The Fat Duck, Bray, UK
And we’re back! Alastair and I are home from our holiday – we arrived home on Wednesday afternoon (slightly delayed due to fog at Melbourne airport – but we got to visit Adelaide and sit on the plane for a couple of hours – awesome). I love travelling, but there’s always something nice about getting home and being in our house and sleeping in our bed. (Oh, and seeing the cats and Bro too, of course.)
When making plans for our visit to the UK, I managed to convince Alastair that we *had* to visit The Fat Duck. I’m sure The Fat Duck needs no introduction to fellow food obsessives: a three-star Michelin Guide restaurant owned by Heston Blumenthal that is considered to be the best in the UK, and one of the best in the world. That was the hype anyway – would it live up to it? I know that Alastair was worried that he would be underwhelmed, considering the quite significant cost. As for me, I am a huge fan of Heston Blumenthal, so I had very high expectations.
We roped in my MIL Annette, and her husband Terry, and headed to Bray for a lunch time visit. We arrived in Bray a bit early, so had a chance to walk around the gorgeous village and then have a glass of champagne at the Hinds Head (a pub also owned by Heston Blumenthal).
And then – it was time for lunch! Before we start, let me just say – this is a long post. The tasting menu at The Fat Duck consists of 14 courses, and you bet I’m going to talk about every course. 🙂 If you want to skip to the summary: go here!
The outside of the Fat Duck is nondescript, and aside from a small sign at the top it could be easily missed. Inside, the dining room is small and cozy, with low ceilings and exposed timber beams. It’s not a large restaurant – there wouldn’t have been more than 14 tables. It’s decorated in a very understated and neutral style, and the tables are decked out in heavy white linen and damask napkins.
After we were seated, a cart of champagne was wheeled around, and we decided to indulge into another glass before perusing the wine list. Well, I say list, but it’s more like a Bible – it was seriously massive. Matched wines were available with four options. The starting option was an additional £90 and going significantly higher, with the most expensive choice being a wallet smashing £550 (!). Our waiter explained that wine would be matched with 8 courses, and would equate to about a bottle and a bit of wine over ~4 hours. We decided that this would be too much wine for us, so ordered wine separately. I think a good option would be to share the matched wines between two people.
1: Lime Grove: Nitro poached green tea and lime mousse
Kicking things off for our meal, a cart was wheeled over to our table, and the waiter started assembling the first course. First, she sprayed some lime essence in the air above our table, and then made us each a palate cleanser. A mixture of egg white, lime and vodka was “poached” in liquid nitrogen, and then the small meringue like ball was dusted with green tea powder.
We were instructed to pick it up with our fingers and pop it into our mouths immediately. It instantly dissolved in the mouth, and gave a burst of citrusy, cold freshness, brightening up my palate. It doesn’t look like much, but it was very impressive – and had us eagerly anticipating what was to come!
2: Red cabbage gazpacho: pommery grain mustard ice cream
Next up was a red cabbage gazpacho. Sitting on top was a spoon of pommery grain mustard ice cream. The soup was a deep ruby colour, and tasted wonderful too – sharp and vinegary and complemented by the savoury ice cream. Underneath the ice cream were tiny, perfectly diced, cubes of cucumber, which gave a bit of crunch and freshness.
3: Jelly of Quail, Crayfish Cream: chicken liver parfait, oak moss and truffle toast
The third course required a bit of set up. A wooden box holding a layer of moss was placed in the middle of the table, and we were all given little containers holding a film (like those mouth wash strips you can buy). The waiter told us to put the film on our tongue and let it dissolve, giving us earthly, oaky notes.
Then he proceeded to pour liquid onto the moss, which created a lot of dry ice smoke. As the smoke wafted over the table, so did the aroma of wood, oak, moss, and forest.
And then, we were instructed to eat! I took a bite of the truffle toast, then a spoonful of the quail jelly and crayfish cream. At the bottom of the jelly and cream was pea puree, which was slightly sweet and helped cut through the very rich, salty jelly. The truffle toast was also gorgeous. It was just a shame it wasn’t larger!
4: Snail Porridge: Jabugo ham, shaved fennel
Next up was snail porridge, a porridge made with parsley, garlic, butter, oats and Jabugo ham. It was topped with braised snails and shaved fennel. This was simply delicious! The snails were tender and meaty, and the startling bright green porridge was so moreish. It had a bit of heat – mustard?, plus I’m sure lots of butter and garlic. The fennel helped with a bit of crunch and lightness. Alastair, who isn’t really into snails, gobbled it right up. Annette did too – by thinking of the snails as mushrooms!
5: Roast Foie Gras: gooseberry, braised kombu, and crab biscuit
Following the snail porridge, we received a little rectangle of roasted foie gras, sitting on top of braised kombu. Inserted into the foie gras were two thin biscuits made from crab, and off to one side was a gooseberry puree. The foie gras was so smooth and rich, so I was glad that the tartness of the gooseberry puree helped to cut through the richness. I also really enjoyed the braised kombu, and the thin slice packed in a lot of salty unami-ness. The thin crab biscuit was crisp and sweet, and quite intensely crab flavoured. It was quite a straight forward dish compared to the others, but it was totally delicious.
6: Mock Turtle Soup (c. 1850): Mad Hatter Tea
“Have you seen the Mock Turtle yet?”
“No,” said Alice. “I don’t even know what a Mock Turtle is.”
“It’s the thing Mock Turtle Soup is made from,” said the Queen.
While the preceding dish was straight forward, our next course was probably the most fun out of all the dishes. We were each given a bookmark that had Alice in Wonderland quotes on one side, and the story of the Mock Turtle on the other. After we’d had an opportunity to read the bookmark, the above plates were placed in front of us, and a tea cup holding warm water was set next to it.
The waiter then told us a small story about how we were invited to a Mad Hatter tea party. He presented us with a box of gold watches, and then we each had a gold watch placed into our tea cups. We watched, transfixed, as the watches slowly started to dissolve! He told us to stir the tea, and pour it over the rest of the components of the mock turtle soup.
And here is the final Mock Turtle Soup. The watch dissolved into a super meaty, flavoursome, concentrated soup with flecks of gold leaf. On the left was a “Mock Turtle egg”, made from turnip mousse with swede puree, and small enochi mushrooms that signified the Caterpillar’s toadstool. On the right was a little bundle of very beefy tender meat, wrapped in a thin edible skin.
It was so much fun!
7: Sound of the Sea
Next up we had Sound of the Sea. This course started with large conch shells being brought out. Inside were tucked ipod shuffles, and we were instructed to take the earphones and start listening to the sounds of the beach – waves crashing on the shore, and seagulls.
We were then presented with an amazing looking dish that was presented on clear glass, underneath which was a box of sand. On top of the glass we had “sand” on one side, made from crushed tapioca and fried baby eels. On the other side was the “sea”, a foam made from vegetable stock and seaweed. Lying on the “sand” were cubes of fish – yellowtail, halibut and mackeral, as well as different seaweeds which gave small bursts of sea as they were eaten. We ate while listening to the sounds of the beach, enjoying the salty, fishy flavours of the dish and almost feeling like we were somewhere else!
8: Salmon Poached in Liquorice: artichoke, vanilla mayonaise and golden trout roe
After the sensory experience of the previous course, we had something more pedestrian. Well, sort of. We had salmon that had been poached in liquorice, and was topped with golden trout roe. It was served with vanilla mayonnaise, a couple of pieces of artichoke, and a smattering of grapefruit pulp. The waiter finished it off with some extra virgin olive oil at the table.
The samon had been poached perfectly, and had an incredible texture, and just a slight aniseed flavour. The sweetness of the vanilla mayo, the fresh bursts from the grapefruit, and the salty fish eggs all went well with the salmon.
9: Powdered Anjou Pigeon (c.1720): blood pudding, potted umbles, spelt and pickles
The next course was pigeon, blood pudding and potted umbles. The pigeon was perfectly cooked, and was so tender and dark. It was served with blood pudding puree, with the potted umbles in a separate bowl to the side. We were instructed to eat the two components together.
And what’s potted umbles? Umbles are the edible entrails (ie offal) of any animal that used to be made into umble or humble pie. At The Fat Duck, the potted umbles were made from pigeon liver, heart, leg meat, and foie gras. It was topped with spelt. This was FANTASTIC. The potted umbles was incredibly rich and flavoursome, and the spelt gave a great texture and crunch to the smoothness. I could have eaten buckets of it (I would’ve been very sick from all the richness afterwards, but I still could’ve.) Even the non offal eaters on the table (Annette and Alastair) ate it and enjoyed it. I do have to say that it was a very rich and heavy dish though.
10: Hot & Iced Tea
Following the pigeon, we had a mind bending palate cleanser. Terry said of it, “It makes my brain hurt,” which was a completely apt statement! The small glass held a liquid that tasted like a wonderful lemon tea… except one side was hot, and one side was cold! It caused lots of discussion as to how the effect was created.
11: Taffety Tart (c. 1660): caramelized apple, fennel, rose and candied lemon
Moving on to the sweet courses, next we had a beautiful looking dessert. Thin layers of caramel, apple, and cream were presented next to a blackcurrent sorbet, candied lemon, sugared rose petals and fresh fennel. It was finished off with a small touch of vanilla salt. It looked so stunning that it seemed a shame to eat it, but when I did I found that it had a good mixture of textures and flavours – soft and crunchy, with a fresh sweetness and a small amount of aniseed saltiness.
12: The “BFG”: Black Forest Gateau
Our second dessert was a black forest gateau. Not just any black forest gateau though, just the best black forest gateau I’ve ever eaten. Our waiter sprayed the scent of kirsch in the air, and then we tucked in. A quenelle of kirsch ice cream sat on one side, with a trail of dark cocoa crushed biscuits leading to the cake tower on the other side.
The cake was made from several layers – mousse, ganache, cream, sponge, chocolate, biscuit base and kirsch-soaked cherries. It was all bitter chocolate, occasional sourness and booziness from the cherries, and soft, sweet cake. The cherry sitting on top of the cake was like a maraschino cherry – except delicious! And boozy.
After the “BFG” an optional cheese course was offered (£15). We decided to only get one serve to share – thank goodness because there was no way I could’ve eaten an entire serve after all that food!
13: Whisk(e)y Wine Gums
Our second to last course was so cute! The whisk(e)y wine gums were presented in a picture frame, stuck to a map of Scotland. There were five different gums, made with different whiskeys. As the wine gums dissolved, we were hit with an intense flavour of the whiskey, and it was interesting to note the different characteristics of the different whiskeys used eg the Laphroaig gum was very smoky compared to the others.
14: Like a Kid in a Sweet Shop
And to finish off, we received a little bag of goodies, complete with a little printed menu that smelt like liquorice / an old fashioned sweet shop. I choose to take all of my sweets home with me – they were so cute it took a great effort to eat them!
Inside the bag we had:
Aerated chocolate – Mandarin Jelly. The bottom layer was aerated chocolate (like Aero) and the top was a mandarin filling.
Coconut Baccy – coconut shreds infused with an aroma of Black Cavendish Tobacco. The strips of coconut were wrapped up in what looked like a tobacco pouch!
Apple Pie Caramel. It had an edible wrapper and was sweet and sour and apple.
And finally, the Queen of Hearts, which came in a little envelope with a red edible seal.
The Queen of Hearts was white chocolate printed on both sides to look like a playing card. Inside the thin chocolate was a berry compote!
Price wise, only the tasting menu is available, which is £150 pp, plus an optional 12.5% service charge. With champagne, wine and cheese, it definitely added up to a pricey meal (our four glasses of champagne were almost £100!). Was it worth it? I think so! Everything was impeccable – the service, the food, and the ambiance. Service was cheerful and witty (and mostly French!), and also unobtrusive but available whenever required.
I didn’t have a favourite dish, as I can’t pick just one! I enjoyed them all! All the food was beautifully presented and tasted amazing. I also loved the small perfect details, the sense of fun, the entertainment, and whimsy, that was apparent in the food. That was what lifted the meal beyond just food and a regular restaurant – it was an experience unlike any I’ve ever had. As the meal progressed, we sat there eagerly anticipating what was to come, and chatting about what we had just eaten. It was fun and thought provoking, but every component of all the dishes remained delicious.
I could honestly gush about it forever. I’m firmly in the love camp, but not everyone feels the same way about The Fat Duck, so if you want a different opinion: google it (there’s far too many posts written about it for me to link to). It was delightful, and I definitely hope to go back one day!
The Fat Duck
High Street, Bray
Berkshire SL6 2AQ
UK
Phone: +44 (0) 1628 580 333
Web: thefatduck.co.uk
Dany
October 15, 2010 @ 8:50 pm
ZOMG! You had The Mad Hatter’s Tea! WOW!
Agnes
October 19, 2010 @ 8:57 pm
We did! I loved the Mad Hatter’s Tea – so much fun!
Gem
October 15, 2010 @ 8:52 pm
OMFG.
I think I would be able to die happily if I had the Mad Hatter’s/Mock Turtle Soup dish.
The whisk(e)y gums look amazing too.
This is what foodie dreams are made of! You lucky thing 😀
Agnes
October 19, 2010 @ 8:58 pm
I know, I’m very lucky 😀
The whisk(e)y gums were incredible – I don’t know how he managed to capture the flavour of each type of whisky in the gums. Totally amazing.
Michelle Chin
October 15, 2010 @ 8:53 pm
GASP. I wanna go to the fat duck too to have all these things to blow my mind off!
Agnes
October 19, 2010 @ 8:58 pm
Hopefully you get to go one day! It’s well worth it 🙂
Msihua
October 15, 2010 @ 9:47 pm
OMFG!! Everything I want to eat from The Feast is there!!! Soooooo super duper jealous!!! Damns!!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Agnes
October 19, 2010 @ 9:01 pm
Hehee, thanks for commenting! I couldn’t wait to share 😀
leaf @ theindolentcook
October 15, 2010 @ 10:17 pm
Jealous, super jealous! Good to know it was everything you hoped for and more! 🙂
Agnes
October 19, 2010 @ 9:02 pm
Oh it was! 😀 Loved it so much – squee!
Allan
October 15, 2010 @ 10:22 pm
OOOMMMGGGG! NO FAIR!!! I am so jealous. I would fly there right now to eat there!
Allan
October 15, 2010 @ 10:37 pm
I totally love how Heston creates this wonderful experience from the story, the presentation, the sensory challenges – awesome execution… I’m SOOOO envious
and one side hot and one side cold??? HOW???
Agnes
October 19, 2010 @ 9:06 pm
Yes that’s what I love too!
Re the hot and iced tea – from what I’ve seen, it’s made from a gel that’s a bit viscous (something about removing the ions, which prevents the hot and cold from mixing – I THINK. Don’t quote me!). They use a glass with a removable divider in the middle and pour the hot on one side, and the cold on the other. Then remove the divider – and ta dah! The recipe is in the Big Fat Duck cookbook, if you’re interested in giving it a shot. 😉
The New Epicurean
October 15, 2010 @ 10:50 pm
Well done to have the nerve to take photos! I didn’t – and I really regret it.
Lovely to read this – I went in April and it brought some of the (visual) memories back.
I, too, could gush about it forever – I think I have bored everyone I know to death raving about it!
Agnes
October 19, 2010 @ 9:07 pm
Oooh let’s rave together!! I think I’m boring everyone too. 😉
I’ll have to check out your post. And I wasn’t quite brave enough to whip out my DSLR, I just used a point & shoot so I was discreet(ish). I’m sure they’re totally used to people taking photos though.
penny aka jeroxie
October 15, 2010 @ 11:09 pm
Fabulous meal! This is a must go place. Next couple of years I hope…. lucky girl!
Agnes
October 19, 2010 @ 9:08 pm
Yes I’m very lucky. 🙂 I hope you go!
Hannah
October 15, 2010 @ 11:27 pm
Anges! I fear that I’m going to fail as a BFF in commenting here. I honestly cannot adequately convey how thrilled I am by the gorgeousness of this meal and how wonderful it is that you got to experience it. I’m so, so happy for you, and that you’ve shared with us.
The funny thing is that, if I’m really honest, I’m not actually a huge fan of fancypants high-end dining. I’m used to looking at such posts and onyl being interested in the desserts. But I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, that *everything* here appeals to me! Matcha, mustard, chicken liver (I’m on the hugest pate kick right now), potted umbles (What the?! Awesome!), dissolving gold, cheese cheese cheese…
It all looks even better than I’d expected after reading your email. Hooray hurrah! Calloo Callay! So much burstingness of joy! So much excess of gushing rambling from me! SO much looking at pretty Agnes pictures to avoid marking more essays!
Hannah? Time to shut up now.
P.S. Seriously. Looks so awesome. Hurrah for you again!
Agnes
October 19, 2010 @ 9:15 pm
Haha, you’re a great BFF!
I think I may be ruined for fine dining restaurants for a while. Unless they’re serving nitro poached palate cleansers, snail porridge and potted umbles! (The potted umbles was SO delicious. If I could cook something half as delicious, I would be very happy!)
Emily
October 16, 2010 @ 7:59 am
Oh wow! I’ve been hatching a plan to visit next year & it looks ridiculous! Did you have trouble booking?
The mock turtle soup in particular looks incredible!
Agnes
October 19, 2010 @ 9:17 pm
We went on a weekday lunch, which can be booked online, so I didn’t have any troubles. They open bookings 2 months in advance, so if you can do a weekday lunch, just jump online 2 months before the day you want to book.
But if you’re after dinner or a weekend, then the phone lines open at 10am, and I hear people have spent a couple of hours trying to get through.
I hope you go! 🙂
Lisa
October 16, 2010 @ 8:31 am
Amazing! Definitely going there before we leave London! Also glad to hear you made it home safe and sound 🙂
Agnes
October 19, 2010 @ 9:18 pm
Yes, you MUST go! You’ll love it!
Maria@TheGourmetChallenge
October 16, 2010 @ 10:36 am
Wow, i knew it was going to be good and it really did live up to it. I’ve said it before, i’ll say it again, so jealous!
If you took your sweets home, when did you eat them? I would be scared to eat them, cause once they’re gone its not so easy to get replacements.
Did you guys get a chance to eat at his pub at another time? Would be interesting to see if the pub was as good…..ofcourse it would be on a different level though.
Agnes
October 19, 2010 @ 9:20 pm
Hehee, I took the sweets back to London and ate them a couple of days after. It was very hard to eat them – particularly the Queen of Hearts. It was SO beautiful!
We didn’t get a chance to eat at his pub unfortunately. I hear it does a more traditional British menu. It looked really nice when we had a drink there beforehand!
Iron Chef Shellie
October 16, 2010 @ 1:08 pm
…… wow……
so jealous!
Agnes
October 19, 2010 @ 9:20 pm
Hehee. 🙂 Maybe one day?
Conor @ HoldtheBeef
October 17, 2010 @ 2:39 am
After waiting on the edge of my seat (not literally, I would have starved to death long ago, particularly as I seem capable of starving to death after 30 minutes of not eating) for this post, I am completely and utterly agog at it. I want to use lots of swear words, and am in fact using a lot of them in person right now, but I’ll resist the urge to type them. Incredible. Just amazing.
I have to wonder if you got whiffs of other tables’ sprays of scented things while you were waiting or eating other courses?
Okay, scrolling back up now to swear some more. Wow.
Agnes
October 19, 2010 @ 9:22 pm
Yes, we did smell other people’s sprays! But fortunately because we arrived before the tables around us, we got our dishes first and didn’t have the surprise spoilt. It was really fun looking at the other tables and checking out their reactions!
Celeste @ Berrytravels
October 17, 2010 @ 1:45 pm
Wow, there’s really no words for how amazing these all looks. What would be more amazing would be being able to be there to experience that for myself !
It IS a hefty price, but for a once in a lifetime experience? I’d be happy to pay it.
Utterly amazing.
Agnes
October 19, 2010 @ 9:23 pm
It was a hefty price and I refuse to do the conversion – hehee. But definitely worth it for the experience!
My Restaurants Melbourne
October 17, 2010 @ 8:20 pm
This place looks fantastic! I wish I could travel around one day.
Agnes
October 19, 2010 @ 9:23 pm
Maybe one day? 🙂
Thanh
October 21, 2010 @ 9:36 pm
OH MY GOODNESS. I read the whole post salivating and just trying to imagine each dish. I think my favourite looking dish (as all I have are photos) are the Sounds of the Sea and the Chocolate Gateau.
Surprise wise, that Mock Turtle Soup and Jelly of Quail just blows the mind.
Price wise, I don’t think it’s that expensive (relatively speaking). I’ve still to write up my Pierre Gagnaire post from Paris and that cost me $365 Euros. And it wasn’t perfection.
Did you think this meal was perfect? How would you rate it against the best restaurants in Melbourne? I went back to Vue de Monde again last week and I still think it’s better than Pierre Gagnaire despite the latter restaurants three Michelin star.
Agnes
October 27, 2010 @ 9:36 pm
Well we talked about this on Saturday! Like I said, I haven’t eaten at Vue de Monde, but the Fat Duck was certainly far and above ANY restaurant I’ve been to. I can’t compare to other fine dining restaurants, because it was beyond them. It wasn’t just a meal! As for perfection… I can’t think of anything that I would have changed.
You should write up your Pierre Gasgnaire post – I’d be interested to see it. We spent 1100 pounds (for 4 ppl) at the Fat Duck. I haven’t figured out how much it is in AUD, and I refuse to convert it. 🙂 It was totally worth it.
Annette
October 26, 2010 @ 11:46 pm
Well done Agnes. This is a fantastic summary of a brilliant experience. The photos, even though you were being discrete with your small camera, are superb. It really brings it all back to me –and I loved reading about it. I will go back to this every time I want to re-live the experience. Great stuff.
Agnes
October 27, 2010 @ 9:37 pm
Thanks Annette – I’m so glad you and Terry were there to experience it too! 😀
Annette
October 28, 2010 @ 6:16 am
So are we!!
April @ My Food Trail
October 29, 2010 @ 11:01 am
Sorry I’m a bit late reading this… but OMG what an amazing meal! Sure it’s pricey, but it’s a once in a lifetime experience (or maybe more if you are lucky!).
It’s great that you were able to document it so you will always remember! 🙂
Agnes
November 6, 2010 @ 10:47 pm
Yes hopefully it won’t be a once in a lifetime thing… I want to go back! (Alastair is a bit scared about that, hehee)
Sarah
October 31, 2010 @ 10:18 am
Oh my god! Amaaaaazing! So jealous! And good on you for such a detailed documentation of the meal! So the waiters clearly are cool with food photos! 🙂
xox Sarah
Agnes
November 6, 2010 @ 10:48 pm
I think the waiters are completely used to people taking photos 😀 (And squee, it was so good!!)
Terry
October 31, 2010 @ 9:09 pm
Great stuff Agnes!Heston would/should be proud of your report,which brought back to life the gastronomic experience of a lifetime to this foodie!I am glad we got to go with you,good planning on your part.
Terry
Agnes
November 6, 2010 @ 10:51 pm
Thanks Terry! 🙂 I’m so, so glad that you loved it as much as I did!
Yuki
November 30, 2010 @ 9:16 pm
What an awesome post!
Great photos~
I wonder how long it took u to book a place there. Was it hard?
Dee
December 3, 2010 @ 12:54 am
Wow, that tasting menu sounds great!
There were a few dishes there that we probably wouldn’t be able to eat (no red meat), and some that we’ve never tried before (blood pudding and pigeon)
Don’t suppose they customize menus for guests?
Kimba's Kitchen
April 12, 2011 @ 9:56 am
OH. AM. GEE!! Agnes I am speechless… what an AMAZING feast and so worth every cent it’s a once in a lifetime experience!!
Agnes
April 13, 2011 @ 5:37 pm
It was amazing amazing amazing! If you ever get the opportunity – do it! Definitely worth every cent, I loved it. 🙂