Oblix at The Shard

Oblix sits on the 32nd floor of The Shard, split into an East side with a livelier bar and a West side that leans towards fine dining, and both trade on the same asset: a view across London that few restaurants in the city can match. Executive chef Marcus Eaves runs a kitchen built around a charcoal grill, spit roast and wood-fired oven, cooking modern British and European food rather than treating the setting as an excuse to coast.

The grill is where Oblix does its best work, cod cooked on a cedar plank and finished under the grill, a half rotisserie chicken with lemon and rosemary, and steaks that hold up against the view rather than hiding behind it. Weekend brunch, served Saturday and Sunday lunchtimes with a three course option and a glass of champagne, has become one of the more popular ways to book a table here, though a window seat costs extra.

The room suits a special occasion, a visiting guest who wants the London skyline with dinner, or a weekend brunch with a view rather than a spread of food photographed for its own sake. It gets busy and books up fast around sunset, so timing the reservation matters as much as the menu choice.

Oblix earns its place on the view alone, and the cooking, while not the most inventive in London, is genuinely good enough to hold its own alongside it. It is not cheap and the window supplement is a slightly cynical touch, but for a first visit to The Shard’s dining scene, it remains the sensible choice.