Sterling

The Sterling, Gherkin — smart suits, branded bags and briefcases, smart polished shoes and glow of the make-​up on pretty faces, yup, that’s the corporate scene at lunch. And this is what The Sterling at lunch looks like. I was only in my casual clothes — jeans and sweater — but nonetheless felt rather comfortable.
The Sterling, located inside The Gherkin, caters pub food style — fairly ordinary, safe and nothing too exotic. The interior decoration was very much that of a stylish pub. The presence of stairs are always eye-​catching and provoking the curiosity of what could be up above, their mismatched furniture was chosen on purpose, the open space kitchen with a continuation to the bar was a clever strategy and a combination of the yellow lighting and the natural light pouring in through glass panes, The Sterling looks very startling. The circular dining space curving obediently with The Gherkin and, weather permitting, al fresco drinks sound nice.
tomato focaccia £5.00 — whilst any other restaurants serve bread and butter on the side, The Sterling has actually made it as a proper starter. We chose to order it because of the lack of starters available — the most interesting chicken liver parfait was not available. The fennel seed and chilli infusion had only the slightest hint of flavour but the butter was absolutely delicious; unfortunately only available to wholesale in the name of Lescure.
South coast crab & Glenarm organic smoked salmon £8.50 — this is the only dish that boasts the origin of the ingredients and that was why I ordered it. A good assembling of the crustacean encased in the smoked salmon, spruced up with plentiful of rocket had quite an elegant manner. The taste, ummm, plain.
pork belly, triple cooked chips with fried duck egg and peppered ketchup £14.00 — the neat plating of the dish makes it look smaller than it really is. The chips are delicious, real potato taste, and cooked to perfection. The meat is tasty, but the meaty parts quite tough and chewy. The ducks egg rounds off the whole thing well. All in all, not a bad dish at all.
warm chocolate brownie £5.00 — not too sweet, warming and with a vanilla pod ice-​cream. What’s not to like about this time-​honoured dessert.
Service was good but with one waitress and a demanding work crowd lunch to take care, it was quite amazing how she juggled! I am not sure that the food was entirely the reason I went to The Sterling but definitely for the after experience that I could say that I have dined in The Gherkin! Even if it was only at the base.

I organised a Christmas work event at The Sterling for 70 people this month, and planned every detail with the staff, involving 2 visits to the venue and an exchange of emails almost every day for 3 weeks. We booked the 3 course Christmas dinner and Champagne reception, paying almost £70 per head — at a venue situated within the Gherkin we expected The Sterling to be more than used to accommodating bookings of this size, and to deliver an excellent service.
Sadly we were sorely disappointed. Having paid an initial deposit of 30% of the Christmas dinner fee, we were then asked by the venue 2 days before the party to pay the full amount including any additional drinks before the event itself or to risk losing the booking. Clearly we couldn’t possibly know how much drink 70 people would consume before the night itself and therefore refused to pay for it in advance, however we did pay the advanced food fee.
Even more shocking was when I arrived at the venue 20 mins before our event was due to start to ensure it had been set up as agreed. I was very glad I arrived early, because only half the tables were set up and another group, who had apparently also booked an event at the same time, were using half our area. It took 40 minutes, and me insisting on speaking to 4 or 5 staff and bar managers, before they managed to clear everyone out and set up our area. I had to delay the arrival of our group because of this and began the evening very stressed as a result.
Sadly the problems didn’t stop there. Despite agreeing to serve Champagne followed by Prosecco, they served Prosecco from the start and apparently had decided to serve the Champagne with dessert. They then brought out canapés (which we hadn’t ordered) when we were meant to sit down for starters; this meant our meal was delayed by 30 mins. Finally, the place names that were supposed to be set out on each table according to a table plan I had sent were simply dumped on the tables, and myself and a colleague were left to individually place 70 name holders out at the last minute, which was very difficult once everyone had arrived.
These may seem like trivial «first world problems» but anyone who has organised an event for 70 work colleagues including senior managers will appreciate how important it is to get the detail right. The food was average at best, and while select members of staff were exceptional, the overall experience of organising the event was very disappointing; we had great fun in the end but I would not go back.

Good bar, nice location and seems to be quite busy. Great outdoor space when the weather is nice.

Cocktail
Had a great cocktail. The view was irrestible but its not the place to be relax.
However a glass before dinner! Why not?

A really good place for after-​work drinks.
Perfectly located at the foot of perhaps the most iconic building in London at present, the service is always spot-​on, with good humour in the menu (I asked for a «smallest possible volume of Cider» once, and was given a shot of Magners by the barman ;) .
In the summer, the terrace is even better for drinks and nibbles, while the sun sets oin the City of London.

I went to the Sterling as part of the orientation week of my graduate program here in London, and was ridiculously excited about the idea of drinking «in the Gherkin». Located on the ground floor, the Sterling offers patrons the opportunity to drink nice cocktails in an iconic location. I popped out of the bar a few times to look up the sides of the building and be amazed by the architectural awesomeness.
The bar itself is standard for the City… you’re likely to find a generous helping of suits and post-​work folk enjoying a drink or two before dinner. I had a pimms, cosmopolitan and a mojito, and was very impressed by the latter most. Having traditional cocktails that are consistently amazing is tough work, but I think the mojito might have been the best I’ve had. That would be my recommendation.
The staff did a nice job of keeping our large party well attended, and the bartenders worked quickly to handle the big crowd. There are several areas suitable for larger groups, including an upstairs area. The Sterling is certainly one of those must-​do locations, just to say it’s been done, and you won’t be displeased that they handle all of the other details quite well too.

Before you come to this bar you might need to ask yourself a few questions. Firstly, are you a suit? Do you love suits? Does money make the world go round? Is greed good? This is very much a city pub so if you don’t much like the city and what it stands for then you probably shouldn’t come here. It’s filled with laughing boys joking about the latest mill they made the company (well, probably not so much latelybut you get the picture). You might also come here if you are a tourist, or with a tourist perhaps. The bar is in the gherkin, you see, one of the best known buildings on the London skyline. And it is a perfect example of a soulless city bar.
Outside this I can’t see why you would come here. The drinks are overpriced and not particularly good. There isn’t much choice either. I haven’t tried the food but would bet it’s the same. Only reason I can’t give this place 1 star is I did take a tourist hereand he seemed to like it. Go figure.

I love places that have outdoor seating. Granted, London is a city where you have to think about «weather permitting» more often than not, but it’s great that they have the option.
This place is located at the bottom of the Gherkin … it’s actually a pretty sweet and legit place to go for lunch or after work drinks.
Prices are average for a bar-​esque establishment in the city. A bit crowded after work but the great thing is you can stand outside (there’s even that little patio area so it’s an option even if it’s raining!). And if it’s sunny, there’s tons of tables/​seating area in the little office building «square.»
There is seating inside and upstairs… food is pretty much your typical bar food. They don’t serve Patron here… if you were wondering… but after a couple of sambuca shots and some beers on an empty stomach you won’t be able to tell what you’re drinking anyhow. Haha, thumbs up!

Over priced food and drink. As a bar its ok but the food isnt anything special. Good place to hang out at lunchtime in the summer for a beer or glass of wine — service is slow