Dinner by Heston Blumenthal

Good food but lacks magic
Five of us dined there a couple of weeks back. Two of us had the meat fruit which although visually stunning did not live up in taste to its presentation. Other starters OK but not in any way exceptional. Mains three steaks two ducks good and cooked as requested but had hoped for something more creative and inventive. Standout amongst the deserts was a lychee sorbet that was truly sublime other deserts just OK
Service was friendly and efficient. The room not really special in any way
Overall really disappointing experience. We had eaten at Pierre Koffman at the Berkley a few weeks before and felt that that had been an altogether superior,if much less hyped experience

Good food but lacks magic
Five of us dined there a couple of weeks back. Two of us had the meat fruit which although visually stunning did not live up in taste to its presentation. Other starters OK but not in any way exceptional. Mains three steaks two ducks good and cooked as requested but had hoped for something more creative and inventive. Standout amongst the deserts was a lychee sorbet that was truly sublime other deserts just OK
Service was friendly and efficient. The room not really special in any way
Overall really disappointing experience. We had eaten at Pierre Koffman at the Berkley a few weeks before and felt that that had been an altogether superior,if much less hyped experience

We went to Dinner last night. Sorry to say that it failed to live up to the hype and and what you would expect from a Heston B resturant.The food was nice, but was severly tarnished by the poor service and attention to detail. On arrival no-one helped with taking coats. We waited 15 mins before any drinks and bread were brought to the table. The waiting staff were really noticable, and at times it felt like we were eating our meal in a train station.

Went there last night and enjoyed the meal very much. For starter I had the roasted marrowbone – excellent. I was a bit weary of the pickled vegetables but they complimented it very well. For main, I had the fillet steak, mushroom ketchup and tripled cooked chips and wine sauce. Fillet was delicious, I wanted it medium and it was cooked to perfection, succulent, and juicy with no blood oozing out. It was complimented with the mushroom ketchup and the wine sauce very well, I do not usually like red wine sauce, but this one was just right – it had a nice sweet taste. As for the chips, a hint of salt on a crispy shell, with a ‘melt in the mouth’ centre – very delicious. For dessert, I had the tipsy pudding, now this has to be the best pudding I’ve had in my life! Brioche drenched in beautiful syrup and served with a spit-roasted stick of pineapple. My whole eating experience was lovely. The staff where very knowledgeable of the menu and were very helpful, they also enquired about dietary requirements – which I thought was very good.

The service was good, but I like to be left alone to enjoy my food when I eat out. Staff is obviously told to take part in small talk with the customers, but it was all too much for me. When I’m asked if I had a good day, I’m polite enough to say yes, I don’t expect to be asked what did I do! She did not really want to know what I did and I certainly did not want to discuss my day with a complete stranger. It got to the point where I was scared to make eye contact, as they’d dart over to the table! I like to pour my water myself, as I know how much water I want. I know with the prices, service should be excellent, and it was, but they should also be aware that some people see dinner time a quiet time to relax and enjoy – not to have to keep answering questions about the meal or saying, thank you but I’d like to pour the water myself.

excellent

By D
Had dinner at Dinner yesterday and my god it was good. One of the few restaurants which lives up to the hype. The hubby and i had the meat fruit andjust went for the steak for two. Both were delicious and i'm a big convert to mushroom ketchup! So glad it got the star.

By W
Excellent fault free food. Service deserves a mention, we stuck with tap water and beer - not a hint of pressure to order expensive wines. This was the second time i've been - hope they are not turning this into a steakhouse - half the mains seem to steaks or pork chops. What everhapped to the 72 hour rib of beef?

Firstly this is NOT "The Fat Duck" "light". This is much more mainstream, if Blumenthal can do such a thing.

The food is very precisely cooked, imagine eating a Leonardo dissection drawing of each course: very exact and fantastically consistant. Textures are a speciality and are magically combined: More than one course I stumbled on a surprising crunch and said out loud "Clever, clever boy". But (say it really quietly) the depth of flavour was not quite there. Meat fruit is beautiful and truly melts away, but wasn't quite meaty or fruity enough. However the Pineapple dessert is to die for, beating the chocolate bar into a cocked hat.

The people are excellent, and service is certainly not as pretentious as some of the names of the dishes. Was it worth £140 (we drank only water) for lunch? No, it was like a friendly version of Alain Duchasse at The Dorchester. I'd spend twice that much and go for the real deal at Willy Wonker's factory at The Fat Duck in Bray.

Excellent lunch at Dinner - the service was fantastic and my pregnancy-related food-fussiness thoroughly catered for (sadly meant I couldn't try the meat fruit). Delicious wood-pigeon main course but the highlight was definitely the dessert of malted barley ice cream. The prices are as you might expect in a five-star hotel but the experience was great and I love the concept of resurrecting old British recipes.

The restaurant is very attractive and features a glass walled kitchen and splendid views over Hyde Park. The service was excellent but no more than one would expect from a restaurant in a 5 star hotel. Nevertheless, somehat more unexpected was the hit and miss quality of the food on offer. During our visit the misses were the meat fruit, the roasted sea bass and the brown bread ice cream. The hits were the savoury porridge, the black foot pork chop and the Tipsy Cake.

The meat fruit is, I'm afraid, a gimmick. Tthere is nothing special about the chicken liver parfait covered by the orange peel textured gelatin. It is smooth and tasty but, despite the interesting presentation, holds nothing of particular interest in the flavour department. The sea bass was a good quality piece of a fish but the vinegar drenched cockles were far too over powering and the flesh of the bass did not marry well with their "squeaky" texture. The brown bread ice cream was very bizarre and tasted like a revolting savoury combination of yeast, salt and cream.

Notwithstanding the above, the savoury porridge was incredible and the black foot chop was the finest I have ever tasted. Both dishes were full of complex flavours and contained first rate ingredients. However, the winning dish, for those with a sweet tooth is the Tipsy Cake. Whilst the spit roasted pineapple is another gimmick that I could take or leave, the cake itself was alone worth the visit.

Totally agree with this review from Time Out. The starters were delicious, the meat fruit had a good wow factor and tasted amazing. The smoked calves heart salad was tasty but miniscule.
Main courses were very disappointing, on a par with something you could get in a good gastro pub. The spiced pigeon was, we were told, flavoured with star anise, coriander, cinnamon. The meat was amazingly tender and rich but the aforementioned spices could no be detected. The sauce tasted of nothing more but a red wine reduction.
Cockle ketchup with the sea bass was interesting, quite vinegary, the fish was well cooked and good.
Our side dish of potatoes, essential if you don't want to go hungry, was not cooked properly. They were raw in the middle. Unacceptable.
Puddings, as T.O, were excellent. Magical flavours, unlike anything else we have eaten, and they looked beautiful.

More should be said about the setting of the restaurant. It is quite ugly. Dated, in a 90s way, hideous tables
leather panelled trolleys and walls and the most revolting champagne trolley you will set eyes on.
Also, for nearly £100 a head, why no tablecloths?? it would make huge difference to the feel of the room. The view of the park is great, that is the only redeeming feature.

Staff were very helpful and attentive.

Watched this man on Tv , tick. Purchased the DVD collection , Tick. Booked two months in advance , Tick. Informed them a member of the our party was a celiac, Tick . Do you cater for gluten free diners " Most definitely" Tick. Confirmed reservation for 12.00 the day before, Tick.
And it only goes down hill from here. Arrived at the restaurant for them to tell us that we had no reservation!! My wife and i had just arrived from Australia, you what! After 12 minutes of debate and confusion they told us we are sorry you booked for 1.30. mmm this is going to be interesting after a discussion with the manager we were lead into the restaurant, there were 5 tables dinning and full of waiters? yes exactly what i thought , why so hard. Menu arrives and we are starving, entrees ordered then the mains, oops there is a problem you can only eat a couple of dishes if you are gluten intolerant?? i beg your pardon. So no entree for my sister. My wife ordered the flesh and rice said it was delicious i ordered the meat fruit which arrived with gluten free bread?? i am not the celiac here anyway my sister points this out to the waiter 11 minutes later i have normal bread, very nice we ordered scallops as we had travelled 20,000 miles and felt the need to try as much as possible. On the table we ordered the fillet of beef for 3 of us triple cooked chips sounded so unusual. Two were sent back as medium was requested and they were close to raw. My steak Med-Rare was cold, mm didn't say anything as it was going down hill very quickly. My wife ordered the fish said it was lovely. Desserts well my dear sister who is gluten intolerant was told the normal dribble sorry this has gluten in it well she could of cried, she insisted we order dessert we did spit roast pineapple with Brioche , the pineapple was just ordinary the brioche was beautiful , a chocolate tart and I think sorbet or ice cream for my wife. After dining sat there looking at each other as to say what is going on here we were totally in shock! After discussing our shopping spree in Sloanne street the waitress arrives with a little treat before we go a ganache and biscuit with caraway seeds. The first question we ask is it gluten free, Ummm let me ask the Chef, over 10 minutes had passed and we politely asked the waitress again does it contain flour. Oh yes it does and walks off. Well that was the final straw asked for the bill, name of the waitress and i am sure they have received a scathing letter from my sister as this was not acceptable. One last thing for Mr Blumenthal to masquerade as a Chef with a thorough understanding of science and receiving a honorary Doctorate of Science degree are you serious?? A University to bestow this upon him? Please read and learn about people who are celiac so you understand what they have to go through with their strict dietary needs, tidy up the booking procedure , and re-train your Chefs how to cook a basic steak!

Not entirely worth all the hype (and cost!) but definitely one of the best meals you'll find in London.

Yep, it is worth all the hype. The food is unbelievably good, and the staff were amongst the friendliest I've met in London. Prices are very high, but then again you are dining in Knightsbridge. Well worth saving up for!

We went last week and had a superb meal there. We particularly like the history reference of the dishes but certainly we discovered some similarities with Hong Kong style food. Here is what we ate http://wp.me/p18zw1-L4