Had the pleasure of dining at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal over this past weekend. As you will all know the restaurant does not open until early in February but they are d undertaking a 2 week "soft" opening by invitation and my wife and I got the golden envelope. The interior is stunning as you would expect from the Mandarin Oriental. The menu consists entirely of English food dating back over the last 7 centuries, refreshingly there is not a word of French anywhere - even the word "jus" has been replaced with the word "juice" - this is truly a clebration of English Cuisine. The recipes have all been gleaned by HB from ancient cookery books and some from the royal kitchen records at Hampton Court Palace. Each item on the menu is accompanied by the earliest recorded date that it was known to have been served/created. The table decor is wood (no white linen table cloths) and a few of the dishes are served on wooden platters. The cultlery was specially designed for the restaurant. The service was impeccable as you would expect. This is definitely not a Fat Duck 2. I have eaten at The Fat Duck and it was more akin to Culinary Theatre with fine food thrown in rather than just a night out at a fine restaurant. Dinner is a much larger restaurant(105 covers) and so the food is a little more conventional - but only a little. HB definitely does not disappoint. The menu as it stands for the first weeks of opening consists of 8-10 each of starters, mains and desert. Some of the food was absolutely stunning some of it was relatively simple. The Meat Fruit starter is in the shape of a Mandarin Orange and is chicken liver parfait mixed with foie gras - it was the finest example of this pate I have ever eaten. We tried numerous mains but the Beef Royal (slow cooked over 72 hours) was also extraordinary. I also tried the aged Wing Rib which was a superb cut of beef cooked to perfection. The signature desert will definitely be The Tipsy Cake. the spit roasted pineapples turn, gently caramelising, on an upright spit for all the diners to see. The combination of this pineapple and the Tipsy Cake itself was sublime. Also had the pleasure of meeting HB and can confirm that he was as passionate about his craft as he appears on the TV. For those of you that have a reservation you are in for a real treat.