EATING OUT
EATING OUT
Fenchurch
Sky Garden, 1 Sky Garden Walk, London, EC3M 8AF London has some of the most iconic buildings of any city in the world, and what is amazing is the variety, as some of these, like the Tower of London are very old, and some like 20 Fenchurch Street, where Fenchurch restaurant is located, are ultra-modern. 20 Fenchurch Street is colloquially known as the ‘Walkie Talkie’, due to its distinctive shape, and since 2014 it has dominated the London Skyline between London Bridge and Tower Bridge. On the top 3 floors of this iconic building you will find Sky Garden, a lovely public garden complete with tropical plants and observation decks, an open air terrace and bars and restaurants, all with stunning views of London. To the front you can see the Thames meandering its way through London, to the right the iconic dome of St Paul’s Cathedral, and to the left the glassed skyscrapers of Canary Wharf and the Millennium Stadium. The views are truly stunning, and what better way to enjoy them than with a glass of something cold, and delicious quality food. Fenchurch is located on the 37th floor, which you’ll be pleased to know is accessed by lift (once you have gone through an airport like security system), and provides its 60 covers with an intimate dining experience with stunning views. The challenge for the designers was to have large glass windows that enable the diner to have the uninterrupted views of London, whilst still keeping an intimate feeling, so diners don’t think they are eating in a vast greenhouse, and at Fenchurch they have got this just right, as the lighting and décor create a warm contemporary vibe whilst still keeping the large windows for the views. As we walked into the restaurant to our table there was a quiet hum of conversation WWW.THEAMERICANHOUR.COM
from contented diners all enjoying what Fenchurch has to offer. This hum never fails to excite me, as it creates a positive atmosphere and a warm feeling inside of me with the anticipation of what is to come. We were lucky enough to have a table by the window, which I recommend you request when booking, and settled down to review the menu. As we were doing this, we were given a ball of warm sourdough cut in to quarters, along with some light and delicate taramasalata and some marmite butter. The bread was crispy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside, and although I love marmite, I was a little skeptical of its place here. How wrong was I? There was just enough marmite to give that yeasty flavour, but not enough to overpower everything. It was truly a bold and innovative idea which worked really well. Indeed, it was so good we had to have a second helping! The menu is compact with a choice of only 5 dishes per course, but there will certainly be something you like, and the detail and thought put into every dish is breathtaking. For starters, my wife selected the Hand Dived Isle of Skye Scallop, XO sauce, pickled mooli and Fenchurch Tuile (£19), and I chose the Sautéed Veal Sweetbreads, cumin yoghurt and minted shallots (£18). It is so easy to spoil the taste of a scallop by over or under cooking or swamping it with strong flavoured accompaniments, but here the scallop was rightly the star of the show with the accompaniments ably providing a little texture or visual pizzaz. Many would say sweetbreads are offal, but I really love them (apologies for the pun!). They were beautifully sautéed and seasoned perfectly, and were accompanied by a smooth yoghurt and topped with delicately pickled shallots which provided just enough acidity to the dish, and if you haven’t tried them, Fenchurch is the place to start.
Our main courses were the Pan Braised Halibut, confit chicken wing, bacon crumb, cauliflower and a curry sauce (£39.50), and the 30-day aged Rib of Beef, braised cheek, bone marrow, carrot purée and thyme jus (£46). Curry sauce with fish can go terribly wrong as the curry flavour can totally swamp the fish, but the strong flavour of halibut and the delicate flavouring of the curry combined to make it a perfect marriage, and the bacon crumb added a lovely addition to the flaky fish. My beef was so succulent and tender and with the fondant potatoes, the smooth carrot purée and the crunchy fried kale, combined to make a wonderful dish which also looked visually stunning. For dessert, I just had to have the Fenchurch Chocolate Bar, salted almond and buttermilk ice cream (£13), and my wife chose the Pumpkin Soufflé, rum, pecan and Frangelico custard (£13.50). The chocolate bar dessert was my kind of dessert, with rich chocolate, gooey caramel and an almond crunch, accompanied by a creamy buttermilk ice cream, but the soufflé, from a taste perspective, just pipped it, as it was wonderfully light and packed with lots of pumpkin and pecan flavours. It would be amiss to finish any review of Fenchurch without mentioning the staff and service which were excellent. The waiters are smart, attentive and knowledgeable without being over attentive, and are a throwback to the olden day values. They were there when you wanted them, and absent when you wanted to enjoy your meal with your companion. This level of service appears simple, but so many restaurants fall short in this respect. A visit to a restaurant should be special, and with spectacular views, wonderful food and quality service, you can’t get more special than Fenchurch. www.skygarden.london/restaurants/ fenchurch WWW.AMERICANINBRITAIN.CO.UK
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