dinner for lunch

I think when Heston Blumenthal came up with the name "Dinner" for his latest restaurant venture in London, that he was secretly playing with us all. Imagine telling friends or family that you're going to dinner, when in actual fact you are also going to "Dinner". So when friends ask "where to for dinner tonight?" you reply "We're going to Dinner". Yes, we know you are going to dinner, but which restaurant? Confused? Yes, so am I.

It was our third attempt to try the famed "Dinner by Heston" restaurant located in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Knightsbridge, London (I can't remember why we had to cancel the last two times). I always try to remain objective before every meal but that can be quite difficult when every newspaper and blogger have written their two cents on the restaurant. When there's so much hype around signature dishes such as 'meat fruit' or 'tipsy cake', it's tempting to try them all just so you can tick it off your list, or better yet, avoid it at all cost so as to not appear like a sheep following the rest of the flock. We ended up doing what we always do - ordering what we like best, which incidentally included the famed 'meat fruit'.

roast marrowbone (c.1720) 

meat fruit (c.1500)

Mr GluttonousGoat's meat fruit (or chicken liver parfait as it might be more commonly known) was lovely, but no different to any other well executed parfait we've previously tried. I think it could have done with another slice of sourdough given the size of the mandarin.

My marrowbone was nicely complemented with savoury slivers of snails and anchovies, but I was able to taste more of the anchovies than snails within the dish. The pickled vegetables on the side were a nice distraction from the meaty taste of the marrowbone. Overall, both dishes were tasty but there was nothing remarkably special about either of our entrees.

roast turbot (c.1830)

spiced pigeon (c.1780)

The star of the show and what made the meal truly memorable was my main of roast turbot with cockle ketchup. I don't think I have ever eaten such a well cooked and well seasoned piece of fish - EVER and the sauce of cockle ketchup was beyond words and had me salivating for more. MrGluttonousGoat thoroughly enjoyed his spiced pigeon cooked in ale and served with artichokes. Of course, we also had Heston's infamous triple cooked chips and a side salad to boot.

We tried to make room for dessert, but alas the mains got the better of us. A return visit for dinner is definitely on the cards for our next trip to London.

dinner by heston
mandarin oriental hyde park
66 knightsbridge, london, sw1x 7la
tel: +44 207 201 3833
www.dinnerbyheston.com

flaming tart

It's been some time since our holiday to Alsace - almost four months to be exact. But no matter how many days, weeks or months have passed, I'll never forget the amount of wine and food consumed on that trip.

Tarte flambée is a typical Alsatian dish of dough rolled out very thinly (think pizza but thinner) into a rectangular or circular shape covered with crème fraîche or fromage blanc, onions and lardons. There are variations to this of course - with Munster cheese, Gruyere cheese, mushrooms instead of lardons and of course the sweet variety with apples. Needless to say, we felt it was our responsibility to try almost every variety on offer.

For all you pizza lovers out there, you need to try this. It's about ten times better than the best pizza out there (and I don't even like pizzas).