The ShardReviews of the-shard.com

Pleasant! Lovely staff and great place

Just had the Peter Pan Afternoon Tea at Aqua Shard. We paid extra for a window seat, but unfortunately our initial table overlooked the train tracks, which was disappointing. Thankfully, the staff were able to move us to a different table. While the new table offered a much better view, it was reserved later, so our time there was a little more limited than we would have liked. The afternoon tea itself was excellent. The selection was creative, beautifully presented, and full of thoughtful detail. Particular attention was paid to my three-year-old granddaughter, and our server was friendly, approachable, and wonderful with children, which made the experience even more enjoyable. The maître d’ checked on us periodically throughout the afternoon, which was appreciated. One small surprise was that we were left to pour our own sparkling wine. While I was perfectly happy to do so—having run pubs myself and being used to it—it wasn’t quite what I expected when paying £110 for a bottle. My main criticism concerns accessibility and the arrival experience for guests with buggies or wheelchairs. The main entrance is accessed via steps, so those requiring lift access are directed through an area that feels more like a service entrance. Arriving through a storeroom lined with racks of tonic water and bottles, with views into staff and kitchen areas, doesn’t create the premium first impression you would expect from a restaurant of this calibre. Overall, the service was good, although there is room for improvement. That said, in a hospitality industry where customer service standards can often be inconsistent, Aqua Shard performed better than many places I’ve visited recently. Given the overall cost of the experience, however, I would expect the service and accessibility arrangements to be a little more refined. Despite these points, we enjoyed the afternoon, and the quality of the food, attention to detail, and child-friendly service were definite highlights.

Unfortunately I was not very well and collapsed on the way down. The staff were amazing. They couldn’t do enough for me. The team leader? Rachel was fantastic, my wife was obviously very worried but Rachel was very good and reassuring. I can’t thank them enough.

I went there with a free of mine a week ago and the food as well as the service were fine though a bit expensive, yet I knew the price already.

The oblx, had a great afternoon tea, service excellent, food good, a little overpriced, as no dress code adhere to, thought it was smart casual, not shorts trainier t shirts, some people looked like they should be in mc Donald's, no class. Please adhere to your dress codes. Before standards drop to low.

Good experience, I celebrated my birthday at the Shard and the stuff was amazing however the food is not the best considering the prices.

We visited the Aquashard whilst in London as part of our 15th wedding anniversary celebrations. Looking at what we got - we paid a premium for mostly the service we received from our waiter, Justo, who made this experience great for us. The service we received was the stand out part for us here, because Justo took into account the reason for our visit, really made us feel welcome, and did his best to make this a great experience for us. The food was good, and had a minimalistic feel to it. The stand out aspect of this was the pastry elements; speaking as a City and Guilds trained Chef (many years ago!) I'd say the Pastry Chef has a great future ahead. In summary, based on this visit, the Aquashard is for you if you want: great service, good food (notably pastry aspects, and the view from the Shard.

Trip was great when we got up topside. Bar service was swift and reasonably priced not overcrowded, but with a nice bustle and sense of excitement. However, the queueing downstairs was not well organised. A single queue maintained along the footpath with a mix of entry times, pulled out from queue - at least in strict time rotation. Booking for 14:30, finally got up top for 15:30. We did not have anything else booked, so no issue. If you had tight itinerary, this may have been dealbreaker. £10/head for “fast-track”, seem excessive. Manage queues better, would be preferable choice. Would definitely go back, but at night. All sold out over week in advance.