STK London, Stratford – Rooftop Terrace Review

Last Updated on August 28, 2024

Cocktails and Small Plates in Style at STK London, Stratford

As many regular Shopping Mall customers may tell you, after a few hours of browsing and buying ‘essentials’ I’m ready to escape the throngs.  Westfield Stratford is one of the busiest malls I know in the UK and it was a huge relief to find my way to the top floor of the nearby Hilton Hotel, the home of STK London, Stratford.  With two roof terraces (one with tables for dining, the other with comfy sofas to relax on) and a large indoor restaurant, it’s the perfect summer spot.  Both roof terraces have retractable electric roofs so that, should the weather prove inclement, guests can stay where they are.   Inside, the space is airconditioned and rather glamorous, with sweeping views across East London.  This year, there’s a collaboration between STK Stratford and everyone’s favourite rosé, Whispering Angel. 

Obviously, we started with Whispering Angel cocktails.  The Terrace menu has a selection of three cocktails,  Whispering Angel Côte De Provence by the glass or bottle or Rock Angel Côte De Provence by the bottle.  We tried two out of the three cocktails – a delicious and refreshing Peach Angel Spritz (Whispering Angel Rosé and Chandon Spritz with peach and orange) served with lots of ice and a rather more delicate Whispering Angel’s Flute, laced with Hennessy VS, Peach and Orange and served in a champagne flute.

The Light Bites menu is a reasonably priced selection of small dishes that are perfect for sharing.  We picked a broad selection of dishes, some hot and some cold.

Perfectly fresh oysters served on a half shell with mignonette, cocktail sauce and lemon were a great pairing with the Peach Angel Spritz and I’d happily have eaten 12 of these all by myself.  As it was, I shared the platter of 6 plump and delicious morsels.

Ceviche was a fresh dish of seabass with ponzu, tiger’s milk and citrus tobiko with a tapioca cracker adding textural interest.  Perhaps the hardest to share thanks to the pretty presentation.

Our final cold dish was a platter of Japanese-style spicy tuna rolls, with yellowfin tuna, chilli garlic paste, avocado, crispy onion and sesame seeds served with a little wasabi and pickled ginger and with chopsticks.  I particularly liked the addition of the crispy onion which contrasted beautifully with the soft avocado.

Of the hot dishes, we both particularly liked the Lil Brgrs (sliders).  Jack’s Creek beef is Australian grain-fed meat, award-winning, full of flavour and very tender.  Served with the house ‘special sauce’ and a garnish of cheese tomato and lettuce, I know I’ll be heading for the full-size burger if I go back to STK to dine.

Crispy chicken bites with a honey bbq sauce were tender and juicy, with a sticky sweetness that was very morish.  We thought they were wings, but in fact they were boneless and much easier to devour as a result.

A generous portion of crispy calamari with pardon (sic) peppers and fried basil came with dipping sauces of roasted garlic, lime aioli, and Asian chilli sauce (on the mild side).  There was far more than we’d expected and this selection of 6 ‘light bites’ made a good meal for two of us, or would have been a reasonable snack selection for a larger party.  There were also olives and mixed nuts on offer.

That said, when presented with the dessert menu it was hard to resist.  

The New York cheesecake with raspberries and milk ice cream turned out to be a vanilla cheesecake with drizzles of raspberry compote and while nice would have benefited from a more generous portion of fruit.

Warm chocolate chip cookie with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce was definitely a hit, though on this occasion I am glad the calorie count wasn’t there.

This place is all about the location – it’s a great bolthole from Westfield Stratford and the two semi-open terraces make it an attractive proposition when the weather is good.  That said, the terraces were a little warm when we arrived and appeared not to benefit from the air conditioning in the main restaurant.  We loved our Whispering Angel cocktails and would definitely head back for cocktails if we were in the area, although it’s safe to say most of the customers were in their twenties and I for one had something of a ‘Mother of the Bride’ moment about it all.