Weekend lunch at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal

This afternoon was unusually nice and sunny, and what better way to spend a lazy weekend than with more nice food? I finally made it to Dinner by Heston Blumenthal by calling the restaurant on the morning itself and squeezing myself in for a late lunch slot (advance online reservations, especially on weekends, are impossible - just call and hope for the best). The chef and founder of the famous Fat Duck restaurant needs no introduction, and his London outpost, having only opened at the end of January 2011, has done amazingly well - picking up a Michelin star within 2 months of opening, and then making it to the top of UK restaurants in this year's St. Pellegrino's list of The World's 50 Best Restaurants (double honours of 9th position and the Highest New Entry, to be exact, edging out even The Fat Duck, which has fallen to 13th position).

Despite the restaurant's location in the very posh Mandarin Oriental hotel in Knightsbridge, the atmosphere is surprisingly open and casual. Lots of natural light, amply-spaced tables and no stuffy dress codes. You can see the open kitchen at work from almost anywhere in the restaurant, and if you get a seat by the window you can also witness people picnicking on the grass in the adjacent Hyde Park - doesn't get better than this for a start, I think.

Spacious bar area

Main restaurant area

Look at that wine cellar... oh my god.
Designed to impress, surely!

Live ice-cream making at the table, using one
of those Heston liquid nitrogen machines.

Fun fact for the day - who'd have thought that
whale vomit could be so good?!

Two types of bread - sourdough and ordinary brown. Both warm and
substantial. The butter with sea salt was velvety and utterly luxurious.

On to the food; diners expecting revolutionary cuisine like those at The Fat Duck might be disappointed. Dinner's emphasis is really on recreating historical British recipes with a touch of modern fine-dining sophistication; as such, the food mostly looks more 'normal' than what one might expect, though in true Heston style, certain dishes still manage to intrigue, such as my starter:

Any idea what that really is? :) A further hint - here is what it looks like internally:

Meat Fruit (ca. 1500) - mandarin, chicken liver parfait and grilled bread. The combination of flavours was simple and effective - a generous chunk of the creamiest liver parfait, coated with an outer layer of tart mandarin jelly that balanced its potentially overwhelming richness. The grilled bread with lashings of herb oil was extremely aromatic and a nice base for spreading the luxurious parfait. What really took this dish to a higher level, though, was its clever presentation - the 'mandarin' was utterly lifelike in size and shape, and even the naturally uneven surface of the rind was so convincingly executed, that one would not have been able to guess what it really was, without being given some hints. Very delightful start to the meal.

Next, my main course: roast turbot (ca. 1830) with leaf chicory and cockle ketchup. The side of Jersey Royal new potatoes baked in herb butter is an extra order - it should be noted that the mains in this restaurant don't typically come with any side garnishes. If you're not too keen on paying Michelin prices for very ordinary sides (choice of peas, fries, mashed or baked potato and I forget what else), save your money and stomach space for an extra dessert order at the end of the meal. The potatoes were nice and a good portion, but they were just potatoes.

I can't even begin to describe how good the fish was - expensive, yes, but worth every penny for this generous chunk. It had retained all its natural juices, which oozed out appealingly with every slice of the knife and bite in the mouth. The flesh itself was smooth, meaty and tender, with a nice, slightly crispy top from roasting. The fresh and delicate flavours of the fish were aptly complemented by the cockle 'ketchup', basically a sort of vinaigrette with cockles, pickled capers and gherkins, as well as a bed of incredibly aromatic chicory leaves sautéed in crushed garlic. This dish was a picture of understated perfection.

Finally, sweet endings to the meal: upon my server's recommendation, I ordered the Tipsy Cake (ca. 1810) with spit-roasted pineapple. 

A posh take on traditional bread pudding, this was essentially a large brioche baked with generous lashings of sugar, brandy and Sauternes (hence the 'Tipsy' name), which resulted in a thick, custardy / condensed milk-like coating surrounding the warm and fluffy brioche. It was all at once aromatic, sweet, and full-bodied from the liquors used - absolutely delightful. The juicy and lightly caramelised strip of pineapple was a good balance to this rich dessert, with its mild acidity.

I was still feeling peckish after the first dessert so I ordered another light one to finish the meal. This is poached rhubarb (ca. 1590) with rosehip jam and rhubarb sorbet.

What an appealing colour and
perfectly quenelled shape!

This was a really refreshing end to the very rich lunch (more like a palate cleanser than a dessert!) and a delightful experiment in the possibilities of rhubarb: juicy poached strips in campari topped with freeze-dried bits of rhubarb and sugared films with rhubarb powder; on the other side, a perfectly smooth and shaped rhubarb sorbet with a candied rhubarb strip, sitting on a bed of sweet rosehip jam infused with orange, freeze-dried caramel bits, and rich vanilla cream for balance. There was a lot of rhubarb on the plate, but the execution of each component was spot-on and the balance of flavours and textures was very well planned, so that on the whole the dish did not feel overwhelmingly one-dimensional and/or acidic on the palate. I should also mention that the presentation was incredibly pretty!

Petit fours: dark chocolate ganache infused with Earl Grey, and caramel shortbread with caraway seeds. The chocolate itself was extremely rich and velvety but I would have liked a stronger hint of bergamot to complement the intensity of the chocolate; on the other hand, the shortbread was excellent and the unmistakable fresh aroma of caraway seeds was an unusual yet completely apt balance to the buttery richness of the biscuit.

More views of the restaurant as I was leaving (and you can see the open kitchen taking centrestage):

Lovely ambience, good service, and so many more dishes on the à la carte menu left to try - I will have to return soon!