Aviary

Stunning Views and Stellar Service Await!

To spend an afternoon at Aviary, perched on top of Montcalm Royal London House, is to sand down the rough edges of city life with a view that tickles the very capitalscape. Looking out over The Shard, while the music ambles along at just the right volume, one can't help but feel you've been invited to a rather indulgent slice of rooftop heaven. It’s as civilized a setting as you could hope for in a city that's often anything but. One might envision having to shoulder one's way through a throng—fear not! You’re welcomed with arms as wide as their well-curated drinks menu and an address from your assigned keeper in this domain—Tibor, Keerthana, Roy—the names vary, the attentiveness and enthusiasm do not. Tibor, in his managerial brilliance, floats across the room ensuring any wrinkles (not yet noticed) are smoothed before you reach them.

This establishment is a little bagful of paradoxes wrapped up in a decorous bow: seamlessly transitioning from deliciously imaginative cocktails navigated by clever barkeeps, to generous robust mains that bewilder with size and surprise with tenderness—the thinner cuts sometimes scarcer than anticipated ribeyes notwithstanding. To dwell on any lapse in order accuracy is to miss this luke-warm embrace of eccentric hospitality that’s tripped over its feet in zeal more often than its patrons wish; such stumbles play like a mistake-meant ballet than a third-rate comedy routine. Partake in a bottomless brunch where flavors high-five across your taste buds as jammed as Blackfriar’s pavement, but less irksome. Do keep a flicker of irony and patience as paths cross haphazardly and orders loiter longer on furlough, for regardless, what Aviary promises is an exquisite fragment of London it's quite content to share with those willing to dance the merry rhythm spirited across those ten floors above. — Penelope Savory