Dear Foodies,
Although my blog is normally devoted to recipe's that I have tried there are some food experiences which need to be shared and my recent birthday treat, lunch at the fat duck, is one of them. I am mostly going to let the food (or at least pictures of the food) do the talking. The taster menu was 14 courses and we opted for the optional 15th course cheese. The restaurant is in the village of Bray and has the most unassuming exterior of any restaurant I have ever visited. It appears at first sight to be a white fronted cottage with the gold plaque placed stylishly by the door being the only indication of the wanders within. Similarly the interior continued the cottage-y feel with the dining room seating not many more than 30. The only indication of its brilliance were the numerous, immacualately dressed waiting staff. We were ushered in and seated and within seconds a trolley with 4 champagnes and their accompanying waiter arrived. Each champagne and the wines which would later follow with our meal came with an in depth explanation which suceeded in informing in a way which neither made us feel inferior or confused us completely. With the champagne came tiny and beautifully formed aerated beetroot spheres with horseradish cream which melted in your mouth with the sensation of a meringue but leaving an intense beetroot flavour.
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| Aerated Beetroot with Horseradish Cream |
We then moved onto the first course which was a Nitro Poached Aperitif. You were given the choice of Vodka and Lime, Gin and Tonic or Campri Soda. I chose Vodka and Lime and was treated to the intense lime flavour which emanated from what looked like a meringue but melted instantly on the tongue. This experience was enhanced both by the theatre of the waiter freezing an egg white based ice cream mix at the table and also by the lime scent which was sprayed over me as I ate it.
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| The waiter creating our aperitif at the table |
The next course was a red cabbage gazpacho with a pommery grain mustard ice cream. In front of us was placed a curnel of ice cream on tiny cubes of cucumber jelly and onto that was poured a deep purple gazpacho. This is the one dish of the entire menu which i would say was all about flavour, while the colours were beautiful there was very little theatre, however this did not dampen the dish in any way. The intense flavour of the gazpacho had so many layers and was unlike anything I have ever tasted before. Heston, if by some mad chance you are reading this, please can I have the recipe!
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| Red Cabbage Gazpacho |
The next dish which was served to us was Jelly of Quail with Crayfish Cream, Chicken Liver Parfait, Oak Moss and Truffle Toast. This dish was full of theatre, with a small square film to put on your tongue which dissolved leaving only the taste of oak moss and a centrepiece of moss for the table which had dry ice underneath leaving the smell of oak moss. The food itself was also beautiful with the each layer being creamy and perfectly complimenting each other, the truffle toast in particular had a perfectly balanced truffle taste with a crisp toast bottom. A sensational woodland experience.
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| Moss Oak scented centre piece |
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| Truffle Toast |
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| The layered jelly, cream and parfait. |
The next course was one that Mother was dreading but was again absoloutely delicious. It was snail porridge with Iberico Bellota Ham and Shaved Fennel. The snails were the incredibly tender and the dish again rendered a depth of flavour that was intense without being over powering.
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| Snail Porridge |
Our next treat was Roast Foie Gras served with braised Kombu and a Crab Biscuit. This was without a doubt the best foie gras I have ever tasted, however the star of the dish had to be the crab biscuit which I was informed by the waiter was a Heston speciality and while carrying a crab taste was almost sweet and deliciously moreish.
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| Roast Foie Gras |
Next to come was the Mad Hatter's Tea Party. A waiter placed in front of us a silver embossed bookmark with an extract and picture of the mad hatter's tea party from Alice in Wonderland. Then was placed in the centre of the table this fabulous Hat cake stand. The waiter then brought out individual cups and tea pots and asked us if we had ever been to a tea party before and asking us to come to his. In each of our tea pots he placed a gold 'pocket watch' which dissolved creating a stock with floating gold leaf. We the poured our tea into a cup which had a mock egg and other delights to create the 'mock turtle soup'. The entire dish was delicious but the highlight had to be the toast sandwiches which had an entirely unique taste and which again Heston I would like the recipe.
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| Toast Sandwiches |
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| Mock Turtle Soup |
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| The Mad Hatter's Tea Party |
Next we moved onto the seafood dishes. The first was Heston's famous 'Sound of the Sea'. This came with shells with ear phones which played you the sound of the sea as you ate fresh fish sashimi style with seaweed on a bed of tapioca and ground sardines.
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| 'Sound of the Sea' |
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| The actual sound of the sea |
Have you ever thought that salmon could be a little bit dull? Well the next dish on the menu completely destroyed that notion with Salmon Poached in a Liquorice Gel with Artichokes, Vanilla Mayonnaise and Golden Trout Roe. Eaten on its own the gel was a little bitter but with the vanilla the entire dish had a pleasent sweetness which is not often associated with salmon.
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| Salmon Poached in a Liquorice Gel |
Next came the main part of the menu in the form of Lamb with Cucumber which was served with Onion and dill fluid Gell, Sweet Breads and Crisps and a refreshing mint Jelly to cleanse the pallet. This again was a masterpiece of taste and exciting and intriguing sections.
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| Lamb with Cucumber |
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| Sweet Breads and Mint Jelly |
Next came quite frankly the most amazing cup of tea which I have ever had the pleasure of sampling. Described as 'Hot and Iced Tea' this cup did exactly what was on the tin. When drank the tea was hot on one side and cold on the other, as if there was an invisible line down the centre of the cup. The waiter informed us that this was achieved by thickening the liquid in some way ensuring that the two sides did not mix but the tea still retained its tea-like texture.
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| Hot and Cold Iced Tea |
All of the puddings were beautiful, clever and delicate but this had to be my favourite, macerate strawberries with an olive oil biscuit, chamomile and coriander jelly and a white chocolate blanket topped off with an ice cream cornet with strawberry jelly in the bottom. This was both a pleasure to look at and a pleasure to eat.
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Ice cream cornet with strawberry jelly |
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| Macerated strawberries |
The next delicious pudding was The 'BFG' a black forest gateau cake which was served with a spritz of cherry smell in the air. This was a decadent and rich chocolate cake with a crisp chocolate coating, refreshingly simple after the work out our taste buds had recieved so far.
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| The 'BFG' |
The next course came after our cheese and is the only one which I forgot to take a photograph of, so I shall attempt to paint you a mental picture. Entitled 'Whisk(e)y Wine Gums' we were presented with a board with a map of Scotland on and five wine gums in the shape of bottle's attached to the respective places which their whiskey's came from. Even for someone who is not a fan of whiskey these sweets were delicious and very clever. The last course was also on the sweet theme and was entitled 'Like a Kid in a Sweet Shop'. We each recieved a pink candy striped bag with a little card which smelt like a sweet shop and had the names of the contents of the bag on. This contents was a dome of aerated chocolate with an intense tangerine centre, an apple pie fudge sweet with an edible wrapper, coconut baccy and a queen of hearts playing card which was made of white chocolate with a sort of jam tart filling. Also in my bag was a birthday card signed by Heston himself.
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| Sweet shop bag and edible baccy |
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| aerated chocolate |
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| apple caramel and edible wrapper |
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| Queen of Hearts |
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| The sweets |
14 courses + cheese and 5 hours later the most incredible meal of my life was over. And the most overriding feeling of the experience, other than complete contentment was the comfortable atmosphere of the Fat Duck. It wasnt another too trendy for its own good stuffy London restaurant, but somewhere that really prides itself on the atmosphere created by the food and therefore has completely eradicated snobbery from the fine dining experience. Thank you so much to all those who looked after us and of course to my parents for treating me to this amazing Lunch.
Lots of Love from,
a lover of great food xx
