Food Diary - Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, London
Was very much looking forward to this part of our UK trip - lunch at Dinner by Heston at the Mandarin Oriental London.
Heston Blumenthal is known as a pioneer of multi-sensory cooking, food pairing and flavour encapsulation. And he is known for attempting to bring back historical British foods. His restaurant The Fat Duck in Bray is one of the four restaurants in Britain to have 3 Michelin stars.
In any event, I actually don't care about all that. I just want to taste and experience some of the interesting creations I've seen in Heston's Feasts. And top of the list of dishes I want to try is his Meat Fruit.
The signature Meat Fruit (c. 1500) is made of chicken liver and duck foie gras parfait, nicely wrapped up in mandarin gel.
The pate was velvety, silky smooth and delicious! Not one of those form-over-substance dishes - it looks great and tastes great too.
Hubby and I go for the Frumenty (c. 1390), a dish of grilled octopus, smoked sea broth, pickled dulse (a kind of sea lettuce) andsea lovageice plant, and samphire. Tastes of the sea all in one plate. Though I'm familiar with various kinds of seaweed, I'm not familiar with edible coastal sea grasses such as sea lovageice plant, dulse and samphire. I like the crunchy succulent texture, and that slight salty taste.
It's not easy to pick just one entree each, so we also tried Rice and Flesh (1720), a saffron risotto and red wine braised calf tail. Also delicious and well prepared, though I would say it is the most ordinary entree of the three.
According to the menu, the source of Frumenty, and Rice and Flesh is a 1930 cookbook titled The Forme of Cury The Master Cooks of King Richard II.
Hubby picked the Hereford Ribeye, which comes from an 1830 cookbook by Mistress Meg Dodds titled The Cook and Housewife's Manual. The ribeye was evenly cooked and a perfect medium-rare. Hubby hummed with pure pleasure and declared it as one of the best steaks ever.
For my main, I chose the Cod in Cider (c. 1940), which was highly recommended by our attentive and friendly waiter. And I am happy that I took his recommendation. The cod was tender and moist, the surface crispy, the sauce was light and refreshing. Oh and I love artichokes too, both fresh and pickled - though I prefer them fresh. I don't get to eat artichokes often at home, as they are not commonly found or used.
The menu said it came from Good Fish Dishes by Ambrose Heath (1940) - fairly recent, considering its older counterparts in the menu.
Hubby is totally in love with the Chocolate Bar (c. 1700) with passion fruit jam and ginger ice cream. I tried a bite and confess it is delicious.
From the way it looks, it's a little hard to believe it originated from a 1730 cookbook (The Complete Practical Cook by Charles Carter). But that's the thing about Heston Blumenthal's food philosophy. He states that he is trying to bring back British food, and likes to look for historical British recipes and to modernise them.
So, like the Meat Fruit is the signature entree at Dinner, the Tipsy Cake (c. 1810) is the signature dessert at Dinner. It supposedly originates from an 1810 cookbook by a J.H. Walsh titled The English Cookery Book.
The dish is a brioche soaked in custard and rum, and baked in a cast iron pot. It is served in the cast iron pot (mini pot), with a spit-roasted pineapple.
The top is crusty, and the inside moist and like warm liquid gold... yuuuuum... I confess that I was actually stuffed, but I still scuffed all of it down. Because, well, I couldn't bear to leave a single crumb behind.
An English Summer with Danbo:
● I. London
- Food Diaries #1: Dinner by Heston
- Food Diaries #2: Jamie Oliver's Fifteen
- Food Diaries #3: Zucca, London
- Food Diaries #4: Pearl Liang, London
● II. Windsor
● III. Oxford
- Food Diaries #5: Browns Brasserie & Bar
- Food Diaries #6: Quod Restaurant & Bar
- Food Diaries #7: Al Andalus
● IV. Cambridge
- Food Diaries #8: Midsummer House
Heston Blumenthal is known as a pioneer of multi-sensory cooking, food pairing and flavour encapsulation. And he is known for attempting to bring back historical British foods. His restaurant The Fat Duck in Bray is one of the four restaurants in Britain to have 3 Michelin stars.
In any event, I actually don't care about all that. I just want to taste and experience some of the interesting creations I've seen in Heston's Feasts. And top of the list of dishes I want to try is his Meat Fruit.
 |
| Meat Fruit (c. 1500), chicken liver ad foie gras parfait, mandarin gel |
The signature Meat Fruit (c. 1500) is made of chicken liver and duck foie gras parfait, nicely wrapped up in mandarin gel.
 |
| Meat Fruit (c. 1500), chicken liver ad foie gras parfait, mandarin gel |
The pate was velvety, silky smooth and delicious! Not one of those form-over-substance dishes - it looks great and tastes great too.
 |
| Frumenty (c. 1390), grilled octopus, smoked sea broth, pickled dulse and |
Hubby and I go for the Frumenty (c. 1390), a dish of grilled octopus, smoked sea broth, pickled dulse (a kind of sea lettuce) and
 |
| Rice and Flesh (1720), saffron risotto, red wine braised calf tail |
It's not easy to pick just one entree each, so we also tried Rice and Flesh (1720), a saffron risotto and red wine braised calf tail. Also delicious and well prepared, though I would say it is the most ordinary entree of the three.
According to the menu, the source of Frumenty, and Rice and Flesh is a 1930 cookbook titled The Forme of Cury The Master Cooks of King Richard II.
 |
| Hereford Ribeye (c. 1830) with mushroom ketchup and thrice-cooked chips |
Hubby picked the Hereford Ribeye, which comes from an 1830 cookbook by Mistress Meg Dodds titled The Cook and Housewife's Manual. The ribeye was evenly cooked and a perfect medium-rare. Hubby hummed with pure pleasure and declared it as one of the best steaks ever.
 |
| Cod in Cider (c. 1940): pan seared cod, chard, onions, smoked artichokes, cider butter sauce |
For my main, I chose the Cod in Cider (c. 1940), which was highly recommended by our attentive and friendly waiter. And I am happy that I took his recommendation. The cod was tender and moist, the surface crispy, the sauce was light and refreshing. Oh and I love artichokes too, both fresh and pickled - though I prefer them fresh. I don't get to eat artichokes often at home, as they are not commonly found or used.
The menu said it came from Good Fish Dishes by Ambrose Heath (1940) - fairly recent, considering its older counterparts in the menu.
 |
| Chocolate Bar (c. 1700), passionfruit jam, ginger ice cream |
Hubby is totally in love with the Chocolate Bar (c. 1700) with passion fruit jam and ginger ice cream. I tried a bite and confess it is delicious.
 |
| Chocolate Bar (c. 1700), passionfruit jam, ginger ice cream |
From the way it looks, it's a little hard to believe it originated from a 1730 cookbook (The Complete Practical Cook by Charles Carter). But that's the thing about Heston Blumenthal's food philosophy. He states that he is trying to bring back British food, and likes to look for historical British recipes and to modernise them.
 |
| Tipsy Cake (c. 1810) with a spit-roasted pineapple |
So, like the Meat Fruit is the signature entree at Dinner, the Tipsy Cake (c. 1810) is the signature dessert at Dinner. It supposedly originates from an 1810 cookbook by a J.H. Walsh titled The English Cookery Book.
The dish is a brioche soaked in custard and rum, and baked in a cast iron pot. It is served in the cast iron pot (mini pot), with a spit-roasted pineapple.
The top is crusty, and the inside moist and like warm liquid gold... yuuuuum... I confess that I was actually stuffed, but I still scuffed all of it down. Because, well, I couldn't bear to leave a single crumb behind.
 |
| Danbo at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal. |
An English Summer with Danbo:
● I. London
- Food Diaries #1: Dinner by Heston
- Food Diaries #2: Jamie Oliver's Fifteen
- Food Diaries #3: Zucca, London
- Food Diaries #4: Pearl Liang, London
● II. Windsor
● III. Oxford
- Food Diaries #5: Browns Brasserie & Bar
- Food Diaries #6: Quod Restaurant & Bar
- Food Diaries #7: Al Andalus
● IV. Cambridge
- Food Diaries #8: Midsummer House
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