Love food? Join our new Facebook Group, Foodie Finds, to discuss all things edible in London.
Pop-up restaurant expert Jimmy Garcia's latest offering takes dining to new heights — by serving food on the cable cars over the Thames.
Sky High Dining runs on Wednesday and Thursday evenings throughout the summer, and consists of a five course meal, bubbly and cocktails, served over four consecutive crossings of the Thames.
Considering the logistical complexities of such a meal — with staff, food and drinks on both sides of the river — things run impressively smoothly on our visit. The evening begins with drinks, canapes and a scallop starter at the Greenwich Peninsula terminal, in a usually off-limits area that's been reworked as the 'Hanger bar'.
It feels a bit rough-and-ready, as if a cable car maintenance area has been hurriedly commandeered for the evening, but the canapes and bubbly flow freely, which placates our food-centric sensibilities.
The cabins themselves are transformed from tourist hang-out to stylish mini-restaurants, with tables slotted in. Our main course — lamb with pea and broad bean salad and potato terrine — is already waiting on white linen (a veggie option is available). Space constraints mean that four people face the same direction, bench-style, rather than opposite each other — but let's be honest, when the view's this good, your companion's face is irrelevant.
A return journey to Greenwich — with staff checking everything's hunkydory as we take a turn around the north-side terminal — is ample time to get through the main course and check out the views. The lamb is deliciously tender, the salad flavoursome. The potato terrine is the only duff note, but that's probably our fault for doing too much gawping and not enough gobbling. It got cold.
As we swing back into the Greenwich terminal, our empty plates are swiftly cleared, replaced with dessert — a chocolate sphere with passion fruit curd, meringue shards, coconut financier and fresh mango, topped with a rum and passionfruit syrup .We place our cocktail orders — espresso martini or aviator (gin, cava, lemon juice, maraschino cherry) — and like a well-oiled machine, they're waiting for us on the other side 15 minutes later, along with a selection of macarons and chocolate truffles.
The mixologist's not shy when it comes to the booze, and our sole regret of the evening is that we only have one river crossing to get through a rather potent drink — serving it alongside the dessert would have been preferable.
Sky High Dining on the Emirates Air Line, Thursday and Friday evenings, June-September 2019. Tickets start at £100 and need to be booked in advance. They're available in pairs, and due to high demand, you may find yourself sharing your cabin with two other people if there are only two of you.
