NOTE: This entry is being written on about 8 hours of combined sleep from the past three nights. I'm not accountable for bad grammer/spelling/incoherencies.
Last night’s adventure to Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck in Bray was edible theatre in 7 acts. Not the most tantalisingly tasty creations I’ve ever consumed, but without a doubt the most dramatic, “on the edge of your seat”, unbelievable combinations I’ve ever seen. Some dishes were a bit more straightforward than others, but often even when you expected one thing, you’d end up surprised with something else altogether.
The food wasn’t just served to be eaten. Like theatre, it was there to perform for us, engage our senses, and make for the most unusually wonderful dining experience I’ve ever had.
The evening was planned months in advance. The Fat Duck in Bray is arguably the best restaurant in Britain and in past years has been ranked one of the best in the world. With three Michelin stars, a two months in advance booking requirement and a £100 a head cancellation policy, reservations might be scarcer than Charlie’s golden ticket.
With some persistence and wanting to go around my birthday I was able to get a reservation for 9 p.m. last night. 4 of my lovely food loving friends tagged along for the train ride to Bray.
We opted for the 3 course prix fix to have a bit of control over our wallets and stomachs. After a beautiful glass of champagne, a lot of hemming and hawing with the waiter over what food and wine (1 white and 1 red) to order, we were served our first amuse bouche:
Grain mustard ice cream with cabbage gazpacho
A feast for the eyes, I only let a terribly small taste pass my lips. Of course it needed to be tried, but it should be noted that grain mustard is pretty much the food I hate most in the world. That and raw onions. And shockingly I’m not a big ice cream fan either, unless it’s home made. At least here I’m fairly certain this was the case. I’ve not noticed “Grain Mustard” flavour in Sainsbury or Waitrose.
The next appetite wetter was an oyster covered in Passionfruit jelly and lavender sugar. I was more fond of this one. I actually can’t remember the last time I tasted an oyster that reminded me so much of the sea. On it’s own it would have been overpowering. With the Passionfruit jelly it smoothed the rough edges enough to make the taste linger in a positive way.
The food wasn’t just served to be eaten. Like theatre, it was there to perform for us, engage our senses, and make for the most unusually wonderful dining experience I’ve ever had.
The evening was planned months in advance. The Fat Duck in Bray is arguably the best restaurant in Britain and in past years has been ranked one of the best in the world. With three Michelin stars, a two months in advance booking requirement and a £100 a head cancellation policy, reservations might be scarcer than Charlie’s golden ticket.
With some persistence and wanting to go around my birthday I was able to get a reservation for 9 p.m. last night. 4 of my lovely food loving friends tagged along for the train ride to Bray.
We opted for the 3 course prix fix to have a bit of control over our wallets and stomachs. After a beautiful glass of champagne, a lot of hemming and hawing with the waiter over what food and wine (1 white and 1 red) to order, we were served our first amuse bouche:
Grain mustard ice cream with cabbage gazpacho
A feast for the eyes, I only let a terribly small taste pass my lips. Of course it needed to be tried, but it should be noted that grain mustard is pretty much the food I hate most in the world. That and raw onions. And shockingly I’m not a big ice cream fan either, unless it’s home made. At least here I’m fairly certain this was the case. I’ve not noticed “Grain Mustard” flavour in Sainsbury or Waitrose.
The next appetite wetter was an oyster covered in Passionfruit jelly and lavender sugar. I was more fond of this one. I actually can’t remember the last time I tasted an oyster that reminded me so much of the sea. On it’s own it would have been overpowering. With the Passionfruit jelly it smoothed the rough edges enough to make the taste linger in a positive way.
As my starter I ordered the Cauliflower Risotto with Carpaccio of cauliflower and chocolate jelly (Photo 1). As it was served, chocolate was grated on top like cheese. I’ve no idea why, but it worked. Beautifully. Maybe it’s the combo of savoury and sweet that I always say works so well together. The Cauliflower carpaccio was essentially dried cauliflower. Just think of any dried fruit or veggie like a dried apricot or a sun dried tomato. Why not a dried cauliflower Heston thought?
FM also had a gorgeous starter of Scallop tartare, white chocolate and caviar.
FM also had a gorgeous starter of Scallop tartare, white chocolate and caviar.
Moving on to the mains; between the 5 of us we ordered:
Pot Roast Loin of Pork with Gratin of truffled macaroni
Pot Roast Loin of Pork with Gratin of truffled macaroni
Saddle of Venison with Celeriac and sauce poivrade; civet of venison with pearl barley and red wine Venison and frankincense tea
Sole Veronique with Pommes Pont-Neuf (a very fancy fish and chips)
Best end of Lamb with Purée of onion and thyme, Hot pot of lamb neck, sweetbread and oyster
Out of the ones I tasted (all but the lamb) I enjoyed mine the most (the pork). Considering what we'd experienced thus far, it was somewhat tamely prepared. There were two cuts of pork, port tenderloin and pork belly, cooked for 72 hours. Served over sautéed cabbage and mushroom, it was in a light truffle sauce. The pork was wonderful, but I wasn't blown away by the truffled macaroni. I suppose the reason for this is because at The Fat Duck what you see (or read on the menu) is not what you get. Sometimes good and sometimes bad – but always an adventure and often that journey is the best bit.
Naturally I was expecting some gorgeous and rich cheesy mac 'n cheese with an amazing essence of truffles. However, there may have been a bit of cheese on top, but the pasta seemed to be swimming in beef stock. I didn’t get the “truffle” flavour I’d been expecting – and it was actually a bit too salty for me.
I should note at this time, that whilst we were embarking on our prix fix journey – we were surrounded by a few tables that opted for the dramatic 12 course tasting menu. Every time we looked around it would be more and more bizzare. For example, waiters serving something with liquid nitrogen: Nitro-Scrambled Egg And Bacon Ice Cream, Pain perdu, tea jelly.
We also saw diners with earphones on. As an audio "amuse bouche" to the "Sound of the Sea" course waiters served conch shells with ipod shuffles inside, playing the sound of the sea. Diners were instructed to use the ear phones and listen before eating.
Next for us lot was a pre-dessert dessert - Mrs. Marshall’s Margaret Cornet (Photo 2). Prior to receiving this mini-me ice cream cone we were given a small pamphlet on the life and times of Mrs. Agnes B. Marshall (1855-1905) who was dubbed the Queen of Ice Cream – and was “without question one of the greatest of Victorian cooks.” We were served her original recipe for apple ice cream. Lovely.
Three desserts were ordered at the table, all of which offered something delicious and unique.
Delice of Chocolate Chocolate sorbet, cumin caramel – Ordered by both R&ML, it appeared to be an unsuspecting chocolate dessert. However, it went buck wild (in a good way)when placed in my mouth. Baked into the centre of the dessert is what in the States we refer to as Pop Rocks – candy that pops and sizzles when you put it on your tongue. Not only did you have the taste of superb chocolate but the popping of the candy as well. It was a mini party in the mouth.
Delice of Chocolate Chocolate sorbet, cumin caramel – Ordered by both R&ML, it appeared to be an unsuspecting chocolate dessert. However, it went buck wild (in a good way)when placed in my mouth. Baked into the centre of the dessert is what in the States we refer to as Pop Rocks – candy that pops and sizzles when you put it on your tongue. Not only did you have the taste of superb chocolate but the popping of the candy as well. It was a mini party in the mouth.
Chanteclerc Apple Fromage blanc, apple milk caramel and vanilla ice cream (Photo 3) -What was wonderful about this desert was that baked throughout the layers of puff pastry, fromage blanc, and apple gellee, was a bit of sea salt. Again, highlighting the salty-sweet combination. Partly sweet, partly tart from the apples, it had a bite of saltiness every so often – which was quite simply…fun to eat.
Macerated Strawberries with black olive and leather purée, pistachio scrambled egg -The only bit of this I tasted was the pistachio scrambled egg. Although the rest of the desert did not win rave reviews from the lovely AW, I absolutely adored my bite of pistachio scrambled egg. If you can break the psychological barrier of it's name, close your eyes (there was a lot of this last night) and just enjoy the pure taste, one might think that it tasted like a lovely warm pistachio custard. Not sure how many recipes for this I can find online…but I’m going to look!
Even though portion sizes were small we were all quite full at this point. However, not to forget our petit fours we were served the following:
Whiskey jellies (not a fan)
Lavender tartlets (Very sweet, but lovely)
Aerated mandarin chocolates – tasted like an Aero
Additionally after a “trade” with the table next to us (anything can happen at The Fat Duck) we were given a 6x8 silver photo frame. In the frame was a map of Scotland and Tenessee (random I know). Similar to our whisky jellies, Heston had created similar treats but smaller in size and in the shape of bottles. They were stuck on the glass of the photo frame on the location where the whisky they’d been made from was from (Photo 4). I don’t care how much I disliked the tiny bit I tasted – how could I absolutely NOT love every bit of this?
Will I be going back to The Fat Duck is the question? For anyone who loves food, especially experimenting with it, it is a definite place to visit. However, considering the cost, the distance from London (we had our taxi speed racer us back to the station to catch a 12:40 a.m. train), and that it should either be for a very special occasion or an expense account, it might be a while before I head back. I’m ok with that though. Having been engaged on so many levels, enjoyed the "special occasion" of my 30th and spent the time with some of my loveliest friends, I don’t imagine it’s going to stray too far from my memory any time soon.
