The Fat Duck

We finally had a chance to eat The Fat Duck at the end of June, the world famous restaurant of Heston Blumenthal. Of all the restaurants I've eaten at, the hardest to get a booking so far has been The Fat Duck, which involved lots of refreshing websites at 10am over a period of months until I finally got a slot on the Saturday lunch I really wanted.

The thing with The Fat Duck is that if you've watched a bit of TV or read a few websites and reviews you'll have a pretty good idea of what to expect, or if like me, you've read all the blogs, watched all the clips on youtube, caught all of Heston's TV programmes, even so far as knowing how they make most of the dishes.  One thing is a little harder to track down, and that's how they cater for vegetarians, but I'd seen a few blogs, noting that in most cases, they provide vegetarian versions of their standard dishes.

We arrive a little late, and park in the car park in front, passing the development kitchens and prep kitchens before crossing the road to the restaurant itself. You enter the front door directly into a dining room, a cozy low ceiling room, surprisingly small. We are shown the menu for the day, and they double checked on my wife's dietary requirements, confirming no fish, meat or derivatives (gelatine and the like).  We start with a glass of rose champagne, and in short order a canape arrives, a sphere of aerated beetroot with a horseradish cream centre, within seconds it disintegrates in the mouth leaving the flavour of earthy beetroot and bite of horseradish.

A table was set up next to us, and on this laid out the accouterments of the opening act, a lit candle, some fruit, 3 NO2 chargers, and a insulated bowl steaming with liquid nitrogen. We were given a choice, vodka and tonic, tequila and lime or gin and tonic. My wife went for the vodka, and I decided on the tequila. The NO2 chargers dispensed a flavoured egg white, and this was dropped into the nitrogen and stirred for a few seconds until forming a meringue. This was quickly popped into the mouth and with puffs of smoke rapidly dissolved into a beautiful icy sweet shot of cocktail.
Following this was the Red Cabbage Gazpacho, a grain mustard ice cream was laid on some cucumber cubes, into this poured a vibrant purple red cabbage soup. The mustard ice cream was made with Pommery mustard and wonderfully smooth with a lovely flavour, matching the acidic red cabbage gazpacho perfectly.

The first course saw two variations of a tribute to Alain Chapel, Jelly of Quail, Crayfish Cream and Jelly of Smoked Mushroom, Truffle Cream and Pea. First a large slab of moss in a box was laid on the table, and then we were handed a thin strip of film resembling those breath freshener strips. These were laid on the tongue to provide a aroma and taste of the forests; earth, truffle and oak. Hot water was poured onto the moss activating the dry ice, which covered the table in further scents. The dish itself was a bowl containing a base of pea, quail jelly, topped with a crayfish cream and a quenelle of chicken parfait. The tastes i think summed up The Fat Duck and Heston's recipes very well by representing a concentration of flavour and aromas, the quail jelly tasted like a brace of roasted quails distilled into a few spoonfuls, and each other element the best examples you will have of their kind. The vegetarian version of this dish sees an intense smoked mushroom jelly, a smooth truffle cream and some peas, the top ones briefly frozen and retaining a dusting of ice. The dish came with a truffle toast finger, itself a fine accompaniment to each spoonful.

Following this was a classic of Hestons, the Snail Porridge. This is vibrant parsley porridge, with shavings of fennel and iberico ham and some plump snails. Excellent flavours again, with the snails being lovely and meaty. The vegetarian version had a replacement for the ham, possibly seitan, and extra fennel.  The next course was the Roast Foie Gras. This came with a beautiful barberry puree, tart and sweet to balance the foie, with some translucent wafers of crab biscuit and braised konbu. The vegetarian version saw a really fine piece of roasted aubergine, with aubergine puree and konbu and some really fabulous savoury and umami flavours.

Next up was perhaps my most anticipated dish, Mad Hatters Tea Party, and we were presented a card with some Alice In Wonderland text and images to prepare us. Firstly a glass bowl with the dry ingredients covered in a small glass teapot was placed on the table, then the waiters presented a fob watch of gold leaf. This was placed in the teapot with the hot water. After swirling round the bowl for a bit to dissolve the watch, filling the teapot with a dark broth. You then poured this in the bowl. The bowl contained a mousse of turnip, enoki mushrooms, cubes of calves cheek and turnip and some herbs. A good example of the attention to detail placed on every dish was the level of the broth, the teapot and stock concentrate filling the bowl and coming exactly level with the orange "yolk" island with enoki mushrooms on top. Also with the dish an elaborate hat shaped plate with some toast sandwiches. For my wife the stock was already prepared, but resembled mine exactly, including the gold leaf and care was taken to ensure that the vegetarian versions of the truffle toast were on a different layer of the serving plate. T The broth really was superb, containing the kind of flavour intensity only 5 days of prep, a freeze drier and a -80 fridge can provide, but with a clarity that meant you didn't lose the turnip, mousse and calves cheeks at all. The toast sandwiches were awesome, with the soft bread, crisp toast and beef, mustard and truffle being at the same time both unlike anything you'd had before and the same time as being as well known and familiar.

Sound of the Sea is another well known dish, and most food lovers will recognise seashore design and shell with earphones. The dish itself has evolved, and differs from the one in the Fat Duck cookbook and other previous incarnations. The current features abalone, mackerel and kingfish. The mackerel was lovely, with a distinct citrus brushing of yuzu, the kingfish tender and sweet, the abalone exceptional, soft and with good flavour, not a hint of rubberiness. I loved the seaweeds and vegetables, especially the sea bean, a tiny burst of flavour reminiscent of sea and rock pools. The vegetarian version featured mushrooms replacing the fish and abalone, but not missing the flavours of the sea due to the seaweed and sea vegetables.

The following course saw two different dishes, unlike previous courses where vegetarian versions were provided. My wife's dish was a beetroot risotto, but unlike any risotto I've seen before. The risotto itself was covered in a dome of identical radish slices to form a half sphere, and covering this a foam, beetroot crisps and droplets of sour cream sorbet. All parts were fantastic, a superlative risotto, wonderful sorbet and perfect beetroot crisps, an absolutely stunning dish. My salmon was poached in a liquorice gel, and came with asparagus and vanilla mayonnaise. The salmon was superb, cooked sous vide and soft and flaky and yet translucent and looking almost raw. The liqourice gel was more subtle than expected, definite hints of liquorice but not the primary flavour, a combination of salmon and vanilla from the top notch mayonnaise.

The final main course included possibly the most unique vegetarian dish I've seen to date, Vegetarian Bone Marrow, Marmite Broth and Sauce Gribiche. The bone marrow was a play on words, marrow formed into a bone shape and this was filled with a horseradish set puree. This was placed in a bowl of rich broth, with a selection of vegetables and morels. Accompanying the dish was a cone of exquisite little cheese balls. Again a world class vegetarian dish on display here,  an original idea with perfect execution.  The lamb dish was a delight, the dish coming in two parts, lamb with cucumber, gravy and an interesting salty caviar puree in place of anchovies, and taking the roast and anchovies concept a stage further. The second part was a small glass dish of broth and some utterly fantastic sweetbreads turned into wafers with some cubes of tongue and caramelised onion.

In between the main course and dessert, Hot and Cold Tea. If you line up the glass correctly you get have hot tea one on side of your mouth and cold on the other, most unusual.  The first dessert was based on a English summer picnic, and came in two parts, a wonderful little cone of jelly and ice cream to start, then the main dish, macerated strawberries. These vacuum prepared strawberries came with a pistachio shortbread covered in a white chocolate blanket, printed in a vivid tartan pattern to represent the picnic rug. Lots of interesting things going on here, sticky, buttery flavours from the pistachios, shortbread and meringues, juicy strawberries, intense from the vacuum maceration, the tongue coated with a velvety white chocolate, all working in harmony.

Our second dessert saw two very different desserts, as mine featured gelatin. My wife wasn't missing out though, as the an elaborate copper pan was set on a table by us, and a waitress appeared a sealed insulated jug and eggbox and her dish of Not-So-Full English Breakfast was announced. The eggbox contained a single egg, and this was cracked into the pan into which liquid nitrogen from the jug was poured and stirred, eventually an ice cream was removed, looking exactly like scrambled egg, and this was a placed on a slice of french toast, itself a brioche soaked in vanilla and then placed in a vacuum chamber to break down the cellulose before being cooked. This was served with a small jar marked as Fat Duck Marmalade and covered in a sheet of tartan printed white chocolate. The yellow in the ice cream turned out to be saffron, and this creamy concoction, the perfectly caramelised french toast and the marmalade, itself infused with earl grey tea provided the most perfect breakfast.

My dessert was Egg in Verjus, Verjus in Egg. This was what looked like a large brown egg, placed on a bed of golden straw and orange jelly. I cracked the egg to reveal it was made of two types of chocolate, the exquisitely painted brown shell and an inner shell of white chocolate, and in this a fabulous white mousse with an orange liquid centre resembling a real egg.  This was an absolutely gem of a dessert,  a fun and incredibly technically complex design but packed with superb chocolate and citrus flavours too. The golden straw turned out to be sugar work, the bedding also included vermicelli pastry and provided some crunch and textures for balance. This well could be one of the best desserts I've ever had.

Following this was one for me only, a selection of whiskey flavoured jellies, as these contained gelatin. There was a nice blend of whiskey types, mild to strong, finishing on my favourite Jack Daniels.

Coffee came with a paper bag containing sweet shop sweets, a classic combination of technical trickery, nostalgic flavours and scents done like only Heston can. The mandarin aero chocolate was my favourite but the caramels, coconut baccy and white chocolate playing card were great too.

The bill came to £530, a breathtaking figure considering we only had a glass of champagne to start with my wife an additional two glasses of wine but did reflect the jaw dropping amount of man hours required for preparing every single element in every single dish, with kitchen staff outnumbering diners, and a large team of highly professional front of house who serve a highly theatrical meal over an astonishing 4 and half hours. The food itself was fantastic, every dish memorable with equally brilliant standard and vegetarian menus. This is definitely one of the finest dining experiences to be had anywhere and the global fame of the Fat Duck is very much justified.

Aerated beetroot and horseradish

Nitro poached aperitifs

Red cabbage gazpacho, mustard ice cream

Oak moss, jelly of quail, crayfish cream, chicken parfait.

Smoked mushroom jelly, peas, truffle cream

Snail Porridge

Roasted foie gras

Roasted aubergine

Mad Hatters Tea Party I

Mad Hatters Tea Party II

Mad Hatters Tea Party III

Mad Hatters Tea Party IV

Sound of the Sea

Sound of the Sea vegetarian

Salmon poached in liquorice gel

Beetroot risotto, sour cream sorbet

Lamb and Cucumber I

Lamb and Cucumber II

Vegetarian Bone Marrow I

Vegetarian Bone Marrow II

Hot and Cold Tea

Jelly and ice cream cone

Macerated Strawberries

Egg in Verjus, Verjus in Egg

Not-So-Full English Breakfast

The last whiskey wine gum

Like a kid in a sweet shop

The Fat Duck

The Waterside Inn

Since starting my gastronomic journey to some of the finest restaurants in London and UK, I've always wondered what was the difference between a 2 and 3 star restaurant, and now I know. 

The Waterside Inn was originally established by the legendary Roux Brothers, Albert and Michel, a family so entwined in the history of fine dining in the UK they form its very bedrock. These days the Chef Patron is Alain Roux, son of Michel, and under him it has retained its 3 Michelin Stars for an astounding 28 years, the longest held by any restaurant outside France.

We arrived late afternoon, and the car parking being taken care of by the doorman and bags taken to reception. We were shown to our gorgeous, luxurious room overlooking Ferry Road and were made tea. We went for a walk around Bray, a beautiful village packed with wonderful examples of historical buildings and architecture, including passing by The Fat Duck to check it out and to give me an idea of where it was so I knew where to come when I inevitably book. After heading back and spending a few hours relaxing and dressing for the occasion we headed down to the restaurant itself. I realised the service was going to be something special, as the door was opened before I could reach for the handle, with one of the staff being positioned behind to listen for footsteps down the stairs. 

We were warmly greeted, and chose to sit in the lounge to read the menus and have our champagne and canapes.  The Menu Exceptionnel was brought to me, and the vegetarian menu for my wife, along with 2 glasses of their signature champagne. The absolutely charming Diego Masciaga introduced himself and asked on our choice of main course. I also asked if it was possible to change the foie gras course for something else, not wanting to risk my stomach being overwhelmed. This was not a problem of course, and Diego recommended a fish dish for me to try, and as to be revealed later in the post, an superb recommendation and choice. The canapes arrived shortly after, a large but incredibly light cheese gougère, a fabulous smoked eel tempura made with a particular fine smoked eel, and a quenelle of I believe foie gras.  My wife had the gougère, a mix of mushrooms and onion, and potato and leek on a stick.  The wine list also arrived,  and I must confess I have little experience in choosing wine, so it was little more a case of browsing through to find the most expensive bottle, an impressive 12 grand bottle of Petrus. The sommelier arrived and as always I relied on his skill and knowledge to make a recommendation, we chose the wine flight to match the menu.

Canapes.

We were soon invited into the dining room as our table was ready. The dining room wasn't a huge space, but well appointed in a pleasant green colour scheme, with large glass windows and doors overlooking the terrace and jetty into The Thames. We were in the centre of the room behind the service area, upon which sat a large silver duck press, on a good sized table packed with lovely tableware. The menu card and wine menu were already set up on the table.  We were offered either a white baguette or brown roll, these were warm and came with a particular fine butter.

Our amuse bouche arrived soon after, for me a roll of smoked salmon, in which was set octopus, prawn and samphire in a light and delicate jelly and a garnish of what I think was sea purslane, a fleshy, salty and juicy plant I've not had before. This was a lovely refreshing start to the meal, the octopus perfectly tender, and all elements well flavoured. My wife had a cute little tureen of a pumpkin veloute, with soft, buttery mushrooms. The pumpkin was sweet, rich and creamy and went well with the mushrooms.

Amuse Bouche.

The sommelier then arrived with the first of our wines, a Grand Siecle Laurent Perrier Champagne to match our starter. This was fresh, crisp and fruity champagne and a few sips later our starters arrived. For me a cold dish, smooth parmesan cream, in which were pink fir apple potato, asparagus, truffle and with this a straw of hot almond puff pastry. The pastry straw was simply divine, and stunning piece of pastry work, and dipped into the cream was an amazing taste sensation. The cream, potato and asparagus was a lovely combination, with great ingredients, the potato and truffle earthy, the asparagus sweet all underlaid with the umami rich creamy cheese.  The vegetarian starter was a leaf salad surrounding a fantastic celeriac and apple remoulade, this was garnished with root vegetable crisps. The salad was dressed with cider vinegar flavoured vinaigrette, each leaf perfectly coated, the dressing a perfect balance of acid and sweetness. The remoulade was rich and creamy, with the celeriac flavour quite delicate. This was a particularly nice salad and great start to the meal.

Cremeux de parmesan a la truffe et cornes de gatte, accompagne d'une allumette feuilletee aux amandes.

Salade hivernate garnie de celeri remoulade et pomme en l'air vinaigrette au vinaigre de cidre.

Our next wine was meant to be a sweet wine, a Coteaux du Layon St Lambert Domaine V. Ogerau 2011 to go with the Foie Gras course, and but I had to remind the sommelier we had a vegetarian and fish course instead, but asked if I could try anyway as I have a sweet tooth and would love to try. This was aromatic, sweet and fruity and delicious. The fish course, recommended by Diego arrived at the table and immediately bowled me over with a simply awesome aroma, a fillet of halibut, poached in sea water came coated with oscietra "Royal Belgian Caviar" and with a sea urchin sauce. The fish was beautiful, soft and delicate, the caviar sweet and salty without overpowering the fish and the sauce an absolute sensation, fantastic in aroma and taste, this came with 2 tiny turned new potatoes, a duxelle of mushrooms and some samphire. This was easily one of the best fish dishes I've ever had, every element was perfectly cooked, rich with flavour, well balanced and combined to provide a triumph of a dish. I cleaned every single scrap of sauce and caviar egg with the bread, not wanting to miss even the slightest bit. Thank you Diego! For my wife, the vegetarian alternative was the parmesan cream, and I am glad she did not miss out trying this dish. She too adored the pastry remarking it was the best she has ever had. A white accompanied this course, but alas we did not record the name. 

Filet de fletan poche dans son eau iodee et nappe grains de caviar oscietre "Royal de Belgique" sauce oursinade.

Our next glass was the nicest of the evening, a Bourgogne Hautes-Cotes de Nuits "Clos St. Philibert" Domaine Meo-Camuzet 2004, an aromatic and flavourful white, crisp and fresh. This was unlike any white I've had before. With this was a classic Waterside Inn dish, lobster medallion with a white port sauce and ginger flavoured vegetable julienne. The plate held a generous tail segment and huge claw, the sauce was sticky and sweet, with a bite of chili heat, matched perfectly with the ginger in the vegetables. The cooking of the lobster was again timed impeccably, soft and sweet and I know the restaurant keeps their lobsters in a tank, it couldn't have been fresher. Again I mopped the plate clean with the bread, not wanting to miss a single taste.  My wife had a fantastic cream of Jersusalem artichoke soup, the soup well flavoured with earthy jerusalem artichoke, but quite light, in which were some fine mushrooms and chestnuts. The chestnuts in particular earned full marks from wife and this was an excellent dish.

Tronconnettes de homard poelees minute au porto blanc.

Veloute de topinambours garni de champignons sauvages et chataignes.

With our main course we had a red wine, a Chateau Marquis De Terme Margaux 2006, a fruity bordeaux. This was of course well matched with my game dish, a duo of venison and partridge. The venison was served pink and was tender and tasty, the partridge was particularly good, deboned, surrounded with a forcemeat stuffing and utterly delicious. This came with a brilliant poivrade sauce, an amazing buttery subric of pumpkin, a super smooth buttery cake of pumpkin filled with spinach and wild mushroom.  I loved this course, the meat and sauce and pumpkin combined to form a delicious mouthful. My wife had chosen well, a disc of artichoke was topped with saffron scented celeriac, over this was a fantastic veil of puff pastry, a complex decorative touch reminiscent of classic dishes from Escoffier and Careme. Again the pastry was excellent, and providing a buttery textured crisp bite to match the perfectly soft artichoke and celeriac. With this a sweet rich puree of pumpkin. This was a great ending to her meal, a dish rooted in classical french cookery, yet modern, inventive and delicious. Not a single vegetarian dish fell back on any cliched alternative to meat dishes, all were designed to hold their own against any of the other dishes on the menu.

Duo de gibier se saison, subric de potiron et champignons sauvages enrobes d'epinards, sauce poivrade.

Fond d'artichaut et lamelles de celeri-rave safranees habilles de dentelles de feuilletage, coulis de potiron.

Our pre-dessert was a tequila sorbet topped with raspberry. This was a lovely palate cleanser, holding the tequila taste really well and an aromatic and sweet raspberry to top it off. 

The dessert wine was a Chateau Climens Barsac 2004, a complex taste with a recognisable scent of burnt sugar and candy floss. Our first dessert was for me a teardrop of milk chocolate, with chocolate and caramel mousse and topped with mango and passion fruit. The mousse was gorgeous, light and packed with flavour, the caramel part in particular absolutely gorgeous. The passion fruit and mango providing an aromatic perfumed topping, sweet yet a hint of sourness to balance the chocolate and mousse. My wife had a creme brulee of pistachio with a croustillant of vanila ice cream. This was a fine example of its kind, the pistachio flavour and caramelised crunch providing a rich and luxurious mouthful. By this point descriptions and photos might be a bit blurry, the full effect of our wine flight being apparent.

Larme de chocolate lacte au caramel, coeur de mangue et fruits de la passion.

Creme brulee a la pistache, glace vanille.

We both ended with the warm soufflé of orange with cranberries. The souffle was light, fluffy as a cloud with good orange flavour. Together with the cranberries provided a classic winter taste combination, and an outstanding example of a soufflé from a Roux kitchen.

Souffle chaud a l'orange et airelles.

After being treated to an exquisite slice of coffee and chocolate birthday cake for my wife, our coffee's came with a huge selection of petit four's, each a perfect example of its kind and again the flawless patisserie I would expect from Michel Roux's kitchen. A tiny lemon tart stood out, as did the parmentier biscuit but all were amazing and we shared half of each. I was also treated to a little bit of theatre, the liquor trolley was wheeled up and I asked for a cognac, I was then given a description of their four best cognacs, and given a blind smell test and was asked to choose which one  I liked, and was then shown the list with prices. Luckily I had asked for prices, one of the ones I liked was an 1879 bottle coming in at £210 a glass! Not being a billionaire I eventually settled on the "cheapest" on offer, a 40 year "Inspirations" bottled for the Inn itself. This was a lovely cognac, smooth, potent and yet not a hint of harshness. We finished up and stumbled up to our room. I was really glad our journey was measured in mere feet that night!

Mignardises.

The service throughout was exemplary, a host of waiters acting in silent choreographed concert to provide for every need of the guests, acting with near psychic abilities to pick up exactly what you wanted and when. Diego chatted with us a few times, a charming gentleman who instantly knew how to put you at ease and ensure you enjoyed your meal. A number of spectacular a la carte dishes were served by the table, with duck and chicken being carved and plated up to a number of people.  I particularly enjoyed watch Diego himself serve an impressive looking sea bass baked in a seaweed and salt crust, the crust being removed and the fish deboned and filleted quickly and efficiently, not a second wasted or a single morsel missed. At one point I dropped my napkin, and before I had barely even noticed it had dropped, a waiter silently appeared at my side, picked it up and replaced it with a fresh napkin held in between fork and spoon. The sommelier was also wonderful, explaining each choice and checking we enjoyed the choices. Although service we've had elsewhere has always been excellent, nothing was quite as masterful and professional as the team at The Waterside Inn and this was clearly why it is a 3 star restaurant.

The appearance of the food itself was outstanding, everything was very classic, the presentation beautiful without any modern touches, no paint brushed sauces, superfluous flowers, dry ice or fancy custom serving plates. Not a hint of modernist techniques, no foams or gels to be seen. The dishes themselves were made with the best ingredients, cooked to perfection with recipes born of decades of experience and near flawless. Every single mouthful was to be savoured and remembered.

The next morning saw a fantastic breakfast tray, with an excellent brioche and pastries, again sealing the reputation of the kitchen for patisserie. They are literally masters of their craft.

The Montgolfier Room. Note the balloon prints!

Breakfast

All hail the Patissier!

Our signature experience was £560, this included service and VAT and covered 2 glasses of champagne, the food, a standard double room, breakfast and a copy of the brother's "Patisserie" signed by Michel Roux, a bag of goodies including half a bottle of their signature champagne, a lovely Wedgewood plate and some coffee and jams. Addtionally, the wine flight was £93 a head, and cognac £39. Although very expensive I don't believe anything was overpriced, just a case of you get what you pay for, and in this case you got the best of everything. The whole experience of the evening was one we will always remember.

The Waterside Inn