What can I say about Dinner by Heston Blumenthal that hasn't already been written? It was one of the most eagerly anticipated restaurant openings of recent years and has been soldily booked for the first five months of its life. On the night that we went, a Monday in mid-May, Gordon Ramsay was seated next to us. Andre Garrett, head chef at Galvin at Windows, had tweeted me earlier in the day to advise me what to have for dessert (please note the completely shameless name drop). The restaurant is beloved both of Blumenthal's fellow chefs and the critics.
The famous 'Meatfruit'
Located in the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Knightsbridge, the restaurant does what it can to not feel like it's in a hotel. The room is attractively art-deco with one of the kitchens forming the centrepiece of the room. The acoustics are such that the room seems pleasantly noisy and lively - this is not a restaurant where you have to sit in silent reverie for the food but a restaurant where you enjoy your dining experience.
The food is based on recipes from history dating from the 14th century with the Meatfruit to the 19th century. There is no tasting menu but an a la carte choice of 7-10 dishes for each course. The food is rich and heavy with just enough about it to let you know that you're eating in the kitchen of one of the world's most inventive chefs.
We both started with the meat fruit because we felt that we had to. Probably the most iconic dish on the menu, in consists of a silky smooth chicken liver pate in a mandarin jelly meant to look, as the name suggests, like a piece of fruit. I felt that mine was the merest hint over-seasoned (which is not one of my normal complaints) but I was really looking for faults; in reality it was every bit as fun and delicious as I was expecting.
For the main course, I had the pork chop and my boyfriend had a steak, served with bone marrow and Heston's signature triple-cooked chips.
My pork chop was so big that I was moved to wonder just how large its previous own was. It was served pink (fine by me) with just the right amount of smokiness from the griddle marks. Alongside the pork chop was some buttery cabbage and a deep mustard-flavoured sauce. It was as good a piece of pig as I've ever eaten but, at the end of the day, it was just a big plate of 'meat and two veg' (we had carrots as well. They were really excellent). The same goes for the steak and chips; every part was executed perfectly from the topping of bone marrow and Japanese breadcrumbs to the mushroom ketchup but it was still, fundamentally, a slab of meat and a bowl of fried potatoes.
Pork chop
As advised by Andre Garrett, and every review that I've read, I had the tipsy cake for pudding. Served in a small cast iron pot, the brioche is basted in brandy and vanilla cream for a sumptuous pudding. Alongside is a chunk of the famous spit-roast pineapples which can be seen cooking in the kitchen. The texture of the cake was perfect - lighter than air with a satisfyingly sticky goo at the bottom. I normally find pineapple a bit too acidic but the caramelised effect from the spit roasting softened the harshness and it was a refreshing accompaniment to the cake. My boyfriend had the chocolate bar which was a dense chocolate mousse served with ginger ice cream and passionfruit jam. Unlike me, he is not particularly enamoured by passionfruit but he said that it was the best part of his dessert, brining together the various elements and cutting through the richness of the chocolate perfectly.
Tipsy cake with pineapple
Chocolate bar with ginger ice cream
We weren't quite finished though as there was an earl grey and white chocolate ganache to come. I tried a mouthful and said 'Gosh, it really tastes like tea' to which my boyfriend rolled his eyes and asked what I had expected to taste of. Until he tried it and said exactly the same thing.
Earl grey ganache
We had an interesting debate as to how many Michelin stars the restaurant should get and will get (not necessarily being the same). The service was, in the best possible way, not three-star. I felt that I could probably sneeze without three people offering me a tissue. That is not a criticism though as the staff were enthusiastic and friendly, anything more attentive would have felt out of place with the food and the surrounds.
This is not refined dining by any stretch of the imagination. What is special though is the little touches that bring the dishes together. My boyfriend tried my tipsy cake and then tried a piece of the pineapple but it was only when he had a mouthful of the two together that he really 'got' the dish. Similarly, the Japanese breadcrumbs made his steak more than the sum of its parts, comments above notwithstanding.
Incidentally, my prediction is two stars.