Alison Elizabeth: Dinner at Heston Blumenthal's :)

Tonight I went to Heston Blumenthal's Dinner, in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Hyde Park. It was actually a work treat from over a year ago, but what with one thing and another we haven't been able to book until now.

The waiting list for this restaurant is crazy - it took us over a month to get a table, just for 3 people. My two friend's and I have been looking forward to it for so long and the day finally arrived. Aaaargh!! As you can imagine we've been a little over-excited today, anticipating the amazingness that is Heston's menu!

Dinner is famous for it's historic dishes. The menu includes influences from as far back as the 1300s and the food is unlike anything I've seen on a menu before. For example, one of the starters, called Frumenty, dates back to c1390 and consists of grilled octopus, smoked sea broth and pickled dulse & lovage. Please don't ask me what that means, as I haven't got a clue - squid in sauce is my guess! We didn't have that one!

Now, working in media comes with certain perks. One being that we get taken out for nice lunches occasionally. I'm no food expert but I love a good meal, and have been to some stunning restaurants (by my standards anyway). But Dinner was on another level! It wasn't outrageously decorated, and the food wasn't pompously served, but let me tell you, it was probably the most amazing restaurant I've ever been to.

We walked in at 6.30 and were met by someone who took our coats and showed us to our seats (what are they called? Coat Masters? Let's go with that...!) We were given a tag with our coat number on, housed in the cutest little envelope, inscribed with a little message that said something like 'it's a pleasure to take your coat'. Well, it's a pleasure to give it to you, Mr Coat Master!!

The dining room itself wasn't spectacular, but it was totally elegant. We were seated at a dark wooden table, with really comfy chairs, and handed beautiful menus that were folded and bound with a 'Heston Blumenthal's Dinner' inscription. Oh, and a leather bound wine list...yes please!!

We started by ordering cocktails. I had something called a Bao Bao. I can't remember exactly what was in it, but it was coconut, lychee and lime flavoured. It might have been a rum cocktail? Anyway, regardless of the spirit, it was absolutely divine! One of my friend's had a pomegranate cocktail, and the other had a rose cocktail, which was decorated with a beautiful pink rose petal. So pretty.

As we had a set budget from work we decided to splurge, and had four starters between us! The first was nettle porridge with frogs legs. This was my absolute favourite dish of the entire meal. It sounds bizarre and a little disgusting, but it was honestly divine. The porridge was more like a risotto, and the frogs legs tasted like chicken nuggets - Michelin styli!

We also had salmon in earl grey tea, chicken oysters and the signature dish which is called Meat Fruit. It's a pate, arranged to look like an orange. Absolutely delicious!

For our mains my friend and I shared two dishes. The first was Dusted Duck (which apparently is an old fashioned term for salted), and the second was a pork chop. But not just any pork chop, this one came with the most amazing trimmings. I can't remember exactly what they were, but they were yummy!

By this point we were all pretty full. Foolishly, we thought we'd leave hungry because fancy restaurants normally serve small portions. We were SO wrong! The portions were enormous. I mean, not falling over the edge of the plate enormous, but definitely big enough to fill you up. Which coupled with the fact that we shared four starters between three of us, and had practically a whole loaf of sour dough bread before hand, meant that we were starting to feel the waistband pinch by the time we got to dessert.

But, being the troopers that we are, we ploughed on through and ordered three desserts to share!

The first was brown bread ice cream, with a delicious caramel sauce. The second was a chocolate tart thing. I wasn't so keen on that, as it was a bit rich. The third was their signature dessert, Tipsy Cake. It's brioche soaked in something yummy and served with a caramelised pineapple slice.

I have to say that the desserts didn't live up to the starters or mains for me. They were beautiful, but just not as special as the other food that we ordered. My friend's thought I was crazy for saying that, and I probably am! But whilst they were a thousand times nicer than my feeble attempts at dessert (apple pie and cream from Tesco), they didn't blow me away.

After nearly 3 hours, and a lot of money later we staggered out of the restaurant, with massive food babies and big yawns plastered on our faces. I've recovered a little now I'm home, but I was practically dozing on a random man's shoulder on the tube, and am definitely going to need a peppermint tea tonight!

I've thoroughly enjoyed the evening. We were so lucky to be able to experience Dinner, and it's probably not somewhere I'll get to go again, so I'm really grateful we had the opportunity.

If you're looking for a special place in London to eat, then Dinner is the perfect option. Just make sure you have the nettle porridge!!

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