restaurant review: dinner by heston blumenthal

On my last trip to London, I had the pleasure of dining at Dinner for lunch. Did that make sense? 

Dinner.

Yes, the restaurant is called Dinner, and I dined for lunch (apparently, the dinner and lunch menu were the same). What most attracted me to this restaurant was that Heston Blumenthal spent some time going through the archives to research British food from centuries ago, and then made it his own. British food had a good reputation before World War II, which was when rationing and food scarcity earned British food a bad reputation. So, I found it interesting to see what British food was like back in the day.

To be honest, Mr. Sazy Rock and I tried dining here before on another visit but they canceled our reservation because of some norovirus outbreak. But, I figured, that after such a publicized issue, Dinner would be the cleanest restaurant ever.

The Scene

View of the kitchen.

Located in the posh Mandarin Oriental Hotel, the space was bright with a great view of Hyde Park on one side and the glass-walled kitchen on the other. By virtue of its location and reputation (the restaurant has three Michelin stars and is on the 50 Best Restaurants in the World list), it was inevitable that there were lots of food tourists. But, it also looked like there were locals of the rich variety in the dining room.

View of Hyde Park.

I found it odd, however, that for a fine dining joint, there were no tablecloths. 

The Food 

• The tasty bread made by the Fat Duck Group was very chewy and doughy, and the crust was crunchy. 
• I found it interesting that there was no amuse bouche. 
• The Roast Bone Marrow had snails and pickles. It was served lukewarm and a tad underseasoned but it was still good. 

Bone Marrow and Meat Fruit.

• The Meat Fruit was amazing. It was basically shaped like a mandarin but was really chicken liver parfait enclosed in a fruit jelly that was supposed to be the outer layer "fruit rind." It was a fantastic parfait with a hint of mandarin. 

Meat Fruit.

• The Iberico Pork Chop was cooked sous vide. It was so juicy and rich with a bit of sweetness (perhaps a teriyaki -ish sauce?). The spelt with ham hock was rich and textured with pork rind. 

Iberico pork chop.

Look at that perfectly cooked Iberico Pork Chop.

• The Hereford Ribeye was perfectly cooked (sous vide) medium rare. It showed signs of aging, which was good. It was topped with rich bone marrow. 

Hereford Ribeye.

• The Triple Cooked Fries were so good. Each square area was crunchy, and the inside of each fry was a bit fluffy. 

Triple Cooked Fries.

• The Tipsy Cake was very rich and sweet. It was basted with white wine and butter. The pineapple was spit roasted for four hours. 

Tipsy Cake.

• The Chocolate Ganache, and Orange Blossom and Caraway Biscuits for our Petit Fours was very nice. It just had a tiny taste of orange. They used dark chocolate so it was not so sweet.

Chocolate and Biscuit.

The Service 

The service was great. Upon our arrival, I was provided a purse holder. I believe that service is all about the little things.

Our server, Michael, was friendly and informative but was not familiar (which I find typical of "hip" restaurants). All the other staff were similarly amiable.

I should also note that the servers were definitely paying us attention when they gave us fresh toast for the meat fruit when we finished all the bread. 

The menu had information about the year the dish was likely served, and the napkin was tied together by a paper that had some other snippet of food trivia. It was fun.

The menu.

Trivia with the napkins.

The Price 

Our meal was not cheap. But, with wines and tip, compared to some fancy restaurants in the US, it was competitive at under $300.


The Verdict 

I definitely recommend eating at Dinner it at least once.


What do you think of British food?