The Fat Duck Heston Blumenthal

There will hardly be any doubt if the Fat Duck has become United Kingdom's most legendary restaurant since the last decade. The chef proprietor Heston Blumenthal, the molecular gastronomy genius, is the main reason for all of this. A self-taught chef, Heston is capable of executing immaculate old school technique and combining it with modern cooking using scientific or experimental approach resulting in plenty of spectacular and memorable dishes. Currently, Chef Blumenthal is at the height of his popularity; as a celebrity chef, he has his own TV show and his empire has been growing year after year. In order to keep the top notch quality at the Fat Duck, Heston appointed Jonathan Lake, a native of Ontario as the head chef. Jonny leads a brigade of about 40 chefs who relentlessly work and produce excellent dishes regularly. Chef Lake's curious mind always tries to find different ways to do things, invent new dishes and sometimes even improve the signature items. The term perfection seems to be a work in progress here; the pursue of excellence just never stops.

It was actually my first trip to England. During this visit, we only had one full day that happened to be on Tuesday in which my wife and I had the opportunity to dine at the Fat Duck. Honestly, I did not expect to be able to secure a table here. On one sunny afternoon day in Asia, exactly 2 months prior to our lunch, I was trying my luck in front of my laptop. Surprisingly I was able to get a table for two at lunch despite having an average internet connection speed. I then hurriedly filled in the necessary info, including the CC for guarantee ... voila, we received our lunch confirmation a few minutes later - sort of a dream come true. The restaurant is located in the small village called Bray. We quickly recognize the simple cottage house building to be the famous restaurant when we saw its famous logo hanging above the High Street board. Inside, the dining room's decor was quite simple and 'humble' when compared to other Michelin 3-star places particularly the ones in Europe. The ceiling is not high in both floors, the space is not that spacious (its capacity is around 42 guests only), the wooden beams look old; I also noticed a few abstract paintings on clean white walls. Nevertheless, the restaurant is well maintained with high quality of cutlery, glassware and linen. Anyway, the star of the show in any restaurant visit has to be the food and the Fat Duck performed spectacularly. Only one menu available: the 14-course tasting menu. Without any further delay, here what we had during lunch:

Nitro poached aperitifs - An aerated mixture made of some infused egg white, poached in freezing liquid nitrogen to produce 'meringue'. I opted for Vodka and lime sour flavor; it was fresh with tangy lime fragrance and flavor. My wife chose Tequila and grapefruit; an awesome way to awaken our senses and clean the palate. It's not a new experience for me as I had similar experience even with more unique flavor (earthly wild herbs - taste and smell like grass in rainy days) from Maison Marc Veyrat

Red cabbage gazpacho served with Pommery grain mustard ice cream - An interesting and savory 'cold soup'. It was kind of creamy with clear flavor and clean after taste. Good and refreshing

Jelly of Quail and Crayfish cream served with Chicken liver parfait, oak moss and truffle toast - The dish is a tribute to Alain Chapel. Initially, there was 'smoke from cold liquid' with oak fragrance; to accompany it, we ate a thin film strip flavored with oak and moss. Then come, the real deal: the quail jelly & crayfish cream (+ liver & peas) was simply ethereal; it's smooth and intense, every layer was consistent and delicious. The truffle toast was crisp and earthy; a perfect way to balance the cream. One of the best dishes for this lunch

Snail porridge served with Iberico bellota ham and shaved fennel - Heston's famous dish. The porridge (made with long oats grain) was in the right temperature and texture, more importantly flavorful. Everything was just right; from the succulent snails & rich parsley + garlic butter ('green broth') to the zesty & crunchy fennel as well as salty Spanish ham - gorgeous! 

Accompanied by wine: Matosevic Alba Antiqua (fresh and rather 'powerful'; this white wine worked well with intensive fish/seafood)

Roast foie gras served with Barberry, confit kombu and crab biscuit - The foie gras was creamy and its richness was just perfect for my palate. It worked well with the 'tart/sour' taste from the barberry puree; the flavor from the thin crab biscuit was surprisingly quite strong, but the kombu didn't really enhance anything for me. A well-executed and satisfying dish with some unusual combination

Mad hatter's tea party: Mock turtle soup, pocket watch and toast sandwich - A good presentation and interesting interaction with the staff at the beginning. However, I was not impressed with the dish; better to see than to taste. The broth (beef stock), 'egg' (turnip jelly) and other things were just Ok. Contrary to popular belief, I sort of like the sandwich (a mixture of bone marrow, butter, truffle, egg & mayo). A nice theater that lacks substance

"Sound of the sea" - Another Heston's legendary dish. I liked the 'sound' from the iPod shuffle (sound of waves, wind, sea birds etc.) but felt 'interrupted' whenever I consumed the food. The sashimi, consisted of octopus, yellow tail & mackerel, would've been impressive had I had limited experience of consuming top quality raw fishes in Japan. The edible sand was tapioca while the salty foam was made of seaweed & vegetable stock. Good presentation and ideas, but the food flavor was just alright

Salmon poached in a liquorice gel served with Artichoke, vanilla mayonnaise and golden trout roe - An amazing dish! The 'buttery' salmon in its natural flavor was perfectly cooked; it collided in harmony with the bittersweet liquorice, enhanced by delicately sweet trout roe & vanilla mayo and acidic/bitter grape fruit. The artichoke was of good quality. Try to savor the burst of many flavors from the Scottish salmon and its supporting elements as long as possible in the mouth - exceptional! This kind of stuff made my long journey and effort felt paid off

Umble pie: Red deer, pie fluid gel and truffled spelt - By itself, the venison (probably cooked sous-vide) was divine, moist and importantly delicious. The chervil root and star anise/fennel sauce enhanced the already fantastic meat. Unexpectedly and possibly even better was the spelt risotto (sorry Chef Robuchon, yours was not on par with this) served separately. The risotto, topped with puffed spelt & having aromatic truffle aroma, contained the flavorful deer's 'sweet bread'; this gave rich and creamy spelt even a more stunning taste. Incredible! I would spend good money for this kind of food and obviously, the Fat Duck didn't offer UK's most expensive tasting menu for nothing

Accompanied by wine: Bernard Dugat-Py Bourgogne Cuvee Halinard (a good red Burgundy with strong tannin; it has complex flavor, intensive aroma and long finish)

Hot & iced tea - Drink straight at the position the waiter put this tea. As the name suggests, when I drank this palate cleanser, I could taste distinctly the hot and cold tea at the same time side by side. A cool sensation with good taste. The difference in viscosity was sufficient to twist the supposedly "simple" (lemon) tea

Eggs in verjus, Verjus in egg - The egg shell (made of white chocolate) was placed on top of biscuit & jelly. Inside the shell was some kind of ice cream/yoghurt. The yolk and biscuit/jelly should acted as verjus (unrefined green 'grapes') producing bitter sour flavor to balance the sweet and crunchy 'shell + egg white'

Botrytis cinerea - In short, this dessert was about wine grapes in several forms; they're served with cinnamon, 'snow' and raisin. The presentation was marvelous with great attention to details. The kitchen showcased different flavors of wines in different textures, shapes and colors. It's fun and witty but not that delicious

Whisk(e)y wine gums - Gums with strong whisky flavor. I don't drink whisky so I could not really comment much on the taste authenticity. Again, another well presented dessert ..

"Like a kid in a sweet shop" - There were 3 things here: Aerated chocolate mandarin jelly (airy with intense taste), Apple pie caramel (sticky, chewy & tasty) and the Queen of hearts (white chocolate with sweet tart and strawberry jam - the most interesting one) - an incredible dining adventure has come to an end.

It has been a while that I have not experienced any meal like this: the dining experience provided more than just incredible food - it's also fun, entertaining, and creative. Heston Blumenthal managed to 'bring' guests out to the forest, beach, wonderland etc. There were a few dishes that's more of a show, but overall the it's been a memorable culinary journey with plenty of delicious things to eat. From crayfish cream & snail porridge to liquorice salmon & umble pie, Heston showed his amazing talent in delivering complex dishes by applying both modern and classical technique. My spouse decided to abstain from alcohol that day, so she opted for a juice made of romano pepper, strawberry and ginger. Even, she said it was sensational and ingenuous. The service was professional and performed with high precision. The staffs were clearly passionate and knowledgeable; given the restaurant setting, they were also charming and made guests feel relax and comfortable throughout the entire meal. The Fat Duck did not offer the most expensive menu in England (prior to the arrival of the Araki at Mayfair) for no reason. The experience is nothing short of remarkable. It was really up to the hype, and at some moment it exceeded our expectation. Note that both Heston and Jonny were not in the kitchen during our lunch, yet the sous chef and his team were able to producing complicated dishes after dishes that were flavorful and balanced most of the time. A meal to remember indeed. For pictures, please click the following link: The Fat Duck in Nov '14  
 

Food (and Wine): 97 pts

Service (and Ambiance): 94 pts

Overall: 96/100