Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London

Website here. Nearest tube station: Knightsbridge. Full set of Flickr photos: Here



OK - first things first. The real reason we actually found the courage to book a table here was because of the Set Lunch Menu available only on weekdays from 12-2pm. The most important feature of this Set Menu was the Set Price of £28 for 3 courses. As I didn't fancy taking out a short-term loan from Wonga for the purpose of this lunch, this was pretty much the closest we'd ever get to eating anything that comes out from a Heston Blumenthal kitchen.



Of all the things we could've done with our free, unemployed daytime, we chose to do this. Yes, it has been my dream for many years to be able to take advantage of all these mouth-watering, money-saving lunch deals that seem to taunt most decent, wage-earning people stuck in an office from 9am to 5pm. Deals which do not exist when these hard-working people leave the office, and deals which never are valid at weekends. (Yes, I also understand why this is so, but never you mind.)



So, in our first week of free-time-dom, we put on our finest finery and got ourselves on the Tube towards Knightsbridge. I'd never been into the Mandarin Oriental before, so those really grand doors were really quite imposing and a little intimidating.



Thing is, though, everyone at that hotel is just so friendly. From the doorman to the lady at Dinner's reception counter thing, to every single one of the waiting staff who served us during lunch. All so very friendly, very welcoming, and always ready with a pleasant little chat whenever they came to our table. Rarely had I ever encountered such genuinely pleasant and warm waiting staff from 'posh' restaurants like this one.



This possibly contributed towards the first time I'd ever felt like wanting to actually pay the 10% discretionary service charge added on to the bill. Heck, why not even 12.5%.

Plus, they have jelly mould lights.

There wasn't much point in debating what to order because there was only 2 items to choose from per course, and since we were going to try every one, we just kinda said to the waitress "One of every item, please". And, because we'd seen it on telly many times before, we decided to order the Meat Fruit too (more on this later). With nothing much else to do in between ordering and waiting for the food to arrive, I looked wistfully out the window at the orange autumn leaves scattered all over Hyde Park.

They really should do more sweeping.

As with all good restaurants, complimentary posh bread.

Or as I call it, "A Minute On The Lips, And Somehow Things Don't Fit."

Now before you think I'm being all mathematical with my circa this and that, the numbers after each dish represent the year in which the recipe or dish was first discovered. Or so I'm told.

Lemon salad (c.1730) Goat's curd, Buckler Sorrel & Raisins

OK this was not a good start to the meal, but luckily this was not representative of the items yet to be tasted. Blame my unsophisticated tastebuds, but to me, this tasted like some goats cheese had been whacked on a plate, drizzled with some lemony tangy drizzle and made a little more interesting with some plump, juicy raisins. Finished it all anyhow. Like I was gonna leave any of it unfinished - come on ... it would have cost easily £15 or so if it wasn't on the set menu so I was gonna inhale every bit of it even it it did taste like goats cheese on a plate. Which it was.

Ragoo of Pigs Ears (c.1750) Anchovy, Onions and Parsley

Now I really liked this. Earthy, very full-flavoured, and interestingly crunchy yet soft - this tasted like something very familiar. I've had pigs ears before but never like this. The Chinese method of serving pigs ears is usually either the cold, stewed version of it sliced finely, or in some sort of (disgusting) jellied terrine. This version was surprising and introduced a very refreshing spin on a part of the pig so commonly overlooked. It went ridiculously well with the thick, absorbent and chewy slice of bread sat comfortably underneath the saucy mountain of ear slices.

OK OK - now comes the exciting bit. I mean, come on, this IS Heston Blumenthal's restaurant. And come on, I HAD to try it. So, don't get too excited (I know I did), but here it is.

The MEAT FRUIT.

Meat Fruit (c.1500) Mandarin, Chicken Liver Parfait and Grilled Bread £14.50

Possible like every other person before me (and after), I'd ordered this simply because I'd seen it on Heston's Feasts programme and it looked so darned good. The chicken liver parfait ball is dipped in a jelly infused with mandarin puree (recipe here) before it's left to set and cool.

Had to give it a squeeze. Come on - you would've done the same. It just looked so ... squeezable. You'd be pleased to know that it did not maintain the original shape after being squeezed, and sat there forlornly looking quite squashed so we quickly ate it.

Because as some people always like to say (and I am NOT one of them) - you eat with your eyes first or something along those lines - I had expected the parfait to taste of something orange. Or at least a hint of orange. But nope. I know the recipe said mandarin puree, and it's been written on other places about this being a mandarin chicken liver parfait but I didn't manage to taste any citrus in it. Not a criticism because who am I to criticise this genius of a chef who can pummel me with his Michelin star, but just sayin'.

Aside from that, it sure tasted good. In fact, MORE than good. Good-er?

It tasted like a hundred chickens had been put into this dish. It was meaty, it was intensely smooth, it was so many things. And it was the best chicken liver parfait I'd ever had.

Smothered on to the delicious piece of toast, this was not only a fabulous specimen of a starter, but, dare I say it - it was almost worth the £14.50 we paid for it. Portion-wise, nothing to complain about. Taste-wise, definitely nothing to complain about. Price-wise ... hey, I'll always complain about the price so let's be realistic and leave it at that.

Sure is a popular dish.

Cured Salmon (c.1670) Beetroot, Sea Aster and Olive Oil

Part-way through chewing on this, the husband and I consulted one another on what we thought of the dish. It's tough trying to look like you're thinking, while munching, so with quite an amusing-yet-thoughtful look on his face, he said something along the lines of "Mmm. Mmm mm ... mmmmm?"

Where as I went, "I think it's good, but I prefer the texture of the one we had at Casa Mia" (bearing in mind that it's a completely different dish, made by completely different chefs, and so cannot possibly be compared but hey).

This salmon was lovely and fresh, with natural sweetness and a lovely flaky texture to it, with the texture slowly changing towards the middle of the piece of fish. Thing is, unlike the poached version we had at Casa Mia, where I really liked the spongy, resistant texture of the fish, I couldn't really tell the difference in texture in the different bits of this fish.

Even though I could tell by looking at it that the textures were meant to be different, I just couldn't distinguish the difference when chewing on it. So, while it tasted nice and all, perhaps it didn't quite achieve what it set out to achieve? Or maybe I'm just being over-analytical on a piece of fish. Such pretentious behaviour really has no place on this blog. I shall shut up on the topic of fish.



Bath Chaps (c.1860) Savoy Cabbage, Lardo, Ham hock and Robert broth

Lardo and Robert Broth sound like quite fun guys, don't they.

This dish was easily my favourite of all the items we had. It was simple to eat, and it had all my favourite things in it.

Meat - yup. Cabbage - yes please. Delicious gravy which tasted like it contained all the best intense meaty juices of the last century condensed into one tablespoon of gravy goodness - uh huh. And as an added bonus, the texture of the meat was tender and yet chewy.

Prune & Tamarind Tart (c.1720)

You know how if you've been presented with loads and loads of amazing, tap-dancing gold fish, and suddenly a 'common' goldfish is just not so impressive anymore? Yes, that is indeed described commonly as 'being spoiled'.

Which is exactly how I felt when this was brought out. I don't know what I was expecting but it sure wasn't a slice of what looked like creme brulee in triangular form. But this is being rather harsh on a dish so lovingly created by the chefs working hard behind the glass-covered kitchen so just disregard all that I've said in the paragraph above.

The sugar-crust thing did crack when tapped on like a creme brulee, and the consistency of the tart filling was creamy and thick like in a creme brulee. And while the taste of it was also slightly creamy with a hint of rich egg like a creme brulee - this tart had a base to it which no creme brulee has ever had.

We finished it, we enjoyed it, and it was not creme brulee.

Orange Buttered Load (c.1630) Mandarin & thyme sorbet

Also described as 'Husband's Favourite Dessert Of All Time Except For His Mam's Apple Crumble Which Cannot Ever Be Relegated'.

Mmm warm and squishy and all things comforting - this was deliciousness in a loaf. Bready and soaked through and through with all things citrusy, every spoonful yielded the most tantalising, tangy mouthful of doughy goodness imaginable. And then, like a little burst of sunshine, the sorbet with its curiously-sweet-yet-slightly-indescribable-but-wonderful taste cleansed the palate to ready it for the comforting orange buttered loaf again.

Maybe it was because we looked like we weren't full enough (if the belly-rub isn't a universal sign of being full, I don't know what is), or maybe we were just nice to the waitress that day, they brought over this little cup of chocolate mousse infused with Earl Grey Tea.

Which I couldn't say no to. So here we go again.

It was amazing. It was like molten chocolate which somehow someone had managed to blend in with some Earl Grey Tea. I finished it. Very full. Can't type.

Our wedding meal – Bailbrook House Hotel

Phew it's been a while since I last came on this blog! Been so busy busy busy that even the thought of editing pics and writing words were chucked out the window, but now that I have some free time (in between work, housework and more eating), I can finally post up the pics of the Wedding Meal!

Obviously, I didn't take the pics at the wedding; what with being the bride and all. It would take one mean, lean, and very dedicated blogger to start blogging about the wedding meal while the speeches were being made.

With some cunning ingenuity, these pics were taken at the meal tasting which was done about a month before the wedding, so instead of seeing only the meal we had at the wedding, you get to see what we didn't have as well!

Kinda like watching the X-Tra Factor.

Note: This might be one long, boring, detailed post for those of you who like short, interesting, vague ones. I just wanna note down all the details of the day, so please bear with me.

Details:
Venue: Bailbrook House Restaurant, Eveleigh Avenue, Bath
Date: Meal tasting date (2nd April 2011), actual wedding date (30th April 2011)

Even more details:

So we got up bright and early on 2nd April, a Saturday, and off we went for my make-up trial session. After what seemed like a truck load of make-up being chucked on my face, I appeared looking fresh-faced with a trace of barely-there make-up. Wonderful stuff. As the whole business of looking fresh-faced is quite a tiring one, it was just as well we had the meal tasting session scheduled for lunch that day.

In the UK, I've noticed that most venues charge for the meal tasting session, though usually at a subsidised price. In Malaysia, not only do you have the meal tasting session free, you also get to do it maybe twice, and usually for a table of 10 each time.

Anyhow, since we were paying for this, and since the sunshine was out in full force that beautiful Saturday, I took A LOT of pics. I don't think the waiting staff had ever seen someone take that many pictures of some lamb on a plate.

As we'd already decided on the 2 meal sets we were going to try, the food just kinda came seamlessly as we sat down. The menu we were given to begin with was huge. We had about 15 starters to choose from, about the same amount of main meals and about 10 desserts, from which we had to select 2 to try, and finally zone down to the 1 meal to be served on the day.

For 2 people who pretty much eat anything indiscriminately, this was a mammoth task.

For mammoth appetites. Which we were well-equipped for.

Factors contributing to our decision of meal choice:

1. Fish - not many people like fish. When trying to serve the same meal to 80 people, it is crucial to serve something commonly accepted by everyone, because the last thing I want at my wedding is cheese on toast being brought out of the kitchen in sheer desperation. Despite this very logical reasoning, I still gave it a go and tried out a fish starter just for good measure.
2. Chicken - has the tendency to dry out somewhat, even when cooked as one portion on its own. Imagine it being cooked for 80. Leather on plate does not a good meal make.
3. Goats cheese - mmm no.

With these things taken off the list, the only other 3 farmyard animals left in the ring would be Beefy, Porky and Lamby.

Starters:



Crab and tiger prawn salad, lemon grass and ginger dressing

We decided to try this one out even though we kinda knew we weren't going to serve fish because I just wanted to taste it. There, I said it. Pure shellfishness. :)



I'm glad we tried it, because despite reading the menu several times over, I couldn't find anything which would have been globally appealling, so when I finally picked the ham hock dish below, and had to decide on a second choice, I figured, why not just go with what I like. This didn't disappoint.
What I really liked about it was the creamy ginger dressing (or so it said ginger, I don't think I tasted any in there) in which the prawn and crab were mixed.



There's something about creamy seafood which really appeals to me. In fact, I didn't even know that it was meant to be lemongrass and ginger until I read the menu for the purpose of this post. To me, it tasted pretty much like seafood salad sauce, if such a thing exists. It was nice, it was more-ish, and it went well with the toast.



Pressed ham hock and new potato terrine, onion chutney, olive bread

Then, they brought this little guy out. At first glance, I kinda thought, hmm a nice square piece of meat.



Then when I tried a mouthful, the explosion of flavours in my mouth made me see this dish in a whole different light. Texture-wise, it was kinda like biting into a sausage/gammon thingee. Slightly chucky, yet with a hint of mince from the mixtures of meat in the terrine.

Taste-wise, it was salty, then sweet (from the chutney), then meaty. The lovely sauce that was drizzled around the ensemble tasted like a denser version of the chutney sauce, which went well with the olive bread. Plate mopped clean.

By then, the sun was beginning to shine through the French windows with quite some strength. Mmm, nothing like a bit of sunshine to bring out the appetite in me.

Mains:



Noisettes of Somerset lamb filled with spinach and mushrooms, thyme roasted potatoes, rosemary jus

Picture perfect. The fiance (at the time) and I literally gasped in awe when the plate was put down in front of us. OK fine, we're easily impressed, but even then, come on, this is one fine looking specimen of a dish. With the Battle of the Forks raging in the centre of the table, he won by a small margin and managed to take the first bite of the dish.

After about 5 minutes of chewing with eyes closed, he proclaimed that this was THE dish. I had one mouthful and nodded my enthusiastic agreement.



Here's my pathetic attempt at describing what this tasted like.

First things first. You see the slight crust on the skin that looks so crispy and mouth-watering? That was good stuff. Each piece of lamb was like a tender, delicate drumstick of lamby wonder; crispy on the outside, and so very rare, tasty and juicy on the inside. The sauce was one of the best tasting sauces I've ever had; it was like a very meaty version of gravy, with a hint of something macho about it.

The potatoes, oh the potatoes. I'm sure they were cooked in something more than goose fat; perhaps they were cooked in Loveliness, who knows. Not only were they fluffy and so so like cake, but they had an amazing crisp on the outside which managed to hold itself even after we'd left it there till we finished with the meat.



However, logic began to rear its sensible head, and we begun thinking. 'Would it be possible for the chef to recreate this masterpiece of a dish for 80 people at the same time?'



The lovely waitress did mention to us, quite a few times in fact, that this would not be the EXACT thing that would be served at the wedding, because the chef was only cooking for us now, where as he would have to make modifications when cooking for 80. With that factor on the plate, the other things which sprang to mind were:

1. Some people don't like rare meat. This dish HAD to be cooked rare in order for the full flavours and textures to shine through.
2. Some people don't like lamb. Whoops.
3. Chef probably wouldn't have been able to replicate this for 80 people, not at the same time anyway.



So, lamb was relegated to second place.



Roast West Country rib of beef, Yorkshire pudding, thyme roasted gravy, garlic roast potatoes

Kinda like Eurovision, this little dude was deemed winner before he even left the kitchen. I know some people will say that roast is a pretty boring, if not somewhat obvious choice, for a wedding meal but after having gone through the laborious task of planning a wedding, I now know why it is the default meal choice. It is easily cooked for a large group, and beef is more often than not, eaten by a large majority of the crowd (in the UK anyway).



The fact that this version was possible one of the best I'd tasted helped. The beef was thickly sliced, and maintained its flavour and moisture throughout.



The potatoes were the same ones in the lamb dish above, ie amazing, and the Yorkshire puddings were fluffly and light.



How good does this look.



All in all, nothing I could fault about the dish, and with the only flaw being that it wasn't 'exciting' enough (through no fault of its own, poor thing), we decided to go with this one.



To be fair, I've had quite a fair few roast dinners, and this was one of the best, so I know it sounds like I wasn't that impressed with it, considering how much I raved about the lamb, but at the time, this was really very, very tasty, and we were seriously quite worried that we'd not be able to decide on which dish to serve.

Desserts:



Pavlova with strawberries, kiwi and mango, blackcurrant sauce

There's something about meringues which intrigue me. Like how it retains its shape, and the slightly white, but not quite white colour that it has before it's cooked. I usually like my meringues with custard, as I find the hot mixes quite well with the crumbly texture of meringue. This version wasn't bad either, and it kinda brought a light, refreshing end to a meal with its fruity flavours, and light texture.



Lemon mousse, almond tuilles, raspberry coulis

Because the starters and mains were so very good, we kinda felt a little let down by the desserts. I mean, they would have been good on their own, and even better than most of the stuff served in other places, but by then, we'd been set a benchmark of sorts, so it was with some disappointment when I had a spoonful of the mousse only to realise that it was more cream-like in texture than mousse-like, and that it tasted only faintly of lemon.

Like, it probably just smelled of lemon. We bravely ate through half of the glass and then gave up when we realised it was like wading through a creamy, un-lemony glass after a very filling meal.

On the day itself:

So, after all that tasting and careful consideration, how did it go on the actual day? Well, I was in a very tight dress and so could only manage a few small mouthfuls of everything, but from the reviews I gathered from the guests, the beef went down a treat, and the ham hock terrine was also well received.

The only course which brought out some hesitations was, as we guessed, the pavlova, as this is quite a foreign dish to Malaysians and it didn't help that they were so full by the time that was served.

Overall, I really enjoyed the items we chose, and I think the husband did too. I had the most wonderful time with fantastic weather, and couldn't have asked for the day to have gone any better.

Notes section:
Not of use to anyone else but me - these were the other items served on the day itself.

Vegetarian option:
Tomato and butternut squash soup, red pepper oil
Fresh tagliatelle, grilled red peppers, pesto cream sauce

Canapes at the drinks reception:
Mini Yorkshire pudding, beef, Horseradish
Rosemary and Parmesan scones, red onion jam, goats cheese
Smoked salmon and cream cheese rosettes

And, just because I know I'll puzzle on this at some point in the future, and as a reminder to myself, this was what we had for the evening reception.

Classic Finger Buffet
Various filled soft filled baps (egg, cheese, and something else which I didn't try)
Parmesan and spinach palmiers
Indian curry chicken kebabs raita dip
Honey and mustard glazed pork and leek sausages
Tiger prawns skewers, chilli and ginger dip (apparently very nice, according to those who tried it, which was not me)
Mozzarella and sun dried tomato quiche
Thai style fish cakes, coriander and lime dip (mistakenly thought to be otak-otak by the Malaysian contingency)
Mini éclairs
Fresh fruit skewers
Mini lemon tarts

And of course, that lovely, fabulous, glamorous 3-tiered cake

Kennedy’s Fish and Chips, 184-186 Goswell Road, London, EC1V 7DT

We first came here during one of the bf’s basketball dinners, with a huge group of people sitting near the back of the restaurant. As it was a Tuesday evening, the restaurant was full of cab drivers all hungry for some dinner. Apparently, it’s really popular with the cab drivers of London and they even have a Cabbie’s Special which includes fish and chips (any sort of fish), bread and butter, and tea during and after the meal. All for a tenner.

But they ran out of bread the day we were there and so we couldn’t have it. Besides, the bf isn’t too keen on tea or coffee, so that pretty much meant just fish and chips – which was what he ordered anyway.

As we’d been here a few times since the first basketball dinner, we took our friends A&D here for lunch today. The restaurant was pretty empty when we got there, but it was 2pm and after the busy lunch serving, so we pretty much had service all to ourselves, and the food came quite quickly too.

Besides fish and chips, they also do pies, and the menu features quite an extensive variety of them.

See, it says so on the wall.

Found it quite apt that the vinegar was named what it was named, really.

Since no meal really feels complete without us sharing something … anything, we decided to order TWO versions of squid to be shared.

(In reality, it’s because A&D were just really envious of my choice of main – grilled squid – and so had to jump on the squid bandwagon). This is the theory anyway. If you’re reading this A&D, you’ll confirm that my squid WAS the best option.

Calamari first. For £3.75, we had about 2 rings each between the four of us. Not the best value for money if you think about it per squid ring, but for a starter, it was alright. The squid was fresh though slightly tasteless, but the batter was good and not too greasy. 

Char-grilled baby squid with garlic butter (£3.95) – the starter version, which is basically a mini version of my gigantic grilled squid (refer below). This was really good, something about the oil they use to grill this with. Not too sure what is in the oil, but from the colour, I’d say something like paprika? Turmeric? Saffron? It tasted quite Italian, anyhow. I know there’s garlic and butter in it (from the name) but that wasn’t the strongest flavours I could taste in the dish.

Yummy chewy squid ring.

The guys’ fish and chips (£8.50) – it’s big and it’s clever. A huge portion of very fresh, flaky, white fish with a crispy batter, served with proper chip shop chips. It took the guys a while to get through this, and I had to step in and offer them some assistance (I eat anything).

D’s venison and red wine pie £7.95 (or was it steak and stilton? She was deciding between the two). The steak was really tender and flavoursome, and the pastry was soft and flaky enough to absorb the meaty taste of the gravy.

The main-sized version of the char-grilled squid with garlic butter (about £8.50?) – envy of everyone who was at the table. I love squid. If I’ve not mentioned this before, I love chewy stuff, and I love squid. If the squid is chewy, I love it even more. This was not only really fresh and chewy (in a fresh way, not in a rubbery way) but it tasted really good. The oil was really flavourful – something Mediterranean, with a nice, grilled taste about it.

The squid came with either mash, chips or salad – just like with the other meals which is good value for money, especially with the generous portion sizes.

We didn’t have any dessert after the meal, but here’s one we had another time – thrown in here for good measure. It’s one of those Belgian waffles from the stalls all down Oxford Street. Decided to try one out, and it was surprisingly good. Really soft on the inside, yet with a chewy bite on it when you first sink your teeth in, and a lovely sugary crunch to before you get to the soft centre. Mmm mm mm.

Would I recommend it? Indeed I would! Brought our friends there so I would definitely recommend that you check Kennedy’s out if you haven’t already done so.

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