Dinner by Heston Blumenthal; London.
Dinner
Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park
London
Newly opened late January this year, Dinner, like its Fat Duck counterpart is still booked out for the next two months. In spite of the simpler menu and less of the theatrics at Dinner’s, it loses none of its magic and was still a fantastic dining experience.
Ordering drinks at Mandarin Bar as we wait to be seated.
Before our drinks arrived, we were whisked to our table. Dinner is darker, and not as cosy or warm as Fat Duck, service overall wasn’t as impeccable, but our server was lovely and was incredibly well versed with the menu.
Drinks were brought to our table.
Blackberry Mojito ($19)
Dinner’s menu is beautifully presented, with a twist on pub food dating way back into England’s history, as noted in his menu.
Rice & Flesh - Saffron, Calf Tail & Red Wine (£16)
Creamy silken saffron risotto, still with a firm bite, and delicious savoury bite-sized calf tail.
Roast Marrowbone, Parsley Anchovy & Mace, Pickled Vegetables (£15)
This was my favourite. This delicate portion of Marrowbone was so well seasoned and sinfully rich.
Broth of Lamb, Slow-cooked Hen’s Egg, Celery, Radish, Turnip & Sweetbreads (£13.5)
A touch of sweetbread, a spoonful of lamb broth with the swirly runny yolk, made for an interesting mouthful, savouring the light broth, the silken smooth yolk and the crunchy sweetbread all at once.
Hay Smoked Mackerel, Lemon Salad, Gentleman’s Relish & Olive Oil ((£14.5)
The smoked mackerel was so fresh, drizzled with a gorgeous creamy and zesty dressing.
Black Foot Pork Chop, Pointy Cabbage & Robert sauce (£30)
Juicy and tender pork fillet with a beautiful gravy.
Spiced Pigeon, Ale & Artichoke (£33)
Pigeon was tender and pink in the middle. Slightly sticky with the Ale jus. 
Roast Turbot with Cockle Ketchup & Leaf Chicory
Smooth silky.
Sirloin of Black Angus, Red Wine Juice, Mushroom Ketchup with Chips (£30)
Medium rare, the sirloin was beautifully seared on the outside, but still pink in the middle. The jus was rich and so full of flavour, it nearly outshone the beef.
Triple Cooked Chips
Wonderfully golden and crunchy on the outside, but once you bite into it, it’s oh so soft and fluffy. Very addictive with the Mushroom Ketchup - which tastes like Tomato Ketchup, but has a darker colour and a faint mushroom flavour. It is a little strange even though I adore mushrooms.
Tipsy Cake with Spit Roast Pineapple (£9)
This was perfect. Deliciously golden and with a sugary crust on the surface, the cinnamon cream infused brioche is so soft, moist and drunkenly fragrant. Goes really well with the beautifully caramelised pineapple.
Slow roasted in Caramel Sauce
Spit roasting is serious business. Complete with an elaborate Sebel clockwork device.
Malted Barley Ice Cream, Salted Butter Caramel and Malted Yeast (£9.5)
Another favourite. Beautiful combination of malt and salted caramel flavours and smooth, crunchy and puffy textures.
Summer Tart, Macerated Strawberries, Chamomile & Biscuit Ice Cream (£9)
A light and pretty dessert, but paled in comparison to the others. The chamomile component gave the ice cream a strong floral taste which was a little disconcerting.
Lychee Frozen Ice, Rosehip Jam, Barberrie Granite & Red Currant (£9)
Another gorgeous dessert. Lovely lychee flavours in the ice cream and went well with the sour granite and red currants.
Petit Four - Earl Grey Custard
Quite a different dining experience to Fat Duck, but while Fat Duck would be reserved for special occasions or when the tasting menu changes, Dinner is somewhere you could probably go fairly often given the variety of dishes. I really enjoyed Dinner, every dish was packed with flavour and beautifully cooked. The Tipsy Cake was a real crowd pleaser and a real me pleaser.
The sacred Ice Cream Trolley with its customised liquid nitrogen blasts is currently reserved for those at the Chef’s table, but we can always hope this will be made available to the entire restaurant in the future.
I definitely will be back to try their signature Meat Fruit. Presented with an unassuming bright orange Mandarin set on a wooden board, which turns out to be Savoury Orange Jelly and Creamy Chicken Liver Parfait. Dinner is no Fat Duck, but Heston Blumenthal loses none of his magic touch.
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