LondonWineHusband and I went to lunch at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal last week, curious to know whether it would live up to our Willy Wonka-ish expectations of a kooky feast. It’s part of the Mandarin Oriental hotel in super-posh Knightsbridge directly opposite Harvey Nicks, which is an oddly Eurotrashy location for a chef so English and eccentric. The restaurant itself is beautiful, with high ceilings, dark wood floors, clean lines, no tablecloths and amazing floor to ceiling windows with a view onto Hyde Park.
The wine list was great, with loads of interesting choices – we ended up choosing a Riesling from Washington in the US, made as a collaboration between Ernie Loosen of Germany’s well known Dr Loosen winery, and Chateau Ste Michelle, in a lovely fresh and fruity style, the 2008 Eroica Riesling – 55 quid at Dinner, but £17.95 at slurp.co.uk if you fancy recreating the experience.
Eroica Riesling at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
It matched really well with the food we chose – Riesling as a sweeter white wine goes really well with big offally flavours like fois gras, which made it the perfect partner for Heston’s Meatfruit, a pate encased in an orange jelly which looked exactly like a clementine.
Meatfruit - fois gras disguised as a satsuma
It also stood up really well to my second dish, Chicken with Lettuces.
Chicken with cooked, crunchy lettuce - all done to perfection
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal is a truly amazing eating experience, and the menu and wine list are full of imagination – it’s definitely on the pricey side, but would make a fantastic Christmas treat.
Thanks for reading -
LWG
