Signature dish: Crispy Leg Confit served on a Waffle, topped with Fried Duck Egg and Mustard Maple Syrup

Hotspot: Since opening in summer 2012, Duck & Waffle has been a popular eating venue

Since opening in summer 2012, Duck & Waffle has been one of the hottest dining spots in town. Standing out with its 40th floor views of the city and its signature synonymous dish, the restaurant has backed up its unique selling points with a stellar menu. I have wanted to go for some time, but unsurprisingly, with a long waiting list, I hadn’t quite got round to booking a table. Earlier this year, when I heard one of my best friends was visiting from South Korea, we decided to treat ourselves to a Saturday brunch at the venue and booked our table two months in advance.

I had already dined at D&W’s sister restaurant SushiSamba downstairs five months earlier, so was well aware of the stunning views of the City of London and beyond. However, views aside, D&W would be providing a totally different culinary experience. Overseen by award-winning Executive Chef Daniel Doherty (who is quite the avid Tweeter and tweeted me after my meal), the menu is inspired by British and European cuisine and including breakfast, lunch, brunch and dinner.

Going Colombian: Organic Eggs with Avocado served on Toast, with Smoked Salmon

Despite having been to SushiSamba, for some reason the high-speed lift was faster than I remembered as it whizzed up to the 40th floor. After checking in with the hostess, I was thrilled to see our table for two was in the corner of the dining room so we had windows to the left and back of my seat. As I had already dined in the building before, I decided to let my friend have the 180° view while I had my back to the window.

Lofty: A view of The Gherkin from the entrance of Duck & Waffle

Although lunch options were available at the time of our seating, my friend and I were determined on brunching. While the food menu had too many delicious things to decide on quickly, we started our session with mimosas. My friend – a carnivore – decided it would be wrong to not order the signature dish – Crispy Leg Confit served on a Waffle, topped with Fried Duck Egg and Mustard Maple Syrup. As I am a pescatarian, I decided on a twist on an old favourite – Organic Colombian Eggs with Avocado served on Toast, paying a supplement to add Smoked Salmon. The added herbs and vegetables gave a refreshing twist to the usual eggs on toast. The eggs were perfectly fluffy and light and the bread not too over-toasted (a pet hate of mine, so many brunch places love to make their toast rock hard to cut!). My friend absolutely loved the Duck and Waffle and said the fusion of savoury and sweet worked really well.

Although my friend was stuffed after her evidently more filling dish, I knew I had to find some room in my stomach for the absolutely divine dessert menu. I ordered the Bananas Brûlée Belgian Waffle served with Homemade Nutella, Vanilla Ice Cream and Peanut Crunch. It was absolutely heavenly, I’m a huge fan of waffles, Nutella, ice cream and peanuts in general, so the combination of them all was dessert heaven for me. Admittedly after having just eating eggs and toast, it was a bit of a challenge to finish, but fortunately my friend gallantly offered to help me out.

Overall, all of our dishes were absolutely delicious. The service was fast, friendly and informative and I was grateful they had given us such prime seating. At around £76 for our whole meal, including service, is perhaps a bit steeper than I would usually spend on brunch, but the experience made it worth while. I noticed a lot of couples, friends and families were there for special occasions, such as birthdays and engagements, so is a nice venue to treat yourself. I will be back… am particularly curious about visiting at 3am as the restaurant is open 24 hours a day!

Sweet tooth: Bananas Brûlée Belgian Waffle served with Homemade Nutella, Vanilla Ice Cream and Peanut Crunch

• Duck & Waffle, Heron Tower, 110 Bishopsgate, EC2N 4AY. Nearest station: Liverpool Street. For more information and booking, visit the Duck & Waffle website.

For Metro Girl’s review of Duck & Waffle’s sister restaurant downstairs, SushiSamba, click here.

To read more of Metro Girl’s restaurant reviews, click here.

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