5th View Bar & Food

How can a restaurant mess up Cob Salad? Filled out with croutons and otherwise largely lettuce.
Another irritation was my Virgin Mary came in a glass half the size of the others. Would be one star if it weren’t for the view.

Plan A was to have high tea here but a late breakfast turned this into Plan B with a chill atmosphere, champagne, and some dessert.
I took full advantage of the wi-​fi, beautiful view of the London skyline including Big Ben and the joys of not having a care in the world while on vacation.

Stopped by for something quick to eat before the Harry Potter Book Night. The restaurant was busy so we sat in the more café type area with small tables. The menu isn’t particularly interesting but I had a peach ice tea and a bakewell tart. Portions were good but a bit on the expensive side and certainly nothing to write home about!

The 5^th view bar is located on the top floor of Waterstones Piccadilly. Take the elevator up and there you will find a nice bar /​café area and also a restaurant. I will update my review when I get a change to test the restaurant area out too. In my opinion the bar is a perfect place to have a business meeting — in fact I will definitely make this place one of my go-​to meeting places in London. During the day it’s nice for a coffee and after your meeting you can do some book shopping downstairs. In the evening you can enjoy for example an after work drink or just relax. Nice place, good service and great for meetings — works for me!

This is a good place to stop and have a drink in London if you’re in the area. There is a decent view and a good selection of drinks including coffee, tea, wine and liquor. The service was friendly as well, but there could have been another server working, as it was a busy Sunday afternoon. While it is a good place and I would come back, it could be a great place with some renovations. Also, I suspect that it would be better mid-​week when it’s a bit less crowded.

This place has recently been refurbished and the results are good, definitely an improvement. I went with four friends and we each just had some tea and sat around chatting for hours. Although it was a Friday night and the place was busy we didn’t feel pressured to order more drinks, cocktails, or food which is unusual for London. The service was good, the drinks were fine, and it was a nice and laid back vibe.

Met here first thing in the morning (opens at 9am) at which time it was pretty empty.
Great seating area which, if you are near the windows you have a great view. A selection of hot drinks including herbal. I opted for a ginger, lemon and honey to help shift my cold.
They do not do a big breakfast but have some pastries available. I passed on those.
I could see that it looked like a popular spot for business meetings and with its free wifi, this was useful to ensure you are keeping connected and to clear down emails whilst you wait.
I expect there are a few people that, after selecting their next book, would come up to 5^th floor to sit with a cuppa and get started on their next great read with the natural light and comfy seating.

This place is a little strange.
It seems to sell itself as a bit of a swanky eatery, perched at the top level of the gargantuan Waterstones Piccadilly bookstore.
If you’re coming here for cocktails or food, I probably wouldn’t — the décor and the whole environment is a bit lacking. Although the waiters bizarrely wear a formal outfit, it’s more of a casual café vibe than anything else, so I find it a better day-​time spot to work or have meetings. They’ve got free WiFi and lots of tables, but only okay (ish) food — but they do boast a pretty great view over London.
As I said, a strange place, but useful if you need somewhere relatively quiet near the chaos of Piccadilly Circus.

I gotta say I truly love this place! What’s not to like about a swish bar with sexy staff who let you read while you eat! The choice in this huge Waterstones is staggering and the food is top-​notch. It’s not super great value but you can linger and everything tastes v fresh. The best place to come on a rainy day when you’re trying to fill some time between central london appointments! x

Au sommet du Waterstones de Piccadilly, ce café restaurant avec vue sur les toits est une pause agréable et confortable dans les pérégrinations littéraires des quatre étages de la librairie précédemment mentionnée.
Ce né sont pas les toits les plus glamour de la capitale britannique que vous aurez devant les yeux, mais la vue a l’avantage d’être dégagée, ce qui donne beaucoup de charme à l’endroit. Vous pourrez vous asseoir autour d’une table ou vous installer dans des fauteuils jouxtant des tables basses, pour déguster un repas chaud ou froid ou une simple tasse de thé avec un gâteau.
Personne né vous pousse à la consommation, personne né regarde l’horloge d’un air de dire que vous devriez songer sérieusement à renouveler votre consommation ou vous diriger vers la caisse. Vous avez pris un thé… et vous en voudriez un autre? On vous proposera aussitôt d’ajouter simplement de l’eau chaude dans votre théière (pour pas un penny de plus, bien entendu). Bref, relaxez-​vous, vous êtes dans un lieu civilisé.

Bön, la «View» n’est pas forcément sur la plus belle partie des toits de Londres, mais il n’en reste pas moins que l’endroit est super lumineux (même un jour de pluie) et très agréable pour se poser après avoir empli son panier de livres aux étages en-​dessous. En effet, posé au dernier étage de Waterstone (gigantesque librairie, cf. sa fiche sur Unilocal), c’est l’endroit parfait pour déjeuner sur le pouce d’un club sandwich ou bien pour prendre un thé avec une pâtisserie. Velours violet et doré, fauteuils et tables basses, ou bien tables et sièges en bord de baie vitrée, j’ai beaucoup aimé l’endroit qui a un je-​né-​sais-​quoi de sophistiqué.
Il y a aussi une autre partie, plus sombre et plus calme côté escaliers, avec des tables plus grandes.
Enfin, les pâtisseries et gâteaux sont présentés sur le bar afin de les dévorer des yeux avant de se régaler de celui choisi !
Vraiment, j’ai du mal à mieux expliquer pourquoi j’ai autant apprécié l’endroit, et surtout à le retransmettre par écrit. Je né peux que vous inviter à vous y rendre vous-​même…

This was a surprise! We were wandering around the area wanting coffee AND beer but not finding any coffee shops offering both. And then we stumbled upon a placard outside the Waterstone’s advertising coffee, bar, and view. SOLD!
We went through the book shop, directly to the elevators, and went to the 5^th floor. The dining area is divided into relaxing coffee shop (with no view) and ‘please wait to be seated’ coffee/​dining area (with view). We waited to be seated, which really wasn’t a wait at all. Although our table was away from the windows, we still had an okay view of the London Eye (5^th floor view is what it is). I had a latte with marshmallows, Friend had a hot chocolate with marshmallows (out of Cadbury flakes) and Husband had a Guinness. Beers are only available in bottles.
The service was good and friendly and the total was just over £12 (including service charge). I’ll definitely be returning. I love the amenities of having coffee or beer with dessert and a view and away from the crowds on Piccadilly.

To paraphrase Foreigner «I’ve been waiting… for a girl like you… to take my freakin’ order»
Whose leg do you have to hump to get some service around this place? Walked in for a quick bite and was going to sit at the bar, but the eager guy said «no, sit at a table, we have table service!». Fifteen minutes later I was considering him a liar.
Finally grabbed someone to take my order. And they’re out of the London sausages! So had to go with the burger. Food and beer (Leffe Blonde… mmmm!) came quickly, which in this case was a good thing. Burger was benign… somewhat forgettable. The chunky fries are worthy of their own mention. Very tasty!
Again, had to hunt someone down to get the check and they add a service charge. Decent food, poor service. This place has a nice view (you can see the London Eye) but I don’t think it’s worth the ride to the fifth floor. I say pass.

This place is a gem for a work-​related meeting. Spacious, light, quiet, sophisticated, and nice. I have never found a good place for meetings in that area and now the problem has been solved. (And you can book a table).
Look forward to going there one day for a drink to enjoy the view and a meal.

We had dinner there one night last week, and a friend joined us towards the end for tea. The ambiance was perfect; a lovely view, quiet (with pleasant background music instead of the loud noise we frequently encounter), subdued conversations and just an overall nice feeling. Both of the servers who waited on us were really pleasant. And, the food — which I’d categorize as nouvelle cuisine — was delicious (I can’t remember what appetizer my husband ordered, but mine had goat cheese and something else. For our main course, we shared the seafood board and it was a real treat. The portions were perfect; not excessive, but certainly sufficient). The bill — which included our friend’s tea and a 12.5% tip that was automatically added — came to 34.31 pounds.

Wandering around Piccadilly /​Regent Street yesterday I had a sudden — yet not uncommon — urge for a hot chocolate. Having heard good things about the bar atop the flagship Waterstone’s store I decided to give it a try for the first time.
As soon as the lift doors opened (yeah, like I’m gonna walk up five storeys’ worth of stairs) I was immediately greeted by a maitre-d’-type-fellow and shown to a table. ‘Err, I’m only here for a quick drink…’ I said. ‘That’s fine, that’s fine,’ he replied earnestly.
Glancing at the menu, the hot chocolate with marshmallows and a flake predictably caught my eye, but before I got the chance to order (table service) I flicked through the rest of the drinks on offer. And, before I knew it, I heard myself ordering a rum punch.
The cocktail was delicious. However, it was not cheap — they add on a service charge of 12.5%, so one drink came to a rather whopping £10.12. Not that I was expecting any less, of course.
I was perfectly content to spend 40mins in 5^th View with my rum punch and my thoughts for company, it’s just a shame it’s not ever so slightly cheaper, really. If I wanted to go out with friends for cocktails we’d either go somewhere really swanky where the cocktails aren’t much more expensive than here, or somewhere with a cheap and cheerful happy hour. 5^th View sits strangely in between these two categories, so although my experience there was not unpleasant, I think I might stick to hot chocolate next time.

I’ve been going to the 5^th view for years and it’s my default stop for coffee if I’m in the West End during an afternoon or an early cocktail if I’m there in the evening. To me, this is a hidden gem in central London and one of those special places I recommend people to go, especially to out of town tourists who are going to be walking around in the area and will need a place to relax for a bit.
The 5^th view is all about the setting, at the top of the flagship Waterstone’s on Piccadilly and with gorgeous views looking over Westminster (yes, you can see parliament). The best part about it is that since it’s tucked away on the 5^th floor of the bookstore most people don’t know about it. So, even with the gorgeous view it tends to be much less crowded than the Costa’s and Starbucks in that area on ground level.
I’ve tended to go just for coffee or cocktails so can’t comment on the fairly extensive menu including salads, sandwiches and desserts. As for the cocktails though, the martinis made tableside are really good, though come at the usual steep central London prices.
My only complaint is with the service, which tends to be uninspired at best. Servers take a long time to come to your table and usually you have to call them over if you want anything. I have not once had a friendly server at the 5^th View. Then again, its central London so fairly par for the course.

What’s a better place to go to when you’ve browsed your way through 5 floors of books, than a nice café/​bar at the top of the Waterstone’s building. It’s a great place to grab lunch, afternoon tea or post-​work drinks.
I had the 5^th View Burger for lunch — a juicy beef patty, lettuce and thousand island sauce in a sesame seed bun, served with onion rings, hand cut fries and relish on the side. I was impressed at how tasty the burger was. My experience with bookstore/​department store cafes haven’t been the best, and I was expecting average quality. The burger was filling but definitely hit the spot. The fries and onion rings, while cripsy, were bland and a little greasy. The relish had a nice tangy flavour that went well with the burger. I’ve heard good reviews for their fish and chips too.
A great place to take a break in the middle of the ever busy and bustling Piccadily Circus.

The Fifth View is on the fifth floor of Waterstone’s — it’s quite versatile — there’s a lovely view of London from which it’s a nice place to watch the world and enjoy some tea and scones.
It’s a general meeting place for friends, professional coffee chats, and even those just trying to get some reading done. It’s broken up into a loungy «study room» and the glass walled room with a view.
The tea here is much more reasonably priced than its neighbor Fortnum and Mason (5.95 for a pot of tea and scone, 11.95 for the full high tea).
My one complaint is that the wifi here — which is free — hardly works. The loungy study area is supposed to be worker friendly — outlets under other table, but the lack of dependable wifi makes working here quite unsustainable. I’ll be coming back, but more likely for quick coffee chats, then long work sessions over copious amounts of tea.

This place used to be lovely. It used to be really rather exclusive (well, as exclusive as a bar in a book shop can be, anyway). Because of the Costa downstairs, it didn’t get many tourists or passing trade — they’d go there instead. But, the Costa has gone, and they’ve turned the whole of the top floor into a bar/​restaurant now. Which means that the fancy bit on one side (with the really really good view) is out of bounds unless you’re spending money on food, and the other half is a bit less pretty. Much less pretty actually.
But, it’s a nice place to pop for a cuppa. And it was nice tea as well £2.75 for a pot, and friendly service. But for me, it’s lost that special thing that it had when it first opened. I was meant to come here for evening cocktails a little while ago and I’ve been planning to come back to try them. I’m not sure I’ll bother now. It’s lost its shine for me. Which is a shame, because bars in bookshops is such a heavenly idea.
But yeah, I’ll come in for tea after book shopping.

The 5^th View is absolute genius. Take one of the world’s largest bookstores, add an amazing view (rooftops galore, Parliament, Big Ben and the London Eye), throw in an interesting crowd of regulars (& tourists alike), and top it off with a nice wine list/​cocktail menu! The result is a fantastic post-​work/​pre-​dinner meet-​up venue located in the heart of Piccadilly.
The late-​lunch appetizer tapas menu is wonderful. Since this is London, we have to start with the cocktails… The Piccadilly Rum Punch is superb; four different rums (shots) served with a fruit blend. The Angelita; tequila and Italian lemon liqueur with pink grapefruit juice. The Raspberry Bella is awesome; prosecco and gin with pureed raspberries. Their mojitos and mai tais are great too.
If you survived the pre-​food drinks, you’ll be rewarded with their great tapas. The stuffed pepper with charred vegetables and couscous is enjoyable. Scottish smoked salmon and the fried calamari are great too. There are a few meat dishes as well.

The 5^th View bar is on the top floor of the Piccadilly’s Waterstones. It is a lounge bar. It stretches across a large part of the top floor and has panoramic views across London.
My Dad used to work in the area and we met here a couple of times for drinks. It is a nice place and the views are incredible. They also sell a range of tapas style nibbles to accompany your drink which are all pretty tastey.
It is a good place to stop off for a drink if you want to escape the rush of central London, or have just finished work.