Dinner by Heston Blumenthal (London)* - HE

Dinner is British OBE celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal's restaurant in London at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Knightsbridge. This royal partnership resulted from the old aspiration of Heston to have a  place in London and the Mandarin to have again a renowned master giving name to one of its fine dining restaurants.  Before opening Dinner, Heston spent hours at libraries studying the history of England and their food habits, this work is capitalized in his new restaurant where the concept is to reproduce other era dishes using that epoque's recipes but with a touch of modernity and exquisiteness. Heston gives its name to the place, but the cuisine is run by Ashely Palmer-Watts, a long trusted partner of Heston and past Fat Duck's head chef.  

This is obviously a "commercial" and trendy restaurant, where people generally go because of the brand, is in central London at one of the most prominent hotel's in town. It lacks the coziness and intimate atmosphere of a great restaurant, but that is not what Dinner is all about. This place is conceived to have at least two sittings per meal (with certainly more than 150 seats) and has a resident staff of more than 100 people, is noisy, casual with a relaxed atmosphere and crowded with frenetic young and medium age business men and elegant young women.

Having Heston as an idol and after going to The Fat Duck earlier this year it was a shock to see a clumsy and sloppy service (although friendly and polite), a lack of capacity of the kitchen to deliver in timely fashion to such a large audience, the absence of coordination between the cuisine and the front of house staff and the noise, the annoying noise of the canteen masses.   

     

It was not our first time here, in fact we got a table for dinner on the opening week, and most of the issues detected at that time have not been corrected. A disappointment…

Service: 13/20

The front of house team looks a brigade of loose disorientated ants, such is the number of waiters electrically running around the dining room shocking with each other, queuing for the computer or get something from the passe. They constantly let things fell on the floor, looked stressed with the pace of the restaurant (most of it caused by their anxious activities), do not give enough attention to the guests needs. To be fair the service was always polite, informal (in a sensible and reasonable way), pleasant and at my table competent. The sommelier, a short Asian woman (in the absence of the two Portuguese sommeliers, the head sommelier João Pires and Carlos a young commis sommelier), was extremely attentive, polite and professional.     

Restaurant ambience and décor: 15/20

The dining room entrance is through the bar and the spectacular wine cellar, it is huge with a capacity for over 150 guests, well lighten, wooden floors (a serious source of noise), with a clear view to the open techie dream cuisine. The tables are made of wood and you will find no cloth. The concept is to be trendy, casual and light, with pace and energy, and that is achieved. The result is a noisy and unquiet place with little intimacy.

Food: 17/20
Had we only had the meat fruit and the result would surely be 20 out of 20. It has been the most delicious and smooth "liver" combination I have ever had. In a wooden board a perfectly mandarin shaped chicken and duck parfait covered in mandarin gelatin sumptuously sats next to a slice of carefully toasted bread. The sophisticated flavour is wonderfully soft and light and makes a great combination with that simple slice of crunchy bread.  

 Wing Rib of Irish Angus for 2 (c.1830) with Mushroom Ketchup, Red Wine Juice, Fries was red as requested, tender and full of flavour. It worked well with the acidity and sweetness of the mushroom ketchup and the complex red wine juice. The triple cooked fries were not up to their standards, were greasy and with a taste of oil.

The tipsy tart takes 30m to prepare so you should ask for it when you order your main, it is definitely worth it.

Wine list: 18/20

A complete list with a wide range of wines available from different places and perfectly organised.

Genre: British Historical

Price: approx. GBP 60/person (no wine included)

Michelin: *

Date of Visit: Autumn 2011

Overall: 16/20

Pros: Meat fruit and wine list.

Cons: Noisy atmosphere and sloppy service.

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal

Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, 66 Knightsbridge, London SW1X7LA

Tel: +44 (0)2072013833

www.dinnerbyheston.com