The OXO Tower situated in London’s South Bank is one of those instantly recognisable landmarks on London’s skyline. From the 8th floor, you have the most fantastic, unrestricted views of St Pauls and the city skyline to wow your guests.

The OXO Tower Restaurant serves modern British food for lunch, dinner and afternoon tea, giving you the option to dine any time of the day. During the day with its floor to ceiling windows you have plenty of light flooding through and as the sun sets and the lights switch-on, the evening provides an unforgettable view across the river and the surrounding area.

Once we got to the 8th floor I was instantly blown away with the ambience of the place, having come on a weekday I wasn’t sure how busy the restaurant would be, but was pleasantly surprised to feel such a great atmosphere in the restaurant. I also want to thank all the staff who have gone to exceptional lengths to maintain social distancing and to ensure that all safety measures are in place to ensure you feel at ease during your visit.

Having been invited to sample the A la Carte Menu I was excited to finally have an opportunity to try Executive Head Chef Jeremy Bloor’s stunning menu featuring some of the best British produce.

We began our evening with a glass of white wine watching the sunset from the garden terrace and watching the night lights turn on around London, a view I will never forget. Having taken our seat indoors we started with a selection of bread rolls from Paul Rhodes, white, tomato and Parmesan and wholemeal accompanied with some great Netherend Farm butter.

For my starter I had to try the hand dived scallops which came with an amazing Swiss cheese and sour cream mash, garlic girolles and black cabbage. The scallops were cooked to perfection and all the accompanying parts to the dish fused perfectly making a really balanced dish. My partner tried the cured lamb which he loved. This dish came with a rosemary yoghurt panna cotta, pea cress and herb salad, olive crumb and black quinoa. All elements of the dish really stood out in flavour and the presentation of both dishes was picture perfect.

Next was our main course, the menu provides an amazing balance of options from vegan friendly to fish, duck and beef options which really made it hard for me to choose as everything looked amazing. I finally made my mind up and went with the duck breast, again cooked exactly to how I like which is a bit pink in the middle and crispy on the outside, the dish also came with a crisp confit fritter, honey lavender fig, pistachio crumb, charred baby turnips and a cep puree. My partner tried the 28-day dry-aged fillet steak which came with a smoked cauliflower puree, cauliflower couscous, English garden peas, pea cress, charred pearl onion and spiced date puree.

I was so happy with my choice in the end, truly the best duck dish I have tried anywhere, the accompanying sides gave a great balance of flavours and would happily recommend this dish to anyone. My partner also loved his fillet steak, cooked to a perfect medium-rare the steak looked and tasted amazing. The spiced date puree accompanying the steak was a new experience for my partner, but he really enjoyed the taste with the steak and thought it was a really clever addition to the plate. We were extremely impressed with the service and how responsive our waitress was throughout the evening, always on hand if we needed another drink or to answer any questions which we really appreciated.

As our night came to an end, we treated ourselves to some dessert to cap off what was an amazing experience, my partner and I both wanted to try the vegan cheesecake with blueberry and apricots as we both had not experienced a one before and wanted to see if we would notice any difference in taste. To our surprise we couldn’t tell the difference, the cheesecake was not too sweet but was exactly what we needed to end our fabulous dining experience.

The OXO Tower really is a place for celebration and whatever that occasion maybe you won’t be disappointed. OXO Tower Restaurant, Bar and Brasserie are all located on the 8th Floor and is just an eight-minute walk from Southwark and Waterloo stations and a ten-minute walk from Blackfriars station. Located in London’s cultural district, visitors can easily walk to the National Theatre, Big Ben, the London Eye, Trafalgar Square and more.

A: Barge House St, South Bank, London SE1 9PH
T: 020 7803 3888
W: The OXO Tower

Written by Remissa Allanaj  for Luxuria Lifestyle London and International