The best part of the Guinness Open Gate in Covent Garden is right at the top. You take the lift all the way up to Gilroy’s Loft, named after the artist behind those old Guinness posters with the toucan, and the room kind of opens out around you. It is an indoor rooftop, tucked up above the crowds, with a bit of outdoor space for when London decides to be sunny. You are not here for a skyline, you are here because it is quiet and high up and feels a little removed from everything happening on the streets below.
The cocktails are seasonal and fresh, but the beers are brewed on site, including a peach tea one that is so good and so refreshing I want another just writing this.
Most of the menu is seafood from around the British and Irish isles, meant to be eaten with the beers, which honestly just makes sense once you are sitting there with a platter and a cold pint in front of you. We had the plateau de fruits de mer, king prawns, Jersey oysters on ice, and hamachi.
But here is what you actually need to order. Get the lobster french toast. I know it sounds breakfasty, but it is luxurious and a delicious lunch or dinner dish, so get it anyway. Garlic buttered lobster piled on top, asparagus, cherry tomato, the whole thing rich and a bit ridiculous and the dish you say you will share and then absolutely do not.
The asparagus was fresh and barely done, just right for the season, and the halibut with radish, peas, and beurre blanc was lovely and clean after all that richness.
And then the ribeye to finish, dry aged, topped with grilled king prawns. What makes it is the Guinness butter melting down over everything, with crispy fries to dip in it. The beer steamed mussels with samphire and fries looked great too, and that is what we would try next time.
So that is the plan. A peach tea beer, the lobster french toast, the ribeye with that butter, and a seat by the window. Five floors up with the city below and a pint in hand, it is a very easy afternoon to lose.
Note: Gilroy’s Loft provided support for the reporting of this story.