Fantastic Feasts: Dinner by Heston

Dinner by Heston

Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, 66 Knightsbridge, SW1X 7LA

This was the second of our visits to Heston Blumenthal's London outpost (the first was 2 years ago).  In the time since our last visit it has rapidly picked up a Michelin Star as well as places on some pretty impressive lists. Rather than take full control over the venture himself, Heston has delegated a significant amount of control to Dinner executive chef is Ashley Palmer Watts, a Fat Duck alumnus who is beginning to gain a name for himself in the food festival circuit (he did a demonstration at the Taste Lab, for example).

Brown Bread Ice Cream

Let me tell you a Story

Restaurant Story (@Rest_Story)
201 Tooley Street, SE1 2UE

I wasn't even meant to go. It was a scheduling conflict on Owen's part (would you turn down conference networking on the top deck of Tower Bridge? Thought not!), that prevented him from going. Not wanting to miss out on such a hot London ticket (memories of Dabbous abounded), me and Nathalie fulfilled the reservation on his behalf.

All you need is Lovage - Roganic

Roganic
19 Blandford Street, W1U 3DH

I have to admit the timing of this review is not the most convenient, but then how many times do you visit a restaurant knowing it's going to close in 6 weeks? Having occupied its space on Blandford Street for the past two years to great success and spawning a very promising career for Ben Spalding (check out our reviews for the now defunct Ben Spalding at John Salt and StrippedBack for more) in its wake, we decided to try the 3 course lunch menu (£30, £35 with wine pairings!) whilst I still had my chance. 

Dabbous - ''Congratulations, you've won the golden ticket!''

Dabbous
39 Whitfield Street, W1T 2SF

I've never heard that reply to a restaurant reservation before. But then, Dabbous is no ordinary restaurant. With a striking industrial interior housed in a former internet cafe (R.I.P. Cyberia!), Dabbous doesn't immediately strike you as the site of one of the most sought after reservations (April 2013 as of this post) in London. This may partially be down to the fact that there' only about 14 tables, which I would imagine would allow for something like 30 covers per night. Accordingly, the speed of service on the night was very impressive for food of that quality. Also, even though the food is easily Michelin star standard (it will undoubtably win one very soon), prices are very reasonable. £54 for the tasting menu (extra £25 for wine, £6 for a cheese platter), with mains running at about £15 makes for excellent value, I think.