You probably lost count of the number of times you were told, as a child, to make sure that all four chair legs remained on the ground. Well this is a rule-follower’s nightmare, because all chairlegs were at least 100ft from the ground as I was hoisted to enjoy a meal dangling from a crane in Canary Wharf. Yes, London In The Sky is back!
Undoubtedly London’s most exhilarating dining a pop-up, sees you served breakfast, lunch or dinner (not to mention Champagne Taittinger flights), and we overcame vertigo to go. So what’s it like?
Your first thought is ‘What if I need the loo?’, given you’re going to be strapped into a seat and dangling above London’s skyline the last thing you want is to be caught short, causing an impromptu rain shower on unsuspecting pedestrians below. Thankfully there’s facilities on the ground for just before you ascend, and there’s a man with his hand on the lever to lower the table should the worst come to the worst. Still, it’s difficult not to think of as you’re being meticulously strapped into the bucket seat that will be your dining chair for the next hour.
The 22 seat table sky table has been specially designed for the purpose, and covers most eventualities. There’s an awning for in case it rains (you’ll still go up, unless there’s sign of thunder and lightening) and they’ve got an oven heater on the platform keeping your dinner nice and warm.
After a starter enjoyed on the ground, you’re up and off aloft, slowly hoisted to 100ft. I have to admit that 100ft looks disappointingly low when viewed from the ground, but terrifyingly high when experienced in reality.
Dinner was a salad to start, followed by a veggie Indian tandoori number and washed down with wine. The waiters wait from the middle of the table, walking back-and-forth in what I would imagine to be one of the most perilous waiting jobs in the world outside of the International Space Station or Kim Jong Un’s dining room. Still, their risk was my reward!
Thankfully the ground beneath the table has been cleared, lest a stray steak knife or Champagne flute becomes highly weaponised as it topples from the table. You’ll never cling so tightly onto your phone as you do at 100ft, Instagramming aside.
This is the place to go if you want to impress a date, celebrate an occasion or just scare yourself while enjoying one of the most bizarre meals you’ll probably ever eat. I would absolutely recommend, it takes dining to a whole new level…
The London In The Sky experience will take place from the 1st of May – 15th of July. Get up, up and away here
