Ten years ago, Jason Atherton’s City Social joined a wave of high-rise restaurants opening in the square mile in the space of about 18 months. Just a few months after opening, the restaurant was awarded a Michelin star, which it has held on to for the past decade. In celebration of such an accolade, the restaurant has recently seen a personnel change, with chef Paul Walsh having returned to the pass ten years on, plus a new staff comprising the original opening team.
On the 24th floor of the NatWest Tower, City Social is renowned for its knockout views over London’s skyline – it’s best to book a sunset sitting. Unlike so many of its competitors, City Social is no crass tourist trap. It doesn’t use its panoramic views to disguise overpriced, lacklustre, turn-of-the-millennium hotel food. That’s not to say it’s cheap, it’s not, but City Social offers much more than an eyeful of the Gherkin building. The gastronomy here shows plenty of skill, even if it’s not always adventurous. Additionally, both the service – laidback but professional – and the ambience – glitzy without being pretentious – are on-point.
New-meets-old menu
In addition to re-joining the kitchen team, Paul Walsh has devised a brand new, seasonally- driven menu that marries both time-honoured City Social favourites with fresh dishes and modern techniques. Think Devon crab with nashi pear, pickled mooli, ponzu, dill oil, celery and samphire foam; Merryfield Farm duck with heritage beetroot, white bean and crispy duck leg cassoulet and Madeira sauce; and Herwick lamb saddle and breast with cime di rapa, white asparagus, sorrel, green olive and tulip.
Starters
During a recent visit, dinner began with an assortment of butter so morish it was mopped up with a finger when the bread dissapeared. Next, followed a perfectly-cooked scallop on a bed of confit red pepper slivers, joined by some heavily charred corn and a pool of rich, silky roe butter sauce. The scallop, sauce and corn were a perfect team, evocative of succotash. If we were to be critical, perhaps the sweetness of red pepper overwhelmed the rest of the dish, hindering slightly what would otherwise have been a well-balanced melange of flavours. The thinly sliced ballotine of rabbit (a meat that’s far too seldom seen on UK menus), on the other hand, was expertly prepared. Cooked with tremendous care and stuffed with earthy braised mushrooms and finished with gorgeous fresh peas. While so many fine dining restaurants focus on flashy techniques and crescendos of buzzy ingredients, this was proof that less is often more.
Josper grill
Later, fresh from the Josper grill came a generous slab of rib-eye steak, bravely paired with a glass of Chablis, which was a surprising triumph. Technically the cooking of the steak was perfect (medium- rare), though some may not have appreciated the slightly acerbic after taste from the way it was seared. Far better was a dish of guinea fowl. Every occasion restaurant has to have a chicken or similar dish on the menu. It’s almost always perfunctory and absolutely cooked to hell and back. At City Social, however, the restaurant’s equivalent was exceptional. Two small breasts cloaked with glossy, deeply browned skin, sandwiching a layer of gorgeous vibrant green herb and brioche stuffing.
Elsewhere on the plate, the sauce was categorically decadent, while leek vinaigrette and Jersey Royals were better than fine, but paled into significance when compared to the braised leg wonton. The jewel in the entire dinner’s proverbial crown, the wonton had crunch like crackling, giving way to an indulgent shredded leg meat and sauce richer than Elon Musk (but far more palatable).
Decadent dessert
To finish, a pick from the well-stocked cheese trolley and a sublime elderflower and lemon parfait – elegant, refined and refreshing with white chocolate, wild strawberry and a very welcome appearance from Gariguette strawberries for a final flourish of sweetness and appreciated opulence.
