The Fat Duck
BEETROOT – Horseradish Cream
NITRO POACHED APERITIFS – Vodka and Lime Sour, Campari Prosecco Blood Orange, Tequila and Grapefruit
RED CABBAGE GAZPACHO – Pommery Grain Mustard Ice Cream
JELLY OF QUAIL, CRAYFISH CREAM – Chicken Liver Parfait, Oak Moss and Truffle Toast
SOURDOUGH – White and Wheat with English Farmhouse Butter
SNAIL PORRIDGE – Iberico Bellota Ham, Shaved Fennel
ROAST FOIE GRAS – Barberry, Confit Kombu and Crab Biscuit
SCALLOP – Birch Syrup, Bergamot, Coral Royale
MAD HATTER’S TEA PARTY (c.1892) Mock Turtle Soup, Pocket Watch and Toast Sandwich
“SOUND OF THE SEA”
SALMON POACHED IN A LIQUORICE GEL – Artichoke, Vanilla Mayonnaise and Golden Trout Roe, Grapefruit
LAMB WITH CUCUMBER (c. 1805) – Green Pepper and Caviar Oil, Offal
HOT AND ICED TEA
EARL GREY ICE CREAM
MACERATED STRAWBERRIES – Olive Oil Biscuit, Chamomile and Coriander, White Chocolate Blanket
BOTRYTIS CINEREA – Noble Rot
WHISK(E)Y WINE GUMS
NITRO-SCRAMBLED EGG AND BACON ICE CREAM – Pain Perdu, Tea Jelly
“LIKE A KID IN A SWEET SHOP”
Having lost favor on certain lists since being named “Best Restaurant in the World” in 2005 but still thrilling a packed house for every single service as reservations fill mere seconds into the two-month advanced booking window it was with high expectations that I traveled to Bray in the passenger seat of a fellow epicure’s automobile and arriving at the fabled 16th century cottage housing Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck just after 12:30 a nearly three-and-a-half hour adventure began, the end result in every way justifying the journey. Still undoubtedly the definition of destination dining despite a menu that has long remained focused on the Chef’s “greatest hits” it was with warm greetings that we were welcomed to the restaurant’s casual confines and with two bottles of wine from my companion’s cellar joining the proceedings our first classics came quick, the ethereal beetroot cookie chased by a frozen cocktail that left us each blowing smoke. Rich in concept and multi-sensory in spectacle as diners are encouraged to learn, watch, touch, smell, and even hear during each of seventeen courses that played out like a Hi-Def highlight reel suffice it to say that any attempt to name a ‘best’ dish would only serve to undermine the meal as a whole and with flavors every bit on par with presentations from beginning to end it cannot be overstated that the ‘whole’ is even greater than the sum of its parts – a dining experience ranking amongst the best of my life and one I’ll cherish for years to come.
RECOMMENDED: Everything, and trying not to fill up on the excellent bread.
AVOID: Nothing, unless truly allergic, as even flavors you may be averse to find new light in their creative pairings.
TIP: Classics such as the Scrambled Eggs which are not on the current menu can be ordered with special request at £25/pp. As an added bonus, corkage is offered at a bargain basement £35 and in offering some of our bottle to the culinary team our eggs turned out to be a ‘gift’ whose tableside display thrilled the whole room.
http://www.thefatduck.co.uk/
