Tags
british food, dinner, dinner by heston, dinner by heston blumenthal, england, english restaurant, fat duck, historical, historically inspired, london, restaurant review
Apparently this is a restaurant that requires 2 months of advance booking -____-“. It is tucked away at the Mandarin Oriental in Knightsbridge, London so it’s not as far off central London as Heston’s other famed restaurant, the Fat Duck. Dinner by Heston has a very British focus to its food, it is indeed pretty interesting to see all the historically inspired British dishes. Anyway, here’s a siege of photos of just the menu. 
And they even included the sources of origins of all the items on the menu. Pretty neat.
I totally regret not trying the British Cheese T___T I love my cheese!! I was lucky… the dishes I chose turned out to be pretty good. My mom didn’t have such luck though, somehow her orders weren’t very good.
For the appetizer, I chose “meat fruit”. I really loved this! It is a very airy, fluffy and light but yet rich chicken liver and foie gras parfait, made to look like a mandarin orange. I’m not sure whether the “orange skin” was meant to be eaten so I just scraped out the insides and enjoyed them on the thick slab of toasted bread. An ingenious and clever presentation which does not lack in flavour at all.
Just look at that!!!
Here’s what the others ordered for their appetizers. Unfortunately I don’t remember what they are, except for the … questionable lobster and cucumber soup.
As above, said questionable lobster and cucumber soup. It somehow manages to be a salad and a soup at the same time. The green soup is served cold and is poured around the salad. I tried a little and didn’t like it. I thought that the soup and the salad did not blend well together and the soup is too grassy for my liking. I prefer my soups hot -__-
My main course, the Black foot pork chop. This was delicious. I had expected it to be on the dry side, since pork chops tend to be quite lean but this was a thick, very tender pork chop. Some of this is probably attributed to the fact that it is not cooked all the way through.
Traditionally, the general belief is that pork has to be 100% cooked. No such thing as medium well done or medium. 100%. However, in recent years, the safe cooking temperature for pork has been lowered from having an internal temperature of 160 degree Farenheit to 145 degrees.
I’m still not very convinced that it is supposed to look this pink though:-
Despite my queasiness at the possibility of undercooked pork, it was delicious. Tender, melt in the mouth and so juicy. Perhaps this is what beef-eaters look for in their steak, I’ll never know T____T I’m just glad I could satisfy my meat cravings! While I don’t remember what the sides were, I do remember that I polished off the entire plate, obviously thoroughly enjoying my main course.
My sister ordered the chicken. I’m not sure what the cooking method was for this chicken but it rendered the chicken so flavourful and moist. Definitely another thumbs up on this dish.
My mom ordered the codfish. She didn’t like it and I completely understood why when I took a bite. The fish had a fishy smell to it and was a tad slimy. Not what I expect from a 1 Michelin star restaurant. When the waitresses asked how our food was (they do that SO OFTEN during the meal! It’s annoying!) she just gave a weak “uhh it’s ok” hahaha! Her face was all twisted during the meal it would have been funny if we weren’t expecting so much from this restaurant.
Dessert next! Now this is where Dinner truly deserves its Michelin star! Indeed their desserts are spectacular. Even my mom, who loves her Chinese food, raved about their desserts.
The Taffety tart topped with Vanilla ice cream had very very subtle hints of rose, and was beautifully crumbly, making for a very pleasant eating with the apples. Not sure if I tasted any fennel but who cares, it was good. 
If the waitress had not recommended the Tipsy cake, I would never have ordered it. This was by far hands down the best dish of the night. It is moist, with a generous amount of whiskey, tapered down by the sweetness of the pineapple and the cake itself. So very fragrant, aromatic and hearty. Comfort food worthy ;D
Tarte of Strawberries. It wasn’t too bad but it was overshadowed by the maddeningly delicious Tipsy cake. All I remember about it was the sorbet. The strawberry sorbet showcased the strawberry fruit in a pure and concise manner. Just all about the strawberry, which is what made it so memorable.
We ended off with a complimentary chocolate dip which I gave to my mom since she had so much difficulty with her appetizer and her main course.
Overall, mixed response la I have to say. My mom’s food really wasn’t very good, whereas mine was great. I also wished that the waiters/waitresses didn’t keep asking us how the food was, it really stressed me out. I just want to have a quiet meal and am content to just chatter among ourselves. I guess the only time when I welcome chatter is with the chef. I might come back here again, but not if the queue is 2 months long.
ADDRESS
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park
66 Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7LA
Dinner Reservation Line
T – +44(0)20 7201 3833
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