Rhodes 24 is located on the 24th floor of Tower 42, hence the name, and has been awarded one michelin star . Fortunately, Tower 42 is the highest building in London and is located next to the Gherkin, so we had unmissable landmarks to guide our way when we got a little lost down the back streets of the City.

Once there, the airport style security is a little off putting, but on arrival in the restaurant, this is immediately forgotten. The views over London are rather spectacular and would actually have been quite romantic, if my other half didn’t suffer from mild vertigo.

The restaurant was pretty busy and surprisingly, the clientele weren’t all city types, as you might expect. The interior is pretty light and modern, although you probably wouldn’t notice if it was fuschia pink, considering the large windows and amazing view.

The menu is quite simple and concentrates on British cuisine. The four of us all went for different starters and I was glad to learn that our friends were the sharing type, so I got to taste all 4 dishes. I went for the eel, which came with a beetroot salad and horseradish cream. I liked it, although my personal preference would have been to have a stronger horseradish taste to the cream. I think the smoked eel would have been able to take it. The seared scallops were also good, especially the shallot mustard sauce that accompanied them. The Lobster omelette thermidor had an really deep, rich flavour and the omelette was exceedingly light. Delicious. My personal favourite was the wild mushroom tart with Jerusalem artichoke and walnut salad which I thought was exceptional and had an incredible amount of flavour.

We washed down the starters with a bottle of Sybille Kuntz Riesling, as recommended by the Sommelier and it was an excellent choice. With the main courses he brought us a very tasty French Pinot Noir (2001 Domaine H. Gouges).

The star of the main courses was definitely the Gloucester Old Spot Pork loin, for two people. Sliced in front of us and served with pumpkin puree and roast potatoes, it was definitely an attention grabber. What really made it for me was the cider gravy, which managed to enhance the pork whilst adding an extra layer of taste. The ladies’ Organic Salmon with Crab Pasta and Monkfish Tail with tomato and shrimp dressing were unexceptional, if tasty. The salmon was very delicate and light, but didn’t really have a wow factor. The monkfish tail was apparently tasty (one dish I didn’t get to taste) but the portion was on the small side.

Rhodes 24 has a reputation for good puddings, although Ma Cherie would disagree, saying that there wasn’t really anything on the dessert menu she fancied. I went with the signature pudding place, with the accompanying dessert wine, which consisted of bread & butter pudding (light and gorgeous), a homemade Jaffa cake (not out of the packet!) and a creme brulee. I loved all three. The treacle tart was also good but the Warm Kirsch Baba with poached plums was overly alcoholic.

Rhodes 24 does have some outstanding dishes, which is what you’d expect from a michelin starred restaurant, but you do have to pick the right ones. With the starters at averaging £12 and the mains at over £20, it is not a cheap place to eat. I did think the sommelier made excellent choices for our price range and I very much liked the way he had matched a dessert wine with each dessert. The service was generally spot on, the only exception that an Irish coffee had to be asked for twice. All in all a very pleasurable experience and with the stunning views, certainly worth a special occasion treat.

More info can be found at http://www.rhodes24.co.uk/.