Brunch at The Shard

Last updated: 25 June 2023

Are you ready to dine from dizzying heights?  Be it a weekend brunch at The Shard, cocktails from the spectacular three-storey high atrium bar or the quintessentially English pastime of afternoon tea. Situated on the 31st floor, Aqua Shard is one of the six restaurants in the building to provide diners with a panoramic bird’s eye view over the city of London from this iconic landmark skyscraper.

Featuring floor-to-ceiling windows, the view is centerpiece to the experience, as you’d expect at one of Europe’s tallest skyscrapers.  The best seats in the house are the window-facing snug tables for two overlooking the rest of the city below.

The decor is full of neutral dark tones. Dark timber floors, beige, gold and silver with a two tone chairs in hues of purple heather and wisteria which provide a colour pop amongst an otherwise muted palette.  

Weekend Brunch at the Shard

Weekend brunch at the Shard has the potential to blow your socks off.  Aqua Shard offers a comprehensive drinks menu for all your boozey brunch needs, bloody Mary’s, an array of Bellini’s, Prosecco which can all be paired with the three course set menu making this quite the decadent affair.  

Starters on the tri-course feast include traditional brunch dishes like eggs benny and buttermilk pancakes with the mains in this brunch banquet serving up lobster thermidor, full English and beef sirloin with big fluffy Yorkshire puddings and duck fat potatoes. For those with and without a sweet tooth are catered for, with puddings coming are a variety of savoury and sweet by way of a treacle tart, a chocolate brownie that looks and tastes a lot like mud cake with ganache, and Baron Bigod cheese with poached plums sans crackers.

At £44 per person for three courses, this chic brunch feast is only served on weekends and bank holidays between the rather civilised dining hours of 10.30am and 3.30pm.

However, while the food is pretty, and the view is stunning (assuming the weather holds out), there are numerous failings that could take brunch at Aqua Shard from so-so to stellar.

Let’s start with the simple things like juice.  Five star establishments like Aqua Shard need to move away from offering overpriced bottled juice. Simply putting a garnish by way of a fresh orange wedge in a glass of bottled OJ accompanied by far too much ice doesn’t take it to where it needs to be for the circa £5 being charged.  If juice is on the menu, make it freshly squeezed and charge accordingly.

Another is to stock the silverware for the menu. Simple things like serving steak? Have steak knives on hand. Serving lobster? Stock some lobster picks. It’s important to provide diners with the tools they will need to enjoy every last morsel of their meal, and ensuring nothing goes to waste.

However, the biggest issue facing Aqua Shard during my visit was the service. Most of the staff seemed to adopt a stiff haughtiness which is somewhere between arrogance and indifference. Quite frankly I don’t care for any of it.

While the food was ok (ish), I think it’s clear that it’s the scenic views that continue to carry this establishment for without that I am at a loss why anyone would return.

The Essentials

Brunch at Aqua Shard

Where: 32 London Bridge St, London SE1 9SG

Price Point: ~£50 pp plus drinks

Nearest Tube: London Bridge

Reservations? Essential! Information & Reservations