What with being away from London and all, I had never had the chance to check out what the deal was with this Duck & Waffle everybody was ravingรย about – like, ten months ago. So today I went in to shamelessly gain ten extra kilos. Here’s how I decided to destroy myself.
Duck & Waffle is the highest restaurant in the United Kingdom, looking over the Square Mile, Canary Wharf, St. Paul’s Cathedral and Tower Bridge from the 40th floor of Bishopsgate’sรย Heron Tower. Although its view is not as stunning as the one from The Shard, it is more varied: from the City’s skyscrapers to the gloomy but hip Shoreditch High Street Overground line, it offers a comprehensive panorama of modern-day London. Sure, you have to sit fairly close to the window to enjoy it properly, but you’re unlikelyรย to find more than another crazy person who wants to join you to spend รยฃ15 for breakfast.รย 
That said, those รยฃ15 were definitely worth the trouble. Which, incidentally, was quite a lot since the only free slot my friend and I found – having been too busy (or confused) with life to actually book on time – was at 9.30 in the morning. It still worked out,รย because we managed to eat our daily amount of calories in less than half an hour and hopefully walk it off during the day.
The menu offers plenty of choice between sweet and savoury breakfast alternatives, plus a good selection of coffees that passed the picky Italian’s test. Duck & Waffle’s menu provides more choice and better alternatives than The Shard’s.รย Plus, sitting at Duck & Waffle is a pleasure: the staff is very friendly and you can see the chef work his magic from the kitchen.รย 
I went for a ‘Full Elvis’ breakfast waffle – a monster I will probably burn only if I sign up for Spartan bootcamp. The full waffle with peanut butter and jam,รย bananas brรยปlรยฉe, chantilly cream, berries and chocolate chips was basically the equivalent of three cheat days packed in one breakfast.รย 
My friend went for a slightly smallerรย bananas brรยปlรยฉe waffle withรย homemade nutella, vanilla ice cream and peanut crunch.รย 
Now we can barely move, but it was worth it.
Pictures: Carolina Are
L’esser stata via da Londra mi aveva impedito di provareรย Duck & Waffle, uno di quei ristoranti di cui tutti sembravano parlare. Quindi oggi ci sono andata per ingrassare senza vergogna. Ecco come ho deciso di rovinarmi.
Duck & Waffle รยจ il ristorante piรยน ‘in alto’ del Regno Unito. Si affaccia sulla City of London, suรย Canary Wharf, St. Paul’s Cathedral eรย Tower Bridge dal quarantesimo piano dellaรย Heron Tower di Bishopsgate, vicino Liverpool Street. Nonostante la vista di Duck & Waffle non sia da mozzare il fiato come quella dalloรย Shard, รยจ di certo piรยน varia: dai grattacieli della City alla dimessa ma essenziale metropolitana di superficie diรย Shoreditch High Street, offre un panorama rappresentativo della Londra moderna. Certo, bisogna sedersiรย abbastanza vicino alla finestra per goderselo bene, ma รยจ molto probabile che non riuscirete a trovare piรยน di una persona abbastanza matta da pagare 15 sterline per colazione.
Detto questo, quelle 15 sterline valevano la pena del disturbo. In effetti, il disturbo รยจ stato pure tanto: l’unico tavolo che io e la mia amica abbiamo trovato, essendo troppo impegnate o confuse per prenotare in tempo, รยจ stato alle 9.30 del mattino. Il cheรย ci dรย la speranza di bruciareรย l’equivalente delle calorieรย di tre pasti in mezz’ora durante la giornata.
Ilรย menuรย offre molta scelta tra piatti dolci e salati e una selezione di caffรยจ che ha passato il test dell’italiana rompiscatole. Il menu Duck & Waffleรย ha una scelta migliore di quello delloรย Shard’s. In piรยน, sedersi a un tavolo diรย Duck & Waffle รยจ un piacere: lo staff รยจ amichevole e si puรยฒ vedere lo chef lavorare in cucina.รย
Io ho scelto unaรย ‘Full Elvis’ waffle – un mostro che brucerรยฒ soltanto se faccio allenamento per Spartani. E’ una waffle intera conรย bananas brรยปlรยฉe, crema chantilly, frutti di bosco e pezzi di cioccolato.รย
La mia amica ha scelto una waffle conรย bananas brรยปlรยฉe, Nutella fatta in casa, gelato alla vaniglia e nocciole.รย
Ora riusciamo appena a muoverci, ma ne รยจ valsa la pena.
Foto: Carolina Are
