The Fat Duck – ( Bray, UK )

  Heston Blumenthal.  Ding ding ding ding ding ding ..ding ding.. blu er blu er wa aaa … Ever watched his shows on TV?   Several years ago I was kind of contemplating on whether to pay him a tribute,  afterall he was once voted as the top restaurant in the world.  Which is ironic enough,  as the offshoot Dinner by Heston has shot right up into the Top 10 restaurants whilst the original and much more sophisticated Fat Duck dropped slightly outside of the podium, so to speak.   For me,  the attraction to finally book a table here was more influenced by reading some recent reviews of here and the food seems to have evolved and culminated into a more settled form..  Has it lacked it’s lustrous glory ?  Has it already fallen out of trend?   At least not going by the 3 months advanced booking I have had to plan well ahead and when all the tables for 3 months later, all became gone within 2 minutes on the online booking platform.   It is quite stressful to dine out sometimes,   if u think about it.

 

Nordaq method,  Purified Water -
This isn’t bottled water.   But a way of purifying the local water of Bray for customers to enjoy..
Interesting indeed.   One could also find a similar purified water in Marque’s in Sydney, Australia.








The Lowish Ceiling to be honest -
It kind of made us feel claustrophobic in this tightly packed space and with so many staff constantly moving around the tables.   You could call it cozy,  but we thought it was a little stuffy..

 

Beetroot Sponge with Horseradish Cream -
1st amuse bouche..  With a crispy shell.
Quite tasty actually.  A well tested combination of flavours..  ~  8/10







A few glasses of Wines as Usual,  Of Course -
Won’t elaborate on the wines this time around,
as wine pairing isn’t really the focus when eating at The Fat Duck.
It’s a little too random for that to be predictable, and it might or might not work.

 

 

Liquid Nitrogen Poached Aperitifs -
Vodka and Green Tea with Gin Tonic and Lime Scent,
Campari Soda with Freeze Dried Raspberry Powder..
What became interesting was how these turned out to be more like frozen meringues than a smooth ice cream texture,  but they were definitely refreshing.  OK,  nitrogen stuff are cliched and done to death these days at least for the past 10 years…  but flavour combination wise,  these were good.  I just didn’t think the presentation was that appetizing itself,  or am I spoiled by pretty quenelling nowadays?     ~  7/10








Red Cabbage Gazpacho, with Pommery Grain Mustard Ice Cream -
Although different,  colours wise this kind of clashed with the 1st amuse bouche of purplish Beetroot sponge.   Is that being harsh?   I liked this combination of flavours though,  but it wasn’t exactly 3 Dimensional in flavours either.  Let’s just keep it simple?  ~  8/10










Jelly of Quail,  Crayfish Cream.  Chicken Liver parfait,
Oak Moss and Truffle Toast with Pea Puree -  (Homage to Alain Chapel)
The forest smoke and the oak moss strips from the Listerine like plastic containers were definitely the centre to this dish..  The truffle toast was meant to evoke memories of the forest.   I did in my mind questioned why crayfish cream was present in this foresty dish..  The 2nd problem I had with this whole dish structure,  was that I couldn’t actually taste much of the described flavours individually bar the oak moss and chicken liver parfait.   ~  7/10

 

 

 

Snail Porridge -
The famous signature porridge is made from Snails,  Oat Meal,  with Shaved Fennels,  Parsley sauce and Iberico Bellota ham.  Add in a bit of Mushroom and Almond.   A nice enough combination if not a little bit too heavy on the sliced fennel in the end.  This was quite enjoyable!   ~   9/10








Bread with a Local Lincolnshire Unpasteurized Butter -
The timing of the bread’s arrival isn’t traditional.
I think they wanted it to arrive at precisely the point you might want them to be present, rather than sticking to the orthodox approach?   The same can be found at  Quay, Australia.   Where the bread arrives more in the middle of the dinner than during the beginning.   I actually quite like this approach as it doesn’t fill you up too quickly..  Butter was thick and quite cheesy.

 

 

 

Roast Duck Foie Gras,
with Barberry, Braised Konbu and a Crispy Crab Biscuit -
The roasted foie gras seemed a little sterile in external crust or internal melting flavours.  It was a bit dense overall,  and I have had way better.   The Crab biscuit was interesting as one won’t find it paired with foie gras by default.  Knowing Heston,  he must have thought about this point too,  but somehow I still found it a little lacking in terms of integration.  Perhaps I am wrong and they could prove otherwise?   ~  6/10

 

More Wine -
Another decent enough selection recommended by the Sommelier. 

 

Mad Hatter’s Tea Party -
Mock Turtle Soup with a Gold Medallion Pocket Watch,  which then melted to become part of the soup.  With toasted cutlet sandwich with eggs and cucumber, truffle, anchovy, and a crumbed bread filling.  I really liked this dish.  It was a little theatrical,  but may be I have always been a fan of the Mad Hatter and his mercury induced insanity.  This was rather fun as a dish and that Medallion and that eggy panna cotta in the mock turtle soup was pretty to look at.   One of the most memorable dishes here…  ~   12/10

 

 

‘Sound of the Sea’ -
Ice Plant, Mackerel, Halibut, Sliced Abalone, Tapioca, Baby Sardine, Codium,
Sea Jelly Bean,  with Konbu Seaweed foam.   Eaten simultaneously with the earphones
& attached to an iPod playing a music of the natural ocean waves.    
Don’t know what to say about this.  Did it really evoke memories of the seaside?  Or the washed on shore fishes more likely!  This was interesting and actually tasted great,  especially with the selection of a variety of raw seafood not commonly associated with British dining.    ~  8/10

 

Salmon Poached in Liquorice Gel, with Asparagus,
Vanilla Mayonnaise, Grapefruit & Golden Trout Roe -
A dish that polarize the customers but has been on the menu for as long as I remember reading about it.  I liked this but the liquorice coating was a little too thick and sticky & almost like a candied jelly layer.  It was slightly lacking in seasoning and became a little too sweet in hindsight.  ~  7/10

 

Powdered Duck -
With Duck Blood Pudding, Umbles & Apache Potato Puree.
The explanation wasn’t so clear cut as this came as 2 courses -  with a well cooked duck breast with blood pudding which was rather tasteless, and umbles fruit.  On another timber plank,  there was a duck cigar roll with potato puree,  which was more interesting but not integrated.  ~  7/10

 

 

Hot and Iced Tea,  with both Sides Being both Hot and Warm at same time -
Via the use of some gelling agent this honey and lemon like drink is warm on 1 side and cold on another sip!    This is interesting and probably gimmicky,   but I actually liked this a lot as I do try to find the yin-yang balance within myself!  Totally a personal issue ! ~  9/10

 

Jelly & Ice Cream Cornet -
Seems a bit Thomas Keller style only to be served at the end of the meal.
At least the cornet itself was crispy and not stale.  ~  7/10









Macerated 2 Types of Strawberries,  Olive Oil Biscuit beneath, Chamomile and Coriander -
With a chequered flag sugary blanket.  It was designed to evoke a picnic experience.
Pretty fun concept indeed,  and probably summarizes the intents of dining here !   ~  9/10

Black Forest Gateau – With Kirsch Ice Cream & Cherry
This was quite good overall,  but it was a little weak in terms of all the associated flavours you might expect from a traditional black forest.  Seems to be a bit toned down somehow.  ~  7/10









WhisK(e)y Wine Gums -
The gummies are made with different regional Whiskies from purely Scotland origins,
which are known to have differentiated styles within a macro window.   Indeed, very interesting dessert and memorable for the loyalty to the original whiskies taste.   ~  12/10

 

 

Queen of Hearts,  Part of the Sweet Shops Petits Fours -
With a white chocolate coating and looking so neat & pretty, it carried a jammy centre as shown below when cut open in half!  It was almost like a waffle with a middle jammy layer when you finally crack it open to see!  Only this was much sophisticated refined and compact.  ~  10/10

The Petits Fours were Sophisticated -
And again,  this summarises the overall experience indeed.
The Fat Duck is here to impress with it’s scientific and precision approach to recipes and cooking.
Some ended up working well enough in the final taste.  Some not so much. 

 

The Fat Duck by Heston Blumenthal -
It was a rather mixed experience,  as you could see..
It remained a unique experience enough for me and was definitely worth at least a try or two just to travel all the way to here.   The newer Dinner by Heston,   is another story altogether to be told and going to be less theatrical.  Which style do you prefer?    I often believe that every restaurant are there to serve it’s own purpose,  so it might not suit everyone’s style.  Places like Spain’s El Celler de Can Roca (3*, so called No.2 restaurant in the World) is on an equal level to here but more tastier yet less playful,   The UK’s  St John (1*) is more noted for Nose to Tail Eating,   The Ledbury (2*) is mostly about the homely food and nothing too pretentious.   Yauatcha (1*) has great dim sums,  The Harwood Arms (1*) is definitely interesting as an economical Gastro Pub experience.  Or Viajante (1*) which is both being sensible yet exploratory enough.    The Fat Duck,  meanwhile,  requires you to have a sense of humor when you finally visit.  If you expect only great food but not the total cabaret like package it does come attached with, aka British Humor and Heston styled,   then there are going to be plenty of other options available out there for you too…

Price: British Pounds £$180 plus wines
Ease of Access:  1/5  (Driving for 1 hour from Central London.  Or take a ferry to Bray and then take a Taxi and pray you will eventually arrive.)
Food:  ♕♕♕♕♕ – ♕♕♕♕♕ 1/2

Opening Hours -
Tues to Sat: 12pm and 1.30pm, 7pm to 8:30pm last order

Address:  High Street Bray, Berkshire SL6 2AQ
Ph:  01628 580333