This article was written during the pandemic when restaurants were finding ways to meet the U.K. governments dining rules. 14 Hills a hugely popular indoor restaurant that sits just beneath the free Rooftop Garden 120 Fenchurch Street. During 2021 they applied for a licence to be able to open on the rooftop and I was one of the first to book. This was my review and experience at the time. What a time!
April 17th 2021: The infamous 14 Hills restaurant just got a lot higher and fresher! Hello to the 15th Floor! This week we saw the return of outdoor dining and the rooftops. But what do you do when you are an indoor Instagram famous restaurant… well, you expand to your rooftop!
Known for its floral foliage this fabulous eatery has taken its creatively to meet new heights. Applying for a licence to move up to the 15th floor they were granted a small area to set up their pop up restaurant on this usually public rooftop garden. And it was like stepping into a world before Covid.
The moment the lift opened the rooftop welcomes you waving all the stress and memories of this last year away. The Shard, the Gerkin and Sky Garden all stand proudly surrounding the rooftop welcoming you up reminding us that while the world have changed, our skyline hasn’t.
Holiday style sun umbrellas sheltered us from the elements and managed to also transport us to that summer beach side restaurant vibe, we have all missed.
The area for the pop up restaurant was surprisingly smaller than expected and much of the roof was roped off. I learnt this was due to the licence restrictions and health and safety. This was a little disappointing for someone who loves to snap a pic of a glass held up to the view.
That said, I was very happy to sit back, relax with my rose and enjoy soaking in the sun and sensational views pretending the world was sane still.
Food wise, it was as fabulous as I expected. Gluten free taken very seriously and catered effortlessly for. The fish and risotto were our chosen dishes (oh and some extra carbs to help with the wine!) All disappeared very fast!
Hopefully next month indoor dining will be allowed as planned for the hospitality industry but this new rooftop restaurant is here to stay for the summer… and hopefully it will be back next summer too. (Post pandemic update, sadly it was not but it served a great summer)
