Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal (Melbourne)


Recommended Posts

tl;dr review:

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

 

dinner1.thumb.jpg.9b5f0ea41afdcebeb9483d

 

Mint Rickey and Sarsaparilla Shrub.

dinner2.thumb.jpg.b3d1f336e443804ddb573d

Roast bone marrow, anchovies, snails, pickled vegetables.

dinner3.thumb.jpg.7953a995303444be38a3d2

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

dinner4.thumb.jpg.4873d39c501c249e5db22c

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

dinner6.thumb.jpg.fd9db799eafe35c4533c34

Powdered duck breast cooked in ale with artichokes.

dinner5.jpg.580bde4ca0f5aad77ecabb8ac2f7

Sides: buttered cabbage and fries.

dinner7.thumb.jpg.7bd9c4b2b263ce594567bb

Cider Gimlet and Bloody Mary.

dinner8.thumb.jpg.7f14fbf16ee8f4ee1f7071

Brown bread ice cream.

dinner9.thumb.jpg.40fa0531652c5c2fa5f11d

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

dinner10.thumb.jpg.31d766a3ae79451cc9470

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

dinner11.thumb.jpg.ff695ffb0066cc23fcd8b

dinner12.jpg.11d9700005b26e97acff1f58ee8

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

  • Like 2

Chris Taylor

Host, eG Forums - ctaylor@egstaff.org

 

I've never met an animal I didn't enjoy with salt and pepper.

Melbourne
Harare, Victoria Falls and some places in between

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 " ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@egstaff.org

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx; twitter.com/egullet

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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. 

  • Like 1

Chris Taylor

Host, eG Forums - ctaylor@egstaff.org

 

I've never met an animal I didn't enjoy with salt and pepper.

Melbourne
Harare, Victoria Falls and some places in between

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

 

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

Leslie Craven, aka "lesliec"
Host, eG Forumslcraven@egstaff.org

After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one's own relatives ~ Oscar Wilde

My eG Foodblog

eGullet Ethics Code signatory

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 by ChrisZ (log)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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. 

  • Like 1

Chris Taylor

Host, eG Forums - ctaylor@egstaff.org

 

I've never met an animal I didn't enjoy with salt and pepper.

Melbourne
Harare, Victoria Falls and some places in between

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...