Dinner by Heston? I bet he'll serve snails again!

There is no such thing as a sure thing in life, but you can usually bank on a couple of things at a Heston Blumenthal restaurant, 1) there are going to be snails 2) there is probably going to be a lot of dry ice and 3) I am going to really enjoy my meal there.

Our trip to Dinner by Heston (which shortly after my trip appeared at number 7 on the world's top 50 restaurant list) was a lunch time visit to celebrate our return to London and also the arrival of my soon to be in-laws in London. We booked in on one of the very reasonable lunchtime set menu deals which includes 3 courses for 36 pounds.



The only slight problem with set menu deals is that often the choice may be a touch on the limited side, when we visited this only including a couple of items per course to choose from, however you always have the option to go a la carte (they leave it on the table for you). I had a quick look through the menu and to be honest, although the rest of the menu (and corresponding history lesson) was great I would have to say I was pretty happy with the dishes which were picked.

The theme for Heston's culinary adventure in the Mandarin Orientals beautiful dining room is exploring "dinners" from the past. The menu has an introduction to the concept of dinner (validating people like me who have been known to use it to describe both a meal in the middle and at the end of the day) as well as a year and some information about the origin of every dish.

I settled on what is apparently an English classic, a snail salad, although I think that this may be more to do with Heston's apparent vendetta against the little blighters, I have always suspected that he is hell bent on revenge after an attack on his vegetable patch at some point in the past, but regardless of this he certainly cooks them in a tasty way. The snails in this particular dish are more a garnish rather than a main part but they certain contribute to the overall taste and freshness of the salad.

The main courses choices were either Quail (which several of our group had, and which looked small but perfectly formed) or Salmon in a mussel broth. I chose the salmon which I found to be well cooked and tasty, although the broth was a little on the salty side when eaten on its own it complimented the salmon well when the whole thing was eaten together.

The high point of the high meal was yet to come however, I would say that it was the desserts in which Heston excels himself in the set menu. Both the millionaire tart and the orange sponge cake (sounds boring, looks and more importantly tastes great) are interesting takes on some of my favourite puddings of my childhood. The twist for the orange sponge is that it is made with blood oranges rather than regular ones, which gives the cake a red colour (almost like a red velvet colour). The millionaire tart is a little more what you would expect from a millionaire shortbread, which is that it is sugartastic, although it is well balanced by the ice cream it is served with.

As you would expect all of the food is beautifully presented although I would say that there is certainly less theatre involved than at the Fat Duck, it feels more like a history lesson than an exciting science and cookery class. When it comes to dessert however there is still a flash of the usual Heston fun, an ice cream trolley where dry ice is used to quickly create your dessert (well, second dessert) in front of you.

I would certainly recommend a trip here, especially to the great value lunch (perfect if you are on a week day trip to London and are planning on visiting Harrods or the Museums), as the food is great. The restaurant is probably at its most attractive on a sunny lunch time as the dining room boasts some excellent views of Hyde Park while you are enjoying your meal.