Dinner by Heston: revisited Sept 15 (London)

September 2015

Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, 66 Knightsbridge, London, SW1X 7LA, UK
Tel: +44 20 7201 3833
www.dinnerbyheston.com

During our whistle-stop trip to London this time, we could not pass up the opportunity to try Dinner by Heston again. Ironically, for the second consecutive year, we had Dinner for lunch (see previous trip: Dinner). Eating here always seems to me to be rather uncomplicated. Given the size of the portions and the rather heavy and rich food, it made sense for us to have a maximum of 3 courses. And with the starter and dessert choosing themselves by virtue of their fame, it left us picking the main course.

Meat Fruit (c. 1500) - Mandarin, chicken liver parfait & grilled bread: If the Brits were eating food like this in the 1500s, it makes us wonder why their cuisine has generally had such a bad reputation. This was again possibly the best liver foie gras mousse we've ever had. The chicken liver (quite unusual yet made sense in that it didn't have overbearing strong smell and flavour of duck or goose liver) was so fresh and was so well balanced with the mandarin coating that it wasn't much difficulty for us to each finish the tennis-ball-sized mousse.

Roast Iberico Pork Chop (c. 1820) - Smoked hispi cabbage, confit onion, apple & mead, Robert sauce, and Powdered Duck Breast (c. 1670) - Smoked confit fennel, spiced blood pudding & umbles: We felt that the main courses this time were superior to that of our last meal here. The pork chop was caramelized to perfection, while maintaining tenderness, juiciness and a slightly pink centre. The duck breast (which I normally avoid in restaurants but it was strongly recommended by the waiter) could have been the best (done in a western style) I've ever had, with its skin done to a crisp and the meat cooked to peak succulence and consistency. Even the blood pudding (typically overbearing in flavour) was surprisingly subtle in its execution.

Tipsy Cake (c. 1810) - Spit roast pineapple: For dessert, what else but the famous Tipsy Cake? Though if we were being honest, we felt that it was a bit overrated, and wondered if its reputation and the fact that the pineapple was roasted for more than 4 hours had any bearing on it being regarded as any more than a simple bread soaked with pineapple juice and liquor accompanied by a piece of fruit.

Lunch was concluded with a spoonful of chocolate earl-grey ganache. In all, Dinner was again a very enjoyable place to have a fine dining meal which was quite unlike the more stuffy environments normally expected of a 2 Michelin star restaurant in London. We had a half-bottle of an Amarone which was a good choice considering the cuisine and the service was excellent throughout.

Hedone (London)

September 2015

301-303 Chiswick High Road
London W44HH
Tel: +44 208 747 0377
www.hedonerestaurant.com

Hedone is a relative newcomer to the fine-dining scene in London. Located slightly further out from central CDB in Hammersmith & Fulham, it takes up residence in a shophouse unit along a busy high street. Helmed by a Swedish ex-lawyer who is a self-taught chef, Mikael Jonsson, we first found out about it from Andy Hayler's several effusive write-ups about this place, praising it as one of the most exciting new dining venues in London. It opened in 2011 and received its first Michelin star two years later.

At Hedone, there is no fixed menu, instead everything is in a tasting menu format whereby dishes will vary from day to day depending on the produce available. Their wine list had a decent (but pricey) selection with a slant towards the French (in particular Burgundy), from which we picked a 2008 Frederic Magnien Premier Cru Gevrey-Chambertin which was very chewy and earthy and got better throughout the night.

The meal started off with some amuse bouche: the foie gras torchon with spicy jelly on a pastry, the vitello tonnato with mayo and caper in an ice cream cone, and the buckwheat cracker with caviar (this was our favourite).

The next few entrees were very interesting: The first was the sweet bun stuffed with portobello mushroom. The bun reminded us of the chinese-style 'longevity bun' because of its texture and sweetness. The second was the crabmeat wrapped with avocado and topped with pistachio foam. This was really good.

But the best of the three was the egg custard with jet-black seaweed essence which had overpoweringly strong umami flavours.

We were also quite blown away by the mains: The first was the turbot which was cooked to perfection and was accompanied by a beurre blanc sauce with caviar. The sauce was so delicious that we would have asked for more if we could.

The next was the langoustine covered with handmade pasta tinged with lobster stock, with pea puree and sweet corn. This was also excellently executed. Another fish dish was the pan-fried sea bass which was also very good, with its walnut sauce the highlight of the dish.

The foie gras with figs was disappointing in comparison to the previous dishes, only because the sauce was a tad bit sweet. But the final main course of wild hare with blood sauce, cepes mushrooms and potato puree was probably the pinnacle of the meal, with its rich woody flavours going down fantastically with the now-fully-opened Gevrey Chambertin. However, it is worth noting that this dish is not for the faint-hearted, as it was also very gamey and the blood sauce could be too unappetising for some people.

For a meal which was almost perfect up to that point, we were let down by the desserts. Not for the want of competence, but for the lack of imagination. A raspberry/hibiscus followed by a chocolate dessert were as stock-standard for a Michelin star French restaurant as one could imagine. Nevertheless, this would not detract too much from our memorable dinner at Hedone.

Dinner by Heston (London)

June 2014

Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, 66 Knightsbridge, London, SW1X 7LA, UK
Tel: +44 20 7201 3833
www.dinnerbyheston.com


Heston Blumental's Dinner had always intrigued us. It was set up with the concept of reviving long lost English recipes from hundreds of years ago and turning it into something which could be identified as haute cuisine. Having watched many episodes of The Tudors and being somewhat familiar with watching Henry VII's grand banquets (one would presume that the King of England would be served food which could conceivably be regarded as the finest of its time), we never got the impression that medieval English cuisine would be something we'd be dying to try soon (this brings the mind the bizarre whole swan dish which, when opened, would release dozens of escaping doves. This seemed to be something which delighted the good King).


Dinner now has two Michelin stars and is also phenomenally highly rated in San Pellegrino's The World's 50 Best Restaurant (it is currently ranked 5th), which was compelling evidence that Chef Heston's project seems to have gained wider acceptance in the otherwise skeptical culinary circles.

Dinner took over the space formally occupied by the now defunct Foliage (a one Michelin starred restaurant at that time which we quite liked) in the ultra-luxurious Mandarin Oriental Hotel, and replaced the walls of the kitchen with full glass panels, exposing the entire kitchen and the rather interesting pineapple roasting room (more on this later) to the dining room. The restaurant was quite casual, with naked table tops more appropriate in a bistro than a fine dining establishment. The service was also informal yet friendly and pleasant.

The restaurant tried to create a context of the meal we were about to have by having literature printed on the menu and even on the other side of the cardboard napkin fastener, explaining the type of cuisine (i.e. Ol' English), the year when each particular dish was popular, the cookbooks where the recipes were found as well as some of the eating habits of their early ancestors. 

Meat Fruit (c. 1500): mandarin, chicken liver and foie gras parfait, grilled bread: We would be highly impressed if indeed the English made dishes like that half a millennium ago. This was amazing. A perfectly formed mandarin orange with the fruit gelee encasing a globe of pâté which was perfectly balanced and, despite its size, not difficult at all to finish together with a slice a grilled rye bread.

Bone-in rib of Hereford Prime for 2 (c. 1830): mushroom ketchup with triple-cooked chips: This was a large portion of beef which we took some time to polish off. The beef was excellent, and had a unique smoky flavour quite unlike any other steak we have eaten. The triple-cooked fries were also very addictive, especially when dipped in the mushroom ketchup. The only regret we had was our choice of wine; we had a half bottle of Nuits-St-Georges which was way too soft for a dish as strongly flavoured as this one.

Tipsy cake (c. 1810): spit roast pineapple: Dinner's signature dessert is its spit roast pineapple with a type of cake similar to a rum baba except with pineapple syrup rather than rum. Next to the kitchen is the roasting room (visible from the outside through the glass windows) where the several pineapples are slow roasted throughout the day for this dish (occasionally a chef could be seen slathering the pineapples with syrup). It was delicious.

An excellent lunch was capped off with an earl grey ganache. All in all, though the food was very good and the meal enjoyable, we felt that one had to be in the right mood to properly enjoy Dinner. We did not find the usual sombreness about the menu, table setting or service which is typical for a two Michelin starred restaurant, but instead experienced a rather casual ambience and novel cuisine which was in keeping with its stated concept of the medieval English banquet.

The Square (London)

June 2014

6-10 Bruton Street, Mayfair London, W1J 6PU, UK
Tel: +44 20 7495 7100
www.squarerestaurant.com

The Square is a modern French restaurant located off the upmarket New Bond Street which for a very long time has held on to two Michelin stars. It belongs to the same stable of restaurants which includes The Ledbury, a fellow double-starred restaurant but one which has garnered much more international acclaim, no doubt in a large part due to its mention in San Pellegrino's The World's 50 Best Restaurants list (it sits in 10th position this year). Nonetheless, The Square (despite its relative anonymity) always has the reputation of being one of the finest restaurants in London and is a favourite of many of our friends who know the London scene well.

Located along the main road and just next to a traditional British pub which is more symbolic of British culinary traditions (till recent years of course), The Square opens up into a predictably square dining room. In the few times we've been there, the crowd had always been quite formal and business-like, and the rather spacious table alignments creates the sense of discretion which perhaps makes it an ideal location to hold confidential business discussions over a meal. Despite the current trend towards informality in some of London's newer and hip restaurants, eating here still feels like a serious affair and the waiters are decked out in crisp suits and have an appropriately snooty demeanour while providing the most professional of service. This place evokes memories of the pre-Lehman banking boom years when it would be customary to find City bankers in their three-piece Saville Row suits sipping their champagnes and discussing the new models of Aston Martins they intend to buy with their next bonus. The same discussions are probably still taking place nowadays, except the players now are more likely to be Russian oligarchs or Chinese industrialists.

I was here on a work day lunch, hence it was inadvisable for me to go on a bender and have champagne and the customary full bottle of wine. This did not prevent us from having a proper drink, as the rather comprehensive wine list included a very decent half bottle Gevrey Chambertin which was very enjoyable.

We started off with an amuse bouche of tuna cracker and lamb tartare on toast. The cracker was tasteless but the tartare on toast was pretty good.

My starter was the salad of cooked and raw spring vegetables with Montgomery cheddar "fondue", crisp quail egg, shoots and flowers. This was very well put together and highly enjoyable, with the cheese fondue (which had a tinge of turmeric flavour) particularly memorable.

The slow-cooked fillet of turbot with crushed Jersey Royals, pickled celery, mussels and cider was unexpected. Firstly, the fillet was cooked to a lesser degree of doneness which I was used to, and hence did not have the firmness I expected from a turbot dish. However, in this case, it really worked against the backdrop of the mussels and heavy-flavoured mussel/cider sauce. It was as if the main character of the dish wasn't the fish, but instead the fish was a base on which the mussels were able to express themselves. I thought it very impressive.

To finish up the wine, a small selection of some of our favourite cheeses were picked from a decent spread on the cheese trolley.

We finished off our very satisfying lunch by luxuriating on the very rich dessert of milk chocolate bar with salted peanuts, praline and banana, and proceeded to polish off the mignardises as well.

Pied a Terre (London)

September 2010

34 Charlotte Street, London
Tel: +44 20 7636 1178
www.pied-a-terre.co.uk

Update: Shane Osborn, the Australian chef of Pied a Terre during this meal, has left the restaurant to go traveling and the kitchen has been taken over by his one-time protege, Marcus Eaves, who was previously head chef at Pied a Terre's sister restaurant, L'Autre Pied.

Pied a Terre is a 2-Michelin star modern european restaurant in London. It has a rather non-descript facade and is located along Charlotte Street (quite a busy street with various eateries and bars), near the Goodge Street London Tube station. The first time we ate here was about a year ago, and we were very impressed by the quality of the food at this joint. This time, we were rather apprehensive that our very high expectations may not be met, as we had just returned to London after four consecutive nights of fine dining in Paris.

We were a table of four this time, and they seated us in the main dining area at a corner booth (which was private but rather dark - the restaurant was darker than I last remembered it, perhaps because now I am focused on taking photos and the lighting wasn't conducive for it). This is quite a small restaurant (or at least it feels like it) with a seating area at the front (with a window view of the street) for smaller groups and with the larger tables at the main dining area at the back. I suspect they may have tables upstairs for private events but did not manage to check it out.

The one grouse I had with this restaurant was that it's wine list was quite limited in its old world wine selection, although it made up for it somewhat with a broader selection of new world wines (wines from Australia, New Zealand, Chile etc were well represented). In the end I opted for the Daniel Mortet Gevrey Chambertin (I think it was the 1999), which was drinking very well.

We all opted for the tasting menu, and were started off with a glass of champagne each and some amuse bouche, which was very light and quite tasty. Service here was quite gruff though, with the exception of the sommelier who would engage us in some banter.

The meal proper commenced with a yellow fin tuna tartare, avocado puree, thai basil, coeur de boeuf tomato ketchup and lemon oil powder. This was very delicious, with the avocado giving structure to the light and juicy tuna tartare. Presentation was very good too, and it was clear that this chef was one who regarded his plate as his canvas, though not at the cost of his food tasting good as well.

Next was the marinated scallops with a salad of golden and purple cauliflower, fresh wakami, argan oil and wasabi creme fraiche dressing. From its name, it's clear where the chef got his inspiration from. The raw scallops were very fresh, and each petal (despite looking pretty) added to the flavour of the dish. This dish reminded us of how Kaiseki meals in Japan are like; where flowers are used to decorate the plate yet contribute significantly to the taste of the food.

This was followed by the poached foie gras in a sauternes consomme, charred red onions, borlotti beans and smoked bacon. This didn't look like much but was an excellent dish. We hadn't eaten foie gras in soup before, so this was a first; in fact, the sauternes consomme was a very good complement to the liver. Usually a port, sherry or brandy is reduced for the sauce (which can typically overpower the foie gras), but in this case, the much lighter sweet wine was skillfully employed to bring out the flavours of the foie gras instead.

Then on to the main course; the pan-fried john dory, squid tagliatelle, fennel salad, mandarin and cardamon gel and fennel pollen. I'm not a big fan of john dory, and the fish itself did not blow me away. The squid was nicely cooked though, and the overall presentation of the dish was very pleasant.

Next was the herb crusted saddle of Sika venison with roasted celeriac puree, fresh walnuts, caramelised pears and red wine sauce. This was a very good dish, with the pears going quite nicely with the juicy and tender venison.

After a rather unremarkable cheese selection of some comte and blue cheese, we moved on to dessert. First we had the salad of Charentais melon and blueberries, Liquor de Sapin ice cream and toasted linseeds, followed by bittersweet chocolate tart, stout ice cream and macadamia nut cream. The stout ice cream was appropriately bitter and very interesting, while the macadamia nuts were crunchy and a good end to a very good meal. A healthy selection of petit fours and coffee/tea completed the dinner.

We were surprised that we could still enjoy dinner despite eating way too much the previous four nights in Paris. This was a testament to the light touch and good use of fresh ingredients by the chef, who did not overdo any particular dish and always made you wanting more. On the other hand, this is probably the kind of restaurant where some people come out of still feeling a little hungry.

Final Thoughts: Very good food without attempting to be too cutting-edge; as close as it comes to being described by us as a fine-dining 'comfort food' place. Chef Osborn cooks well without over-complicating his dishes. The wine list was slightly disappointing for being pretty limited for a restaurant of its standing, although it carries labels from across the world and has less emphasis on Old World wines. The dining area is quite small and intimate, though we felt the tables could be better lit during dinner. With the exception of the sommelier, who was very friendly and helpful throughout, the rest of the service staff were professional but came across as quite brusque.

Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester (London)

September 2010

The Dorchester Hotel
Park Lane, London
Tel: +44 20 7629 8866
www.alainducasse-dorchester.com


Ducasse is a 3-Michelin star french restaurant in the Dorchester Hotel in London. It has seen a somewhat meteoric rise through the ranks from the time when it was first opened in end 2007 and was panned by critics (relatively speaking) to 2010 when it justifiably received its third star. We are lucky to have been able to dine here several times, and first ate here when it just opened (5 days after opening), when it had its second star and most recently, last month.

Eating at Ducasse is always a bit of an event. It means walking into the Dorchester hotel (which is itself an institution) and through its lobby typically filled with very opulent guests (we never fail to feel a bit underdressed in this hotel). The restaurant is at the far end of the hotel, and to get to it, we'd have to pass through the hotel lobby cafe, walking into the mist of cigar smoke and amongst oil sheikhs, indian industrialists and chinese tycoons (and their equally well-anointed spouses and offspring).

The restaurant does not have a bar area, and its reception is situated outside the restaurant at the hotel lobby cafe, hence we usually have to endure the scrutiny of the above-mentioned sheikhs, industrialists and tycoons while standing idly around waiting for our table. The restaurant itself feels quite spacious, the ceilings are high and the dining areas are split between the main area in the heart of the restaurant, as well as an elevated corridor which can be partitioned into small private dining rooms (with views of Hyde Park if you stand up). Sitting at the corridor feels brighter (the lighting here is better) and more private but dining in the main dining area is a grander experience.

When we took our seats, we were served with a glass each of the house champagne and their customary cheese puffs (the photo of which forms our blog banner), which was very addictive and on which we gorged (we ate about 2 bowls of it that night). The title of our blog came about from our previous trip to Ducasse when the waitress tried taking away our cheese puffs while we were still eating it, to our dismay. Fortunately, the eagle-eyed head waiter spotted it and very apologetically replaced it with a freshly baked bowl of cheese puffs.

We were started off with a tomato amuse-bouche in an interesting egg-shaped bowl (not sure what it was, it was like tomato puree with tomato foam). It was quite average and we weren't too impressed (my sister's was way to salty - as if they dropped a lump of salt into it - the waiter offered to replace it but we declined as there was a lot more food to be eaten over the course of dinner).

We were looking for a bottle of Burgundy to go with dinner and the sommelier recommended a 2003 Gervrey Chambertin from Denis Mortet (bizarrely in the space of a week, we had the D. Mortet three times, one other time also on the recommendation of the sommelier in Ledoyen, and the third time, I found it in the wine list in Pied a Terre and had to order it). This bottle turned out to be absolutely fantastic, it was drinking well and had a complex, chocolaty flavour and a long elegant finish.

The three of us opted for the a la carte menu, with my sister and my wife going for three courses and myself, four. We all started off with the soft-boiled organic egg, crayfish and wild mushroom with natua sauce. This was a superb dish; the natua sauce (it was like a crayfish/lobster bisque but more concentrated) was rich and tasty, and the hard-broiled egg white and runny yolk complemented the assorted mushrooms very well. Our rule of thumb is to always order the egg dish when in a french restaurant, and once again it did not disappoint.

My second dish was the fish main course; the wild sea bass, razor clams with parsley shellfish jus. This was another excellent dish. The seabass was cooked to perfection as it was juicy and tender. The creamy parsley shellfish jus was a great sauce with the fish, but the razor clams were a bit salty and garlicy for my liking. Nonetheless, it was a very good dish. As this was my additional course, the ladies had to sit it out and feed on the cheese puffs instead.

For the main course, my wife opted for the roasted native lobster, seasonal vegetables and macaroni au gratin. For her, this was the best lobster she had ever eaten. It was very sweet and juicy and its flesh was firm and fresh. The macaroni au gratin was quite ordinary though.

My sis and I had the farmhouse veal loin from Limousin, tender potatoes and choron (a kind of sauce) condiment. I had read about this in other blogs of this restaurant, and the Limousin veal was quite raved about. Unfortunately, though it was good, the veal did not live up to my high expectations. I found it quite tough and a tad bit overcooked for my liking. It was not particularly tender nor tasty. Personally, we feel that the red meat dishes at Ducasse tend to be quite heavy. We had the beef fillet on our last visit and it was also a bit tough and hard to finish. We'd stick to the fish and seafood main courses (which are excellent) on our next visits.

Desserts are quite an event at Ducasse. Petit fours appeared very quickly on our table (chocolates and macaroons) while we were waiting for our dessert.

We had all ordered the Baba like in Monte Carlo, which was a dessert I was still dreaming off since my last visit here. At first glance, this was a very simple and unremarkable dessert; a cold sponge cake with rum poured over it (and a dollop of rich cream). However, we've tried it in other restaurants (one of them being the now defunct Foliage at the Mandarin Oriental) and none came close to the Ducasse one. Somehow, the sponge cake was of a constitution which kept its shape and texture despite being drenched in liquid, and absorbed the rum consistently throughout (such that it did not resemble a soggy cake sitting in a pool of fluid). The waiter came around and offered a choice of rum from 3 bottles; on his recommendation, we went with the spicy one (can't remember which one it was now). It was as good as I remembered it from the previous visit.

It was 1am by this time, and we had eaten to the brim. However, it was by no means the end of the dinner. We had our coffee and tea and the waiter pushed out the trolley of sweets, which had all manner of tarts, pastries, sweets, chocolate and marshmallows, just in case we weren't full yet (I cannot imagine this happening a lot at this restaurant - people still not full but this juncture). My sis had a friend who came to this restaurant recently and did not dare to pick from the trolley as she thought that these were individually charged. My sis was determined not to make the same mistake and wanted to try everything in the trolley (and nearly succeeded).

We stumbled out of the restaurant at nearly 2am and while waiting for a taxi at the hotel lobby, could only fantasize that one of the half-dozen Rolls and Bentleys on the driveway be there to take us back to the hotel.

Final Thoughts: An excellent meal and superb restaurant, with an elegant interior and flawless service. The appetizer, fish and desserts were excellent, though for the second time in a row I was slightly disappointed by the red meat course (I had the beef fillet last time) which I felt was heavy and a bit overcooked. The wine list was extensive and the sommelier did well in recommending the D. Mortet Gevrey-Chambertin which was an excellent choice. A very enjoyable dining experience (if one were in the mood to dress up and go somewhere fancy).