Dinner by Heston is situated inside The Mandarin Oriental Hotel overlooking Hyde Park in the Knightsbridge area of London. This is one of the most beautiful hotel's I have ever seen. Upon entering you are greeted by three friendly doorman who are happy to direct you to the restaurant areas. The hotel reception area had been decorated for Christmas. The fireplace was picture perfect!
We arrived at Dinner's reception area and we were taken through the restaurant to our table. The restaurant can seat 140 diners so is a lot larger than what you may expect of somewhere with 2 michellin stars. It is interestingly decorated though and split into areas so it still has an intimate feel. We were seated by the window with wonderful views over Hyde Park. As we were walking to our table our host pointed out the kitchen area which is all open behind glass for diner's to watch and we passed a table which was in the middle of having ice-cream made for them using liquid nitrogen at their table. Very Heston and very exciting!
Open kitchen in the middle of he restaurant.
Ice cream prepared at your table using liquid nitrogen.
We were offered an aperitif and our menu straight away. When you visit somewhere like here it is very hard to decide what to order as you are only probably going to visit once in your life! We usually opt for the tasting menu so we can sample the best of what the chef has to offer but unusually there wasn't one on offer here and everything is a la carte. I already knew what Heston's signature dishes were and my husband was happy to order these. I really needed some guidance though and our waitress was happy to advise.
Next the sommelier approached with the wine menu. It was huge! It's fair to say most were out if our price range so we opted for a bottle of house red which was £35. We weren't frowned upon for doing this and still received personal service from the wine team throughout the evening. I found it interesting that your wine wasn't kept at your table but instead at a wine station where the Sommelier was based. The service was very attentive though and our glasses were topped up throughout the evening.
We were brought some white and brown soda bread to start which was pretty boring to be honest.
Our starter's arrived soon after. My hubby ordered Meat Fruit (c.1500)
Meat fruit, Mandarin, chicken liver & foie gras parfait, grilled bread
I could not decide what to order as a main course. The waitress suggested 18 hour slow cooked pork collar with dehydrated crispy pork skin and white truffle. I would not normally order this dish as it was served with spelt, onions and turnip which are not usually my preferred ingredients. I loved it though! I honestly think Heston can make anything taste great.
For dessert, hubby ordered tipsy cake. This needed to be pre-ordered at the beginning of your meal as the brioche that is used in the dish is freshly made to order.
Tipsy cake with Spit roast pineapple
This dish was my husband's favourite part of the meal. Again, it isn't something he would normally order.
I decided to choose the chocolate bar.
We had a little glimpse into how the other half live when the table next to us decided to take a look at the whiskey trolley! I have never seen such a thing and god knows how much a measure would cost. It was fun to watch the expert talk the table through them all.
So, our final bill was £210 for two including wine and service charge. This might seem expensive but for a 2 star Michellin restaurant it's really not. It worked out about 1/5 of the cost it would have if we'd dined at The Fat Duck and we would have spent at least £100 if we'd enjoyed a 3 course meal plus wine in a regular London restaurant anyway. We thought it was fantastic value.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal also offers a fantastic value lunch menu which is only £38 for 3 courses!
Set Lunch
Sample Menu. £38 for three courses. Available Monday to Friday between 12:00pm-2:30pm.
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