I’d promised to take my sister to Rhodes 24 for her birthday in July. Unfortunately being in Copenhagen and commuting combined with typical London airport traffic meant that I got stuck somewhere I didn’t really want to be for about five hours. In the end we cancelled.
Rhodes 24 is a fairly popular restaurant, so it’s pretty hard to get bookings at this Michelin-starred restaurant. We finally got a date that worked for the both of us and one that happened to have a free table. You find Rhodes 24 located in the Tower 42 building, the tallest building in the city of London (yes, slightly taller than the gherkin). Rhodes is located on the 24th floor, hence the name. It also has an impressive exclusive elevator which is maybe why it’s quite expensive and so popular.
Walking in you’re greeted by the concierge where you walk through the bar, an outstanding view perfectly opposite the Gherkin. It makes me think that the interesting but expensive cocktails might be worth coming up there simply just to indulge. Being one of the earlier tables and only couple dining, we got one of the round tables seated against the inner core of the circular restaurant both facing out towards other tables and the rest of the city.
Service at the start of the evening without too many tables are very prompt, noticeably degrading as the evening went on. I played the game of how long would my tap water remain empty before being filled up with a few times towards the end of dinner and dessert empty for at least five minutes and me having to ask once that I remember.
Their bread basket was lovely although nothing particularly special including both brown and white rolls and a pat of butter. Light but not flavoursome. After ordering our starters and mains, we were presented shortly with the chef’s amuse bouche, a small cup of cauliflower soup served in a small upright mug and saucer. Very well seasoned and a great way to start the meal.
My started, a scallop soup with leeks and pork belly was divine. I thought that the pork belly might overpower the delicate flavour of the scallop, but they chose well with only a few strands of pork belly, crispy up as decoration and the scallop sitting on the lightly softened leeks and the soup poured at the table all round.
The main dish impressed me less being a monkfish dish served with a smoked bacon hash, white asparagus and green spinach. As deliciously smoky and crisp the hash tasted, I think it overpowered the monkfish even then. Everything was well cooked and complimentary but it’s a shame the dish wasn’t as balanced out as they could have made it.
Starting to feel slightly bloated, we thought we’d try going for the dessert and I’m glad that we did. I tried the trio of desserts that were the house special. On this night it was made up of a trio including bread and butter, a home made giant jaffa cake and a strawberry parfait served between two crisp crackers instead of the imagined cup. All three definitely pleased me although the jaffa cake definitely has to have special mention being light, delicate capturing the dark chocolate and tanginess and the bread and butter pudding definitely outlasting the three with a strongly vanilla scented custard and the bread and butter bruleed to add a caramelised dimension. I think the bread also seemed to be some sort of brioche, light without being cloyingly sweet.
I had a peppermint tea after dessert at which they also served the petite fours (or trios?) that included a white chocolate raspberry jam creation, pistachio chocolate block and a lightly scented orange butter cake.
Overall Rhodes 24 certainly made for a great evening out and we didn’t even realise we’d spent over three and a bit hours by the time that we’d walked out of there. Service was friendly though not as prompt as it could have been and although the main didn’t impress, the rest of the dishes definitely made up for it. I’d definitely return at least for the bar and the view on a clear evening night.
Name: Rhodes 24
Found at: Tower 42, 25 Old Broad Street, London EC2N 1HQ
Website: http://www.rhodes24.co.uk/