Lunch 33 storeys high

Lowry at the Tate Britain was the first of Margaret’s birthday treats. I hadn’t told her where we’d be going and when I said we were off to London for a surprise birthday treat, she thought that I had got tickets for the third day of the final Ashes test at the Oval.

That might have been a good present, but as it happened the cricket was awful - England struggled against tight bowling and I think the run rate was less than two an over. She had a lucky escape.

I’d also kept it a secret where we were having lunch and as we walked along Millbank to get the Jubilee line from Westminster to London Bridge, I remarked that I could see where we were going to have lunch.

I’d booked one of the three restaurants in the Shard, a Chinese called Hutong. The restaurant wasn’t at the top, but it was on the 33rd floor (about halfway up and certainly the highest meal I’ve eaten in London). The lift whips you up there in seconds and the restaurant complex makes full use of the views. There’s a cocktail bar looking down on Tower Bridge, The Thames and HMS Belfast; while Hutong offers views west, south and east.

We had a table right up against the glass facing west and north, so we could see the city, London Bridge Station, Borough Market and Southwark Cathedral. There was a particularly fine view of St Paul’s and, as the river bend round, the Millennium Wheel and Big Ben.

Southwark Cathedral below us and St Paul's across the river.

There’s so much to stare at that it’s actually quite hard to choose your food and settle down to eat it. The couple at the next table took more pictures than mouthfuls. They were from India, he was an architect, so he was very interested in the Shard and they came to London every year for their holidays.

The service and decor was first class, the views amazing and the food ... well the food was pretty standard Chinese, very nicely prepared and cooked, but still standard Chinese. We had dim-sum and spicy shredded chicken for a starter, followed by ribs, crispy beef, noodles and egg fried rice. With four glasses of wine, service and VAT it came to £110.

After the meal, I went to the loo for a wee. The toilets also had glass walls to the outside and the urinals were placed by the glass, so that you relieved yourself while enjoying the vista east and west (pissing all over Bermondsey).

Fancy a wee? Urinals at Hutong in the Shard.