Dinner by Heston

Description Man of the moment Heston Blumenthal’s new restaurant venture

Location: The Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Knightsbridge, London SW1 7LA

Nearest tube: Knightsbridge / Hype Park Corner

Head chef: Ashley Palmer Watts

Offers: Set lunch £28 for 3 courses

Best seat in the house: ask for a window seat

Tip: The restaurant’s signature dishes are not included in the lunch offer (shocker) so I recommend ordering one set menu (which will deliver!) and one mixed three course meal (so as not to miss out!)

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Dinner is without a doubt the ‘hottest ticket in town’ (or whatever the restaurant equivalent is) and when I went in February of this year I was not disappointed. Somehow I managed to book a table for the restaurant’s second day open – I will never again be able to replicate this astonishing feat of forward planning/good luck but feel unbelievably blessed/shocked/smug/guilty at having managed to get in.

And what luck!

Throughout the meal we were surrounded by the who’s who of the food world. I was sat facing Mark Hix (British chef and star-gazy pie aficionado), a bounty of A list food critics including Giles Coran, Charles Campion and a gaggle from the Guardian (I was told), along with the man himself being interviewed at the next table.

For me, these guys are rock stars.

And the food... oh b’jesus. The famous ‘meat fruit’, a small but perfectly formed portion of chicken liver parfait coated in a mandarin jelly, was just perfect. It was pleasantly chilled and impossibly smooth and rich – enjoyable on every level. The ‘fruit’ was served with a sufficient portion of toasted brioche, a pleasant surprise when in so many restaurants they are determined to leave me wanting more bread (a constant bugbear of mine, and everybody’s??). The main course was the most succulent quail I’ve ever eaten (and the only quail I’ve eaten – but I’ve imagined eating more and it’s always been tough) with the smoothest, most delicate parsnip puree the world has ever seen. It’s the kind of puree you want to devote weeks to making yourself and mastering, then spreading on EVERYTHING, maybe even injecting. For dessert, I had a smallish cake and sorbet, but the main attraction was the caramelised pineapple and donut signature dish – very sweet, very delicious. Boom!

I couldn’t fault the service we received – as it was my boyfriend’s birthday, our lovely (if a little nervous) waiter took it upon himself to arrange a quick tour of the kitchens and a chat with Heston (who unfortunately had ducked out at the time, but a chat with head chef Ashley Palmer Watts was equally enjoyable!). The restaurant itself is light and airy with wonderful views over Hyde Park.

For those who, like me have dreamed of going to the Fat Duck for years, Dinner offers a good alternative if you want to know what the fuss about Heston Blumenthal is all about while still being able to afford a holiday this year.

A Good Menu

A blog for food lovers everywhere, served with a news & reviews valoute, caramelised shards of oak matured industry chat, in a light banter batter

The pleasure that can be derived from reading a good menu is, in my view, up there with watching a good play. Now, I realise how off-puttingly pretentious that sounds, but hear me out. When you sit down in a theatre and the curtain rises, you, or at least I, instantly think to myself: “Come on then, show me what you’ve got. Impress me.” And I ask the same thing of the restaurants and cafes that I visit, because they too are putting on a show for me, creating an experience which, when done well, should build anticipation and deliver highs of excitement, throwing in a few surprises for good measure and a healthy dose of enjoyment throughout. (I was tempted to go down the ‘a dash of this’ and ‘a sprinkling of that’ route, but I decided against it, you’ll be pleased to know). I realise that not all plays deliver these things, but I’m thinking more ‘Chicago’ and ‘Cabaret’ than ‘The Crucible’. Ok, correction: the pleasure that can be derived from reading a good menu is up there with watching a musical.*

For me, food is the ultimate. You know those irritating “I only eat because my body needs fuel” people; what DO THEY TALK ABOUT??? Everyone I know (and like) is always banging on about food and good restaurants, loving nothing more than to speculate about Masterchef or the Great British Menu. Food is a fundamental element in our lives and permeates every part. As a result of this food fixation, I have decided to create and dedicate a blog (I know, how self-indulgent) to food and the people that make it marvellous. It will include reviews, offers I have discovered, restaurant opening news, and general musings.

*For those of you not in love with musicals, substitute with your equivalent (and maybe give musicals a second chance? Jersey Boys, for example, is a delight!)