Dinner by Heston Blumenthal (Melbourne)

[ChrisTaylor]

tl;dr review:

• Excellent meal
• A drinks program better than many local bars

 

 

Mint Rickey and Sarsaparilla Shrub.

Roast bone marrow, anchovies, snails, pickled vegetables.

Rice & Flesh. Amaranth, saffron, curried 'roo tails. Very intense flavours.

Slow-cooked pork belly with lard, spelt, pork skin, baby turnips and sauce Robert.

Powdered duck breast cooked in ale with artichokes.

Sides: buttered cabbage and fries.

Cider Gimlet and Bloody Mary.

Brown bread ice cream.

Sambocade. The centre of the cheesecake was filled with an apple and elderflower jelly. The pears were topped with candied smoked walnuts.

Ganache infused with Earl Grey. This was served with my coffee.

Table-side ice cream service: vanilla ice cream topped with your choice of freeze-dried raspberries and white chocolate/hazelnuts/fennel/popping candy.

[rotuts]

@ ChrisTaylor   

 

Powdered duck breast  = ?

 

Im personably not so keen of really expensive dinning.

 

but ignoring that flaw of mine

 

the dishes you presented here   to me look so perfect and non-pretentious  

 

Id probably find the meal above one of the best ive ever had

 

what is a " drinks program " ?

[Smithy]

It looks like a delightful and delicious experience.  I echo rotuts' question:  "Powdered duck breast?" Explain, please.

[ChrisTaylor]

I was curious about that myself, as the menu itself doesn't give detail--and as you can see, everything on the plate is recognisable as food. And so I turned to Google:

 

http://www.sugarednspiced.com/london-dinner-by-heston-blumenthal/

 

According to the above blog, the 'powdered' refers to the brining process. Apparently it's an old word for describing the brining/curing process. 

[lesliec]

Looks like fun, Chis.  Have to try and get over sometime.

 

I take it we're taling tableside nitro ice cream?

[ChrisZ]

Looks lovely... I have wondered if I can justify the expense next time I'm in Melbourne.  Can you shed some light on the booking process - is there a waiting list, set time to finish by, etc etc?  And without wanting to be too rude, I'm also curious about the realistic cost of such a meal...

 

FWIW I have enjoyed reading recent articles about both Dinner in Melbourne and Noma in Sydney.  While I find articles about (and by) Rene Redzepi endlessly fascinating, and I totally appreciate everything he has done with Noma in Sydney, I have always thought that I would much rather eat at Dinner by HB.  In other words, I would prefer to read about Noma, but I think I'd rather eat at Dinner by HB.  Obviously the philosophies are totally different and one on hand not directly comparable - but the comparison is bound to be made due to their expense, reputation, celebrity associates etc etc.

Edited February 14, 2016 by ChrisZ (log)

[ChrisTaylor]

2 hours ago, lesliec said:

Looks like fun, Chis.  Have to try and get over sometime.

 

I take it we're taling tableside nitro ice cream?

 

LN2 ice cream, yes. It's an optional 'post-dessert'. They push it pretty hard and a lot of people seem to go for it. It works out to $15AUD per, which isn't too bad in comparison to some of the shops that make a point of selling ice cream made by this method. I'll pay extra to eat it if I get to sit in an actual dining room in something that's recognisably a chair instead of perching atop a milk crate in a cramped shop with thumping music.

 

Let me know if you make your way over here. Booze shall be consumed.

 

2 hours ago, ChrisZ said:

Looks lovely... I have wondered if I can justify the expense next time I'm in Melbourne.  Can you shed some light on the booking process - is there a waiting list, set time to finish by, etc etc?  And without wanting to be too rude, I'm also curious about the realistic cost of such a meal...

 

FWIW I have enjoyed reading recent articles about both Dinner in Melbourne and Noma in Sydney.  While I find articles about (and by) Rene Redzepi endlessly fascinating, and I totally appreciate everything he has done with Noma in Sydney, I have always thought that I would much rather eat at Dinner by HB.  In other words, I would prefer to read about Noma, but I think I'd rather eat at Dinner by HB.  Obviously the philosophies are totally different and one on hand not directly comparable - but the comparison is bound to be made due to their expense, reputation, celebrity associates etc etc.

 

 

The cost? Nah, I don't take it as rude. Fair question--especially considering the absurd asking price that went with The Fat Duck pop-up. It worked out to just shy of $400AUD for the two of us. We had three courses plus the optional ice cream post-dessert. We had two cocktails each. I also had a coffee. The coffee was a little more expensive than what you'd normally pay in a restaurant but it was the best coffee I'd ever had at a restaurant. Though small, the coffee and tea menu had clearly been the subject of some thought. Price-wise, Dinner works out on par with many of the other 'premium' offerings of Crown Casino -- e.g. Rockpool and Rosetta. We paid half that a week earlier at RuYi, a 'modern' restaurant, and I thought the sense of value there was inferior to Blumenthal's offerings. 

 

My partner took care of the booking, so I can't provide a detailed commentary. A couple months ago we decided we'd like to go there for Valentine's Day. She called and was told both the lunch and dinner sittings were full. We had two options: going on a waiting list or going for lunch on the Saturday. We opted for the latter. I doubt it'd be as difficult to get in on a normal weekend. Your mileage may vary. I think there was a two hour window for our sitting. I think. I say that because we had a late lunch (2PM) and there'd been someone at that table before us. I think they departed early, though, as the restaurant contacted my partner at about 1:30 to inform us our table was ready.

 

As an aside, yeah, if I was offered a 'free meal' sort of deal, I suspect I too would lean towards something like Dinner over Noma. In some ways Dinner reminded me a little bit of Sydney's est. And so far as I'm concerned, that's a pleasant thing to be reminded of. 

[nickrey]

Thanks for the post Chris,

 

It's now definitely on the to-do list.