you're sat down all you can hear is cutlery banging together or stuff being dropped by the staff. The food is so mediocre, you can probably get better food at your local Italian restaurant or even cafe to be honest. My mum had also emailed them asking them if they can bring out the dessert with some sort of design on it that maybe says my age or my name or just even a happy birthday. We waited quite a long while for this and there was no sign of it so my mum had to go and remind them which is so shocking to say that she had been emailing tor months before and she made sure of everything many times. So after my mum went and told the staff that something needs to be brought out for my birthday, one of the waiters brought it over and said “Who is celebrating their birthday today?” like is this an actual joke? My mum has just come and explained to you whose birthday it is. She’s been emailing you for the past month and you’re still coming with the dessert and asking whose birthday it is? I cannot tell you how beyond shocked I was at what they had brought out, it was probably the same size as half a walnut. It was some sort of biscuit thing maybe with some chocolate in I didn’t even eat it and there was a thin chocolate piece maybe the size of those little cheeses that you put in your packed lunch and it said happy birthday in gold, absolutely unbelievable. There are so many other restaurants in London that are genuinely worth a visit and will give you the best service with the best location honestly going to McDonald’s would be better than going here. I cannot explain to you how lazy, untrained, clueless, rude and irresponsible the staff are. I cannot say this enough, do not waste your money. This is the most disappointing, overrated place I have...

In a nutshell, good for the novelty of the themed experience and the views, but we probably wouldn’t go again. After security at the Shard, there are automatic lifts to take you to the restaurants on the 32nd floor. We were directed to Aquashard and confirmed our booking (Peter Pan themed afternoon tea) with the greeters, and then we were shown to our table. You can specify upon booking whether you’re celebrating an event, but you cannot make any specifications as to your table, such as where you prefer to sit. The restaurant is large, bustling and busy. Disappointingly, our table was tucked away next to the large stair structure, and two tables back from the windows, so at first the views were a little limited. I saw movement at the corner of my eye and glanced up at the stairs where people had stopped to look at the views - frankly, it was a bit of an obscene angle to anyone wearing a skirt or baggy shorts. I felt embarrassed so avoided looking up after that. The chairs were also very low - we noticed average height chairs in sections at each end of the restaurant but the middle section had low chairs, I imagine to allow for better views. Both I and my partner didn’t find the height/angle that comfortable. So in what should have felt like an open (high-ceiling), luxurious space, I felt overshadowed by the stairs, and restricted by views. I don’t think that space was suitable for tables. Halfway through, this changed when a staff member asked if we’d like to move to a vacated window table in front of us. That was a nice gesture and added the novelty aspect back to the experience. You could see out over the Thames and the City buildings, and you could follow the meander of the river Eastwards to the skyline of Canary Wharf. I was by a pillar so had to lean forwards to see East. The views were great and we were lucky to have a clear day. Food: I requested the pescatarian menu and my partner the standard menu. The savouries were overall very nice. They arrived on a Big Ben themed tray. My mini mushroom tart was delicious. My finger sandwiches were okay, slightly larger cut than other afternoon teas we’ve been to. My sandwiches were vegetarian, with a mini salmon open bagel. My partner said her slice of sausage roll was tasty, and agreed her sandwiches were okay. The sweets arrived on a sailing ship, with a little bit of magic. That was a highlight. My mousse tart dessert was at the back high tail end of the ship, and had a cookie and chocolate on it, but as the waitress placed the ship down, those bits toppled off onto the floor. She said she’d get a replacement. The scones were lovely and warm, not many sultanas in the sultana one. The clotted cream was a little different with coconut on top and the jams were nice. The best dessert imo was “Peter Pan’s Hat”, the choux bun with a delicately sweet crust and creamy middle that had a light citrus tone. about that cookie that dropped off, it didn’t arrive. We mentioned it twice more and each time were told it would come, but we gave up. When our ship started to leak, and we were using our napkins to mop up the liquid, the waitress asked if we ever received the missing cookie. We confirmed no, and it was only some time after, when we had finished and whilst we were waiting to pay, that the cookie then arrived on a little plate. Service: the staff members who we interacted with were all individually lovely - really personable, clearly explained things, and supremely well presented. What let it down was perhaps the functional internal communication, demonstrated by the cookie. Whilst we were waiting to pay, a waiter stopped by and checked if we were ready to pay, but then it didn’t look as though he did anything to facilitate payment. He came back to clear come glasses (whilst we still waited to pay) and stood waiting when my partner said she’d like to finish her water. So at that point, we felt as though we were being rushed out, even though we’d been waiting to pay and I’d finished the elusive cookie! Our waitress was...

There was very good and very bad, overall, a sour taste.

First off the good, The view is obviously amazing, as is the general ambience of the restaurant, I’d be very surprised if there was a more visually stunning dining room in London. It’s that good, it really is. The starters we had were lovely, first class, couldn’t fault them, like wise the desserts, they were magnificent.

Then there is the bad, perhaps we were unlucky, I don’t know. We went on the evening of Sat 20th Jan and had booked in for 8pm. After traipsing round London we were a little early so thought we would sit and have a drink at the bar before hand. Sadly not to be, they wouldn’t let my 16 year old sit in the bar with me and my wife even though it was empty and clearly not an issue legally, the three of us are teetotal so I’m not shoving vodka down an underage throat. This was a Christmas present I had bought for the two of them so there was no way I’d sit there without my daughter as they suggested (she’s immaculately dressed and behaved by the way). So we had to just stand like lemons at reception whilst they got a table ready, to be fair though, they did this pretty quickly. We were sat by a window but the table was not quite near enough the window to stop dozens of other diners from squeezing in next to us to get a picture of the view. Obviously the manners of the guests isn’t something the staff are responsible for but it became really really bad. Other diners would lean on our table whilst we were eating, my wife got elbowed in the head a couple of times and one person even sat on the back of her chair whilst she was sitting in it. Again, the manners of guests isn’t the responsibility of the restaurant, some people are just shocking, but when so many are swarming round a table that they clearly aren’t part of surely they could have a word? Then there was the main problem, the main courses. We had to wait well over an hour between the starters and the mains, it was dreadful. I always think it’s when things are going wrong that’s when the staff can really make a difference, sadly the staff at Aqua didn’t even try. They weren’t rude they just weren’t clued up or trying to help either. We had to wait about 75 minutes for our mains, during that time twice the waiter came up to us and apologized saying there were significant issues that night in the kitchens. Not once though did he offer anything as a way of an apology, I’m not looking for a free meal but to not even offer a glass of tap water to apologise and keep you going is pretty poor going. When the main arrived they were frankly pretty poor, my daughter and I had the Venison and it was dry as a bone and virtually stone cold, clearly it had been under the lamps for an age not being served. We contemplated sending them back but having waited so long for them to turn up in the first place we just swallowed it and got on with things. At £50 a serving though, truly dreadful on the quality, value and service. As I said earlier though, the desserts were great and came in a perfectly timely manner, god knows what was happening with the main courses but I don’t think it was exclusive to us.

All in all it came to just shy of £400 for a meal for three with no alcohol, that’s not just expensive but ferociously so. Without thinking I could name 20 or 30 restaurants in London that offer better food, better service and far better value too. This is a great shame as none of those restaurants could possibly offer the ambiance and visual beauty of Aqua, it’s truly incredible in there. With one or two minor tweaks we could be looking at a truly magnificent experience in Aqua, instead we left feeling really down, the delays in the main course, that standard of the main course, the manners of the other guests (not the restaurant’s fault), the lack of empathy from the staff and the eye watering cost mean there’s just no way we could recommend it to anyone.

It’s a crying shame, it could so easily be so...