I decided to treat Mr P to a meal at the restaurant for his 30th Birthday and we went to the restaurant at 12.30 yesterday lunchtime.
For anyone who hadst visited Bray before, it is a quaint little village with a couple of little pubs, and of course a couple of Michelin starred restaurants. The Fat Duck sits discreetly at the side of the high street, it is almost missable and looks a little like someones house.
On stepping inside the door you are thrust right into the restaurant which is cosy and not particularly big, perhaps around 12-15 tables in there. The large amount of staff were hugely cheerful on our arrival, most either asking how we were or greeting us with a huge smile.
We were sat at our table and shortly afterwards a waiter arrived with a trolley of champagne and asked whether we would like to start with a glass. We thought it was rude not to and after deciding not to opt for a glass of champers costing over £100 I settle for a glass of rose champagne and Mr P plumps for a glass of Tattinger - a lovely way to start the meal.
This is swiftly followed by a little amuse bouche: Aerated beetroot with horseradish cream, a slightly crispy shell with a hint of raspberry with a creamy horseradishy inside.
Next came our nitro poached aperitifs. A man arrived with a bowl of liquid nitrogen cooling the fluid down to minus 100 and something. We had a choice of either gin and tonic, campari and soda or vodka and lime sour. I chose the G&T and Mr P chose the campari. Then for each the waiter squirted a ball of mousse type liquid onto a spoon before dropping it into the nitrogen and poaching it for a minute or so. He then told us to each it whole. IT was very cold and on the outside crunchy but on the inside soft, a great palate cleanser and a fantastic bit of theatre.
Next the red cabbage gazpacho with pommery grain mustard ice cream. I thought the soup was absolutely delicious, so refreshing and the ice cream, although a little odd to have freezing cold mustard it complemented the soup perfectly and was really delicious.
Next came a strange platter of moss placed in the middle of the table. We were each told to open a little plastic case which held a tiny piece of film which we were instructed to place on our tongues in order to fully taste the next course. We were presented with a small plate of truffle on toast - deliciously nutty and earthy and another small round bowl containing a layer of pea puree with quail jelly on top with crayfish cream on top of that and chicken liver parfait placed on top. We were told to eat the whole thing together and then left to enjoy the course with the aroma of the forest/moss swirling between us.
It was certainly an intriguing course with the moss scent heavy on the air and the earthy umami taste from the truffles. However the chicken liver combination was not my favourite my a long way and I found the quail jelly pretty gross to be honest, it reminded me of cat food, which is not something I am a particular fan of.
Next, the infamous snail porridge. After the previous course I was slightly dubious but was delighted with what I tasted. A pea green porridge with parsley, snails and shaved fennel on top. The snails were succulent and delicious. One of my favourite courses.
I am not usually a huge fan of foie gras for ethical reasons but I was not about to turn down The Fat Duck's roast foie gras with Japanese seaweed and crab biscuit and I'm very glad I didn't as it was absolutely delicious. Another of my favourite courses.
We were next invited to the Mad Hatter (of Alice and Wonderland fame)'s tea party. We were first presented with a bowl with an egg type shape with three mushrooms growing out the top and a little piece of beef. We were then given a cup with some hot water in it and were then given two 'golden clock' teabags, or what transpired to be beef consomme covered in gold leaf. We were told to stir the cups of tea before pouring it into our bowls. An amazingly odd but amazingly tasty dish.
Sound of the Sea was one of the dishes I had heard about before coming and so was particularly excited about and it was not about to disappoint. We were each presented with a beautiful seashell which had an ipod hidden in it and a set of iphone protruding out of it.
We were then given our plate of food with what looked like foam from the sea (vegetable and seaweed stock), three types of raw fish, seaweed and samphire on a bed of what looked like sand (tapioca with chopped baby sardines). A salty seaside delight.
Another course I was slightly dubious of upon reading the menu was salmon poached in licorice gel as I am not a huge licorice fan. It was however amazing. The licorice was only just tangible and the salmon was so lightly poached it was almost raw, really quite startlingly delicious. It was served with vanilla mayonnaise, artichokes and golden trout roe.
Next came the 'main course', lamb with cucumber (c. 1805). I cant really remember exacly what it was or what it tasted like but I know it was amaze, another of my faves.
The most amazing cup of tea came next with one side of the cup a warm tea and the other half cold. Wow.
The first dessert was macerated strawberries. I can hardly describe how amazing this dish was. We first got given a little cone with earl grey ice cream and some kind of jelly in it. That was amazing. Then the actual course was a combination of different types of strawberries with little pieces of flower, a pistachio and olive oil biscuit and a white chocolate blanket. Simply amazing.
The next dessert was however a little too rich for my liking, especially after 10 courses. The BFG was a black forest gatteaux with kirsch ice cream and a smell of the black forest (a spritz of something above your head as you ate). Tasty, boozy, but way too rich.
I am not a huge whiskey fan so the next course, despite being a clever idea was not to my liking. We were presented with a photoframe of Scotland with little bottle shaped sweets stuck onto different regions. On peeling each off you discovered which type of whiskey it was, how old, etc. Great for whiskey lovers.
Finally came, like a kid in a sweetshop, a bag of homemade sweeties with a sweetsmelling menu.
They were brilliant. The tobacco coconut was brilliant in such a fun little pouch. The apple toffee sweet which could be eaten in its wrapper was brilliant fun and most tasty of all way a queen of hearts card which tasted like white chocolate filled with jam printed like a playing card.
A very amazing meal. After four and a half hours both Mr P and I were very happy.
