The genius that is Heston Blumenthal really needs no introduction. When he announced that he was to open his first London restaurant, the anticipation and expectation was understandably stratospheric. So no pressure then for Blumenthal’s head chef and protégée Ashley Palmer-Watts. Simply named ‘Dinner’ it eventually opened at the beginning of February 2011 and instantly became the hottest ticket in town, without equal. All reservations must be made at the beginning of each month, for a month in advance. Accolades soon flowed freely with superlative critic’s reviews, awards, such as Tatler’s restaurant of the Year, and it’s first Michelin Star in the latest guide.
Being Blumenthal’s brainchild, Dinner is no ordinary fine dining establishment. The whole USP is dishes based upon history, ranging from the late 14th century all the way up to the early 20th. It occupies the same space as a restaurant called Foliage. I had a very good lunch back in 2009 at Foliage and I am unsure of the reason for it shutting down, but I don’t see the rest of London mourning.
The reputation, not to mention the fact I’d been revising for the past week, both contributed to constructing considerable excitement for this meal. A lofty and smart yet prosaic dining room was livened by an energetic buzz that filled the room. In the centre is the impressive and sparkling kitchen filled with a throng of chefs and the infamous pineapple rotisserie proudly on show.
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| Dining room |
We opted for the set lunch because at three courses for £28 it represented excellent value for money (this has now gone up to £32 since I visited, in fact, prices have increased across the board since its opening). One look at the menu tells you that this won’t be everybody’s cup of tea, but for myself, this kind of deviation from the norm is what I live for. Little touches, such as the inside of the menu holders containing random food-related facts from history, or the addition on the menu next to each dish telling you the year it was around (the earliest was 1390), all contributed to the atmosphere.
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| Menu holder |
My starter of pig’s ear “ragoo” with anchovy onion and parsley served on toast was a big mound of brown that blended in with the surroundings, livened up by the green from some token rocket. It may not have looked the most appetising by the flavours were bold and packed a punch. Pig and sweetness from caramelised onion on crispy and airy toast was a delight, at first. About half way through, the gelatinous and gooey texture became a bit too much. It’s not too often that a single dish can evoke such contrasting opinions from beginning to end of consummation.
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| Ragoo of pig's ears anchovy, onions & parsley |
A couple years ago, there was an incredible show on Channel 4 called Heston’s feasts where he set out to recreate medieval dishes and it was undoubtedly the inspiration for this restaurant. One of the infamous dishes he created was something called Meat Fruit, a perfect fruit replica filled with meat pâté. Incredibly, this dish is on the à la carte menu at Dinner (they sell over 800 a week) and I wouldn’t have been able to forgive myself if I didn’t give it a try. It arrives on a simple wooden board next to a naked piece of toast, same as the one that came with my pig’s ears. It looked beautiful and unnervingly, exactly like a perfect mandarin. A delicate mandarin flavoured jelly encases the most luscious chicken liver parfait I have had the fortune of sampling. If someone had told me that was foie gras I probably wouldn’t have questioned it.
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| Meat fruit mandarin, chicken liver parfait & grilled bread |
My friend’s starter of lemon salad with goat’s curd, buckler sorrel & raisins was in sharp contrast to the pig’s ears. Here the flavours were dominated by very tangy lemon tempered by a smooth goat’s cheese. This was a great combination and a pleasant-enough dish, but far from memorable.
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| Lemon salad goat's curd, buckler sorrel & raisins |
Main course of Bath Chaps (pig’s cheeks) with savoy cabbage, lardo, ham hock & a ‘Robert’s broth’ (yes I had a porcine overload on this particular day) was an umami blitzkrieg on the taste buds. Again it wasn’t the prettiest dish around but the pork was tender and topped by little puffs of pork crackling. Each one was like a large Rice Krispie popping little wafts of air inside my mouth, I’ve never had crackling like it. Once again, the richness was too overpowering towards the end but it was overall enjoyable nonetheless.
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| Bath chaps savoy cabbage, lardo, ham hock & Robert broth |
I had a quick sample of the cured salmon with beetroot and this was perfectly cooked with a delicate and very smoky flavour.
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| Cured salmon beetroot, sea aster & olive oil |
For dessert came a prune and tamarind tart, which was actually a wonderful custard topped with a crispy crème brûlée skin and resting on a layer of prune and tamarind jam. This excellent dish was not too sweet and had a perfectly delicate and soft yet crispy pastry.
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| Prune & tamarind tart |
My friend’s orange buttered loaf was warming, fluffy and buttery with a distinct orange favour and surrounded by a sticky caramel case. The intense mandarin and thyme sorbet was the perfect complement.
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| Orange buttered loaf mandarin & thyme sorbet |
Being the glutton that I am, I could not resist the restaurant’s famous pineapple Tipsy Cake served with a piece of spit roast pineapple on the side (that’s what the pineapple rotisserie is for). The cake itself has a great light texture and it is completely drenched in a sickly sweet pineapple sauce. I really enjoyed it, but this one is certainly not for those of you without a sweet tooth.
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| Tipsy cake spit roast pineapple |
A little gift from the chef to end was a chocolate ganache with an earl grey tea infusion and caraway seed biscuit on the side. The chocolate ganache was naughty and rich with the floral earl grey notes singing their way through and the caraway from the biscuit was a worthy compliment.
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| Chocolate ganache with earl grey infusion, caraway seed biscuit |
Apart from leaving suitably bursting at the seams, I have to say I had a great lunch. My meal didn’t blow me out of the water like one might expect following the gargantuan hype that surrounds this establishment. But if you remove yourself from the chatter and approach this as any normal meal then I’m sure you’ll be suitably impressed. As with many set lunch menus, the best work from the kitchen is usually saved for the à la carte and I have a strong suspicion that this is the case with Dinner. Certainly visit, it isn’t cheap but you’re bound to savour it.
Price: Three course set lunch £28 (now £32). A la carte mains between £23-30
Where to go before/after: Finish your evening with a drink at the sumptuous Blue Bar in the Berkley Hotel over the road. If you're visiting for lunch, Serpentine Lake in Hyde Park is a five minute walk away.
Website: Click here
Location: 66 Knightsbridge, London, SW1X 7LA
Nearest Tube: Knightsbridge
Opening Times: Lunch 12.00 - 14.30 Dinner 18.30 - 22.30 7 days a week
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