I
f you are planning on going out on a romantic date and happen to be in London, you just cannot miss THE SHARD for dinner. No fights ever take place at the Shard. It dispenses romance in the air like anything. It is a full-blown equivalent of over-the-top dreamy romantic nights out and is inscribed so voraciously on every Londerner’s to-do list. How can you afford to not check it off yours?
The views are spellbinding. The ambience alone will blow your mind and melt your heart. Its sister venue Aqua is equally good but Hutong wins on the intimacy card. There are floor-to-ceiling glass windows and the tables that are lining them are explicitly for two only. And rather than being placed adjacent to each other, they are lined up in a tiny vertical corridor which makes it all the more romantic because no waiter will walk past you throughout the dinner.
If you are lucky enough to sit at one of the end windows, you will spend the entire meal without having to see another guest, and that’s what springs up the intimacy quotient a notch higher and makes Hutong even more adorable.
To begin with, try the crispy prawn rolls and the Iberico pork dumplings, as well as some fried chicken bao buns –they are super soft and you’ll feel like weirdly resting your head in them. A Sheng Jieng tequila cocktail next, and you are set for the night.
For mains, you just cannot miss the Peking Duck: that’s what the feast is all about. Be careful, it’s not shredded. It is served as extensive, fatty pieces of duck, and hence, might not fall in line with your idea of the fresh duck pancake. Be that as it may, recollect, Chinese takeaways are never illustrative of Chinese cooking, people. This is the genuine thing.
Preferable table: By the window, in the one-table corridor, for the view and romantic privacy.
Good for: The best peking duck in London.
Standout romantic feature: Table intimacy.
Price: Value for money.
Level 33, The Shard, 31 St Thomas St, London SE
