Heston Blumenthal’s Brand New Roast Is A Must For Potato Fans

2 months ago

Is this the ultimate Sunday dinner?

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Heston Blumenthal puts the lowly roast potato at the centre of his brand new Sunday Roast at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal at the Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park. But does he strike the right balance between elevated fine dining and a classic comforting roast? Rebecca Cox was at the first seating to find out.

Review: Sunday Roast Potato Time Dinner By Heston Blumenthal

Brits, particularly Londoners, are on the whole pretty open when it comes to experimental cuisine. But mess with our Sunday roast potatoes, and you’ve taken it too far. Which is why I approached Heston’s ‘Roast Potato Time’ with a little apprehension. Would switching from a cosy pub serving up meat and two veg to a two-Michelin-starred restaurant with a chef famed for smoking creations and snail porridge really cut the mustard?

Sunday roasts are about giant Yorkshire puddings swimming in gravy, the perfect cut of meat (or veggie alternative), a generous selection of seasonal vegetables. And most importantly, Sunday roasts are about a plate loaded with crispy, comforting roast potatoes. On this, Heston Blumenthal agrees.

Let us start then, with the optional second course – the first and probably last time I’d recommend shelling out £15 for a potato. This supplementary addition summarises the Heston roast experience beautifully. Can you get a satisfying, hearty roast in multiple locations across the capital for under £30? Yes. Can you enjoy a signature triple cooked roast potato topped with a generous serving of caviar as a pre-roast snack anywhere else? I don’t believe so. Two bites of heaven that I will be thinking about longingly for many weeks to come as I diligently peel spuds (to be cooked twice, not thrice) for mine and my son’s post-footy Sunday dinner.

Rewinding to the start of the meal, the pre-dinner snack is Heston’s take on the classic prawn cocktail, a mouthful of lobster and lettuce in Marie Rose sauce in a light pastry cup topped with caviar. From here, you can choose from the ‘Meat Fruit’ (mandarin, chicken liver parfait and grilled bread), ‘Hay Smoked Salmon’ with a lemon salad or the ‘Salamagundy’ (beetroot salad with pickled walnuts). All are outstanding, particularly the parfait, accompanied with a sweet fruit curd and beautifully presented as a mini mandarin.

And so, post-potato, to the main event. Having been lucky enough to grow up enjoying my mum’s generous Sunday roasts every week without fail – I still go whenever I can – I worried that Heston’s fine dining offering might be style over substance. Especially since, in British form, I’d turned up nursing a little bit of a hangover. But substance was far from lacking: plates of perfectly cooked, finest quality British meat arrived alongside crisped Yorkshire puds, sweet buttered carrots, shredded cabbage and onion, gravy and yet more fluffy tripled cooked roast potatoes.

Pudding is where Chef Heston adds his flair, with Tipsy Cake, Sambocade (a cheesecake served up alongside delectable pickled blackberry and smoked candied walnuts and sorrel) or my pick, the Chocolate Tart, a mouth-watering bittersweet chocolate hit served with tart lime jam, frozen yoghurt and coconut sorbet. Of course, if you’re craving more comfort-food, you could go for the British Cheese course instead.

THE FINAL WORD

This is the ultimate fine-dining Sunday roast experience for those that crave British comfort food at its highest possible level. The service: immaculate. The wine pairings: flawless. The food, and most importantly, the potatoes: perfection.