The Shard Avis 

Please read,I don't normally write reviews . I should have in this case but I feel the need to, as so many others have before us.
Apart from the stunning views over London Aqua Shard, the service and food and drink were absolutely terrible.Yes! All 3, which is shocking for a 'high end restaurant' in the middle of London. It started with pleasantries at security on the way in (which is understandable )
We were then told we have a special table with a 'view' ha ha ha!!!!
lt looks like we weren't the only ones with a view!!
Anyway, we ordered our food which was 3 mains, 2 starters as a meal, a bottle of water and 2 cocktails. Sorry, the 2 cocktails should be described as a glass of ice cubes as each contained at least 6/8 cubes and an inch of alcohol. I think you get my my point for £18 - total rip off. We asked the waiter to come over and explain why the cocktail tumbler!!! was half full. He called the manager over who said 'It's our signature cocktail and thats how it is.' RIDICULOUS!! What a total joke.
One of our group asked if he could have two starters only to be told by the waiter 'Sorry!! You can't have two starters. You have to have a main.'
At this point we had ordered three dishes which came to £150 and were told that he couldn't order two starters. There was nothing on the website to say that you had to have a main. How ridiculous!!!
I could carry on explaining how everything was a joke and a rip off.
If anyone asks me if they want to go to the Shard to eat I will tell them to eat before you go and be prepared to be ripped off.
In short - choose another way to see the views of London.
The manager has since been extremely unhelpful and rude.

Went today with pre-booked tickets. Still queued for nearly 55 minutes. Have just had a hip replacement and find it difficult to stand for extended periods, nowhere to sit and when I asked about only option I was told it was reserved. Unless you like standing around for hours don’t bother!

Under whelming. Lovely views and meal was okay, but nothing special. We had brunch in the Aqua restaurant. I treated myself to the 3 courses with the wine pairing. Firstly there’s only two wines, none for the dessert, the portions are small and served a while after the plates arrived. You get charged extra for bread and there’s a surcharge for the steak which is not stated on the menu. It’s quite a rushed experience, as soon as one plate is removed it’s minutes before the next course arrives, could do with longer between courses and more variety. I don’t consider a roast fine dinning. Oh and hair in my friends food.

We popped into Aqua for drinks, Saturday lunchtime. We hadn't booked window seats and all were reserved. The staff, to mention David went out of their way to find us a nice spot. We had a fantastic view. Great customer care. I don't usually review but felt this a must.

Misleading and deceiving.
We booked a table at bar 31 thinking it was on the 31st floor as the photos showed a view from high. When we arrived we were showed to a table on the ground floor, this is so deceiving and a con. We left straight away and the manager explained this happens all the time.

We went to the shard on 24th queued for 30 minutes to get in not a problem security check impressed we get to the lowest viewing floor it was packed my husband went to the bar to get our champagne we paid for bar closed.we were then approached by security asked to start making our way down as they were closing at 7pm what a rip off wasn't even allowed to use the Toilets before we queued to make our way down what a rip off the customer service is the worst doesn't hurt for your staff to smile everyone complaining but they just wanted get everyone out
Arrived at 5.55pm was out by 6.50 quiet expensive just to queue for an hour

Peter Pan lunch at the aqua shard restaurant was fantastic. The greeting was professional and the food was great for an afternoon tea. My wife loved the whole experience, amazing photo ops matched by the choice of cocktails.

Disappointed and over priced.
1. To be greeted by a large man stood with his hands in his pockets on entering,
arms folded on leaving - not at all a good look, and not even a smile or a 'Hello'
or 'Goodbye'
2. Sat at a table in practical darkness - told we would get a candle if they had one.
Didn’t appear. Asked to move where I could actually see what I was eating.
3. One of the most unimaginative menus ever. Not enough choice and overpriced
4. Service was mediocre - dinner was the same. Never asked if everything was ok.
service was slow, drinks took forever
5. I asked for the service charge to be removed - and no one enquired as to why
6. Would not return for dinner or recommend.
7. Would recommend the view - as this you didnt have anything to do with
8. No one on the desk to say goodbye and ask how are evening had been, literally
just walked out without anyone around - extremely poor
9. Charged for 4 bread & £4 each. Only 1 had bread as there was only 2 of us, 1 was
gluten free, charged extra for that as well - refund required
10. Emailed all this - no reply

You have the option to rectify.

I visited the shard on Easter Sunday,with my niece and a friend.
Table was booked under the name parsons
What a fantastic experience.
Food was beautifully presented and divine
Service was excellent
The staff were brilliant,nothing was too much trouble.
The waiters were charming,funny lovely boys.
The whole experience was very special thank’s to you all ,

Went and they said they closing one hour early. Got ticket and drink but drink didn’t exist. Good view but that’s about it as again it closed early and no drinks. Paid good money for it but so much for that.. even got the insurance thing but honestly too much effort and after the experience I had, just gonna leave it.

View and that’s it. It’s cramped and a lot of people with very very limited places to sit. So from my experience- the view is the only reason to go

Trip was great when we got up topside. Bar service was swift and reasonably priced not overcrowded, but with a nice bustle and sense of excitement.

However, the queueing downstairs was not well organised. A single queue maintained along the footpath with a mix of entry times, pulled out from queue - at least in strict time rotation. Booking for 14:30, finally got up top for 15:30. We did not have anything else booked, so no issue. If you had tight itinerary, this may have been dealbreaker.

£10/head for “fast-track”, seem excessive. Manage queues better, would be preferable choice.

Would definitely go back, but at night. All sold out over week in advance.

Paid for a deluxe ticket for my 30th.
No queues, so that was a rip off.
Champagne was unpleasant - i ordered a lemonade to make it palatable.
No photographer was seen during our entire visit. Only photos taken were with the green screen and these are absolutely hideous by the way.

Complained via email to be told tickets are non-refundable. So they’ve take money on the premise of professional photos being taken but not provided the photographer to actually fulfil that. But they’re non-refundable - so i’ve been mis-sold the deluxe ticket.

Waste of money. The view is nice but the whole experience is over done for tourists and not people that actually want to enjoy themselves. So if you want to have 1,000 selfies to post to your 3 followers on instagram, this is the place for you.

If you want to see 20 people that hate their jobs and can’t crack a smile, then you’ll love it here.
If you want these 20 people to rush you up to the top and make you feel you can’t take a minute to go toilet, or enjoy the views from floor 68, then this is the place for you.

On an overnight trip to the Albert Hall, we thought it would be a good idea to utilise the time the next day by going to the Shard. At first, we were hoping to go to the 32nd floor and maybe have a drink at the Aqua but unfortunately, although London didn't seem that busy on a Friday midday, there was no availability. We then opted to go to the top of the Shard and consequently went onto the Groupon website to purchase tickets for £25 each. Upon checking in at reception, the staff told me that the Groupon terms were only for Monday to Thursday. However, they granted it as a gesture of goodwill. I was unable to download the bar code for one of the tickets and was getting in quite a flap about it but the lovely Alayne/Eliena? was very patient with us until we did eventually manage to get the bar code and went up to the 69th floor which, on a sunny and clear day was a real treat and great views. So a BIG thank you to Eleina for her patience and managing to keep a sense of humour. Evidently you are a bit of a Rottweiler but I'm afraid all I have is praise for you.

I'm very surprised at the negative reviews and makes me question their authenticaty. Yes, the drink prices are fairly high but this is a special place not McDonald's. Service, food and the spectacular view made for a wonderful 18th birthday celebration for my son. The only improvement I would look to make is the lack of mask by the table staff. Watch out for the maskless lady who leans in close whilst talking and wiping the table clean, between courses. Rather a good way to spread disease I'd say.

Ok for a one-off special occasion, if you've never been before, or are a tourist. I doubt there is much repeat business.
The security and lift ushers on the ground floor are just enough to to inconvenient, and rude, yet slack enough to be useless and does not make a pleasant start.
The restaurant itself is massively overpriced and pretentious! I literally laughed out loud at my starter, it was so small.
The food was, however, quite nice. (What there was of it). I was shocked to see that my potatoes were cooked and served with peanuts, with no mention of this, either on the menu or verbally. Thankfully, I'm not allergic, but many are.
Wine is even more overpriced, for what they are. I am happy to spend big, if it's reasonable value, but this isn't.
Ok view, but the Aqua restaurant is only on the 31st floor. We requested a window table when booking, three months in advance, but this was not available on the day.
Very slow service. The staff were polite and friendly enough, but they can't have been stressed, given the restaurant was not even 10% full, even though the week before Xmas (Covid, or the prices?) Instead, the staff were busy with aligning empty tables and place settings, using a tape, to the millimetre. What a laugh! Completely pointless!

No reply to complaint sent 3 times !

Extremely disappointed this year after having such a magical experience at Mary Poppins Afternoon Tea. Seriously questioning weather we will return!

Great restaurants but the most appalling security girl downstairs called "Miriam" wouldn't let my 84 year old Mother wait in the warm foyer for a few minutes for the taxi (on a freezing November night!!!???) and then actually shoved her in the revolving door after being extraordinarily rude - how is the girl still employed - after spending £1000 on dinner!!!!? Surely she should be fired - what a dreadful young girl!!!!!

Rude staff at the security check point.. an Asian woman at the security point saw me taking a selfie, she was going through my photos (and phone) saying I took videos and I should delete it. I told this silly girl I don’t have videos on my phone and she insisted saying I did have them, she became rude and mannerless when she found nothing.. she should go do a training on how to approach a customer👎🏾👎🏾👎🏾

We booked to go to the shard for afternoon tea

We was taken to the lounge area as we were a little early so we was happy to have a drink.

It was very hot in the shard no air.
Our table was booked for 3-15 got to the table 3-30
The lady took us over and said you have a beautiful table all done for you we thought great how kind

When we went over to our table near the window
we was put on a very very low table and very small chairs it was a disaster my husband is 6 foot tall it was so low he was leaning over all the time eating his food he suffers with a back injury so the afternoon tea for him was a struggle to sit and eat.

We sat at the table one chipped plate my husband told them they got another plate with out the theme on it a white plain plate the afternoon tea was about the theme and the enjoyment the table was so so small

Plates, cups, was pushed together table far to small and very very low no where to put your coats so mine went on the floor which I thought was really bad

We ordered hot chocolate and a coffee these did not come we had to ask for the drinks after quite a wait

The afternoon tea came it was so very hot in the shard
no air very hot this worried me due to covid

The afternoon tea was very disorganised no variety of cakes to choose from 2 of same of everything,

It was totally a complete let down this was a gift for my husband there was not that much to choose from it was all the same for cakes not a mixture it was an awful afternoon.

What I paid was certainly not worth the money.

I would not recommend afternoon tea at the shard

I went there with intention to buy gifts for afternoon tea as Christmas gifts

The Shard should offer people back if they do not do afternoon tea properly for people who pay the reviews are quite bad really

After taking 2 payments and sending many emails and not delivering on a promise of a refund of £89. We are left out of pocket. Be careful where you spend your cash