If you love food and history as much as we do, you should definitely head to Dinner by Heston at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park in London. The menu is inspired by historic British gastronomy. Chef Heston Blumenthal has crafted a fine dining menu using inspiration from historic recipes, and his creations are extremely detailed and labor-intensive.
We took a quick tour of the kitchen before being seated alongside the window for our dinner. The kitchen is quite the production, with multiple stations crafting the various components to bring together each of the signature dishes. One of his most famous appetizers is the “Meat Fruit c. 1500” which appears to be a mandarin orange but is filled with chicken liver mousse. Even if you aren’t a fan of chicken liver, it’s just a really cool experience to appreciate all of the intricate work that goes into making it, plus it’s delicious! And you won’t want to miss the “Crunch Bread” that’s served alongside it.
For mains, we shared a “Squab Pigeon c. 1780” to start and then sampled the “Iberico Pork Chop c. 1820,” and “Hereford Ribeye c. 1830,” with mushroom ketchup and whipped potatoes.
To finish we highly recommend ordering the “Tipsy Cake c. 1810,” which is made with spit-roasted pineapple. Also, the “Sambocade c.1390,” a goat cheesecake is a must.
Dinner by Heston, 66 Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7LA, United Kingdom
Note: The Mandarin Oriental and Dinner by Heston provided support for the reporting of this story.