visted some time ago now but it was a unique experience....amazing taster menu...+Heston very kindly sent us his cook book signed about a week after the visit due to an accident envolving a wine glass on our table....no damage done tho and the book was a nice gesture...i look forward to our return
Our story teller was Ryan who was animated, enthusiastic and essentially fantastic. The whole experience is truly unique and the food is extraordinary. Not only were we wowed and taken on a journey. We were full up by the end as well. The only downside is the price (obviously) and we thought it was a bit cheeky for them to ask for a service charge. We felt guilty about not leaving one, because the staff were excellent; however we couldn't justify paying 10% on top of what we'd already paid.
A place like no other. Unpararelled dining experience. Creativity in cooking was to the max. Dined here early this year at January 2017. My favorite item is the bacon and egg breakfast transformed into a tiny little cereals boxes as those in Supermarket. Then there is cheeseburger ice cream cone. Floating desserts. And eating seafood and foam while listening to the ocean music through earpods is something that would not happen twice in my life. All in all, it is one in a lifetime dining experience.
One of the best dining experiences you will ever have!
Well worth the reputation, this is an amazing dining experience
Where are you suppose to start with this.
The experience is a once in a lifetime opportunity and we hadn t experienced anything like this... ever. The only way to describe it is a movie in food form.
With the storytellers as the narrator and the food as the scenery... all perfectly complimenting each other.
You will experience normal food in textures and forms you didn t think were possible and food you have never heard of or tried.
You can t benchmark against any other Michelin star restaurant because I don t think there s anything like it, well at least not what I ve seen, eaten or heard of.
Nothing is what it seems.
went here a few times in the past, Heston and his team were excellent, I believe Heston now owns and runs the pub across the road I used to work in for Old English Inns, the food was excellent the wines were to die for and the service was second to none, even if the maitre'd had a fantastical range of tartan trousers!!
Wow. One of, if not the best restaurant I've been to. Service and execution was amazing. So interactive and fun filled. I'm actually glad I don't live in London otherwise I would come back too often! Pricey but worth every cent
This is the best restaurant I've been to in Europe. An absolute knockout.
Had the most amazing food experience and one I will never forget. It is perfection from start to finish.
Such an amazing experience. Truly mind blowing with all the flavours. Once in a life time kind of thing! Highly recommended :)
Took my husband for his birthday. Such a special day and show. Entertained for 4 hours! The whiskey wine gums, hot and cold tea and the jam tart playing cards were our favourite. Best restaurant we have ever been to. Very hard to get a table though!!!! Rang every morning for weeks!
A wonderful holiday day with lots of surprises. Everything was perfect, magic. A lot of imagination for the development of all dishes. A lot of attention from all the staff who are ready to make us live this moment according to our pleasures and our passions. Thank you to our son who spoiled us. It is a wonderful gift because we would never have dared to offer this wonderful trip. Do not hesitate ! This is to offer you at least once as this is unique. Congratulations to all the team and the creator. With a special nod to our little French waitress.
Sylvia and Alain du Loiret in France
Beat all my expectations and a whole sensory overload!!
You already know what this place is if you're looking. Believe the hype, it's an amazing dinner experience.
AWFUL CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!! Refusing to refund after the meal was cancelled! I have no issues with it being cancelled, I would have probably rebooked in the future but not now. The way you have treated your customers is outrageous. It's been 6 weeks and counting that I've been waiting for the refund and you are full of excuse after excuse. AVOID!!!
This is top cooking when it comes to technique and it is widely known that Heston has started or popularised many culinary trends. Here I refer to "The Fat Duck Volume 1" of their silver anniversary celebration menu. From this menu all of the dishes were perfectly executed, the famous "Sound of the sea" did invoke memories of sitting outside near the seashore, the snail porridge aka congee was really quite something and much better than the Chinese version that apparently was an inspiration of the dish. The crab ice cream on the other hand was just a mistake, not good at all and maybe just one step too far in trying to be creative.
Now the missing star: the composition, the order of the menu and how it makes one feel left a lot to be desired. After all, restaurants of this caliber are meant to impress but first and foremost FEED. Here it is forgotten and style rules over form. The first four or so dishes were on the sour and "palate cleansing" side and mostly cold. It took a lot of time for anything of substance to arrive. This particular menu consists of their famous dishes from the past so we felt a bit bored as it's all been said and done before, it could still be more coherent than it was despite their trip down the memory lane. A bit like going to the theatre and getting a rundown of how great the treatre is instead of watching a good play.
Nowadays the trend is amazing ingredients/simple techniques, Heston is exactly the opposite - any ingredients/elaborate techniques. Still worth going at least once to experience it.
Really?!?! All hype and not worth the money whatsoever. Very disappointed. The food tasted awful and it's so so over priced. They served mil-worms in one dish. I was swallowing courses just to get through it.
I wish I was told this before waiting months to come here. The staff were lovely but there was no substance to the dishes.
The original and the best. Pure perfection in every sense.
Stunning. Worth every bit they charge. The service is superb. The food is incredible. The space is wonderful. It is absolutely everything I want. Just incredible. After eating here I would have gone again the next day if I could. The meal is long but it is paced and most importantly portioned perfectly. I ve eaten at many of the top restaurants in the world. This maybe my favorite. Absolutely go!
Words can't describe how incredibly entertaining a trip to The Fat Duck is.
From the moment we arrived we were made to feel like royalty. The atmosphere was so comfortable and not at all pretentious.
Every course was not met with gasps, laughs and excitement.
Without a doubt, this was my favourite dining experience. It is the little touches, especially the personalised features, that really set this well above and beyond any other restaurant around.
Every member of staff was a delight and so friendly and helpful. I'm certain that Heston is very proud of the tight ship they're running there.
It should be noted that, unlike other tasting menus we have had in the past, I was genuinely full by the end of this meal.
The culinary highlight for me was the rock pooling portion. I have a new found appreciation for roe (something I previously despised) and it really evoked some lovely childhood memories.
Worth every penny.
Everyone needs to go at least once.
Number one restaurant in bray!
And have a great window cleaner
Sparkling windows
Phenomenal at times, with some flaws. Dare I say a little overrated?
I really wanted to give this review five stars, but I just can't.
Eating at The Fat Duck was unlike anything I've ever experienced. While there are seven official courses on the tasting menu, in reality it's more like seventeen, as most courses are broken down into numerous smaller plates. There is simply too much to review everything in its entirety, but I can comment on the things that resonated.
Heston uses a lot of deconstruction techniques which play on the senses. Leave any preconceptions about what looks sweet and what looks savoury at the door. We listened to sounds of the sea through an iPod mini encased in a conch, while eating something that tasted like being at the sea side. We watched white chocolate crab dissolve, to reveal caviar resembling its brain. We ate savoury ice lollies and macaroons, jellied bacon and whiskey gums. There is nowhere else with a menu like it.
The service was flawless. The ratio of service staff to customers is huge and attention is never more than a glance away. Dishes were served with military-like precision.
The wine pairings on our 'Adventurer' selection were fabulous, as was our sommelier. The wine was possibly my personal highlight.
With all the above said, there were some notable aspects of the experience that really let it down for me.
I was also underwhelmed by a couple of the courses. Granted, it's impossible to hit continuous home runs when there are so many different things, but a couple of them missed the mark. The aperitif, for example - cooked before us in liquid nitrogen - was style over substance. Brilliant, up until the point of putting it in your mouth. Maybe I chose the wrong option, but it would have been nice to be offered an alternative when I said I wasn't a fan of mine.
Lovely food very good at the food master pircres but im not a fish lover so not really eat much x.
The famous Heston Blumenthal restaurant takes a serious amount of time to get a booking, and almost as long to complete the sitting,. There is no menu as such just a sequence of dishes either with a twist or just perfectly cooked and presented. Very expensive, but worth it for the experience.
A truly unique experience. Great service, really exciting variety and served in very innovative ways. Well worth a visit if you can, a very enjoyable four hours.
Fantastic, delicious, and personal.
The one thing that was better though was our waiter, or "storyteller". He seemed to be the most charming of the staff, and was just brilliant. I have to mention something, but it involves a spoiler, so if you don't want to ruin the surprise (you don't!), stop reading here.
***
I realised that they had an acrylic laser printer after they gave us several personalised plastic pieces, including a highly-detailed windsurfer after I mentioned to the waiter that I liked windsurfing at the beach during the course of the dinner. My brother joked that as they were personalising everything so incredibly well, he was expecting a motorbike - something he's always wanted. When my brother went outside, I asked the waiter whether he could print my brother a motorbike, and the waiter even ascertained the specific model (a Triumph Speed Triple R) and managed to have it printed for the end of the dinner to my brother's complete surprise and astonishment. The motorbike was so detailed that my brother noticed the unique exhaust and three small distinguishing pipes at the front of the machine.
The waiter is tall, has a strong French accent but is perfectly understandable, and wears glasses that he says aren't good enough for him to read the fine print on the menu, even with the magnifying glass. He also has a nice watch that has a face which looks quite complicated, as though it reveals the workings of the watch.
***
Thank you.
This has been on my absolute bucket list restaurant experience for so long... And it far exceeded all my expectations and hopes. From the very first interaction with the brilliant waiting staff onwards, I knew i was in for an afternoon of delicious trickery. Do yourself a favour and add this to your bucket list!
One of the most fine dining place with great food journey. Food in general is innovative and The Fat Duck offers you an excellent time.
Great theatre. The food was for me a little on the adventurous side sometimes. That being said, it was a special experience.
An incredible experience. I had no idea that food could taste this good.
Chilled atmosphere, friendly staff. Would definitely go again if I can ever afford it.
The attention to detail with the whole experience is amazing. Fantastic restaurant, highly recommended.
A once in a lifetime experience. The food was amazing, the service was the best I've had anywhere! Such a great team of staff, our storyteller Giorgos was especially great, so friendly and happy!
Most amazing place i ever been ! Thanks to Ellan Palmer for Serving us
Speechless.... Paradise... ! If you think you're going to eat in a restaurant,you're wrong. Here we do not eat, we are in paradise.....
A bucket list experience beyond astonishing tastes.
From the moment we arrived the staff were on hand for anything we needed. The doorman was so generous and helpful and the other staff were just as good. They were incredibly knowledgeable on each and every dish. They even offered and brought out the massive cookbook for us to look through. The way they brought the story to life was amazingly well executed.
The food itself was just as amazing. Truly plays with the mind and senses. Even perception was played with. Every dish brought new flavours and an exciting area to our journey.
This was a culinary experience like no other restaurant I ve visited.
If there were more stars I would fill them too. This is not a restaurant, it's a journey to magical places in our childhood. The colors, the flavors, the serving, everything is built that we will go back in time to the time that joy and imagination propelled us.
You can't elaborate more than that because it lowers the experience.
The meal lasts for about four and a half hours, which is unusual, but every minute there is endless. I haven't smiled like that in a very long time.
Best Meal Ever! No contest. Its a journey that ends with breakfast. Just brilliant.
Out of this world. It is more theatre than dining, but the flavours are incredible in every dish. The personalised touches made it even more special (make sure you fill in the questionnaire before hand!)
Maybe one of the best meals I have EVER had. Cannot say enough. Interesting, fun, flavourful, and forever memorable.
What an incredible experience! We have been travelling for 6 weeks and this is one of our highlights. We have been watching Heston on Australian Masterchef since we were 13 years old waiting for the day that we could visit The Fat Duck. Last night that dream became a reality and what an amazing experience it was. Not only was the food absolutely phenomenal but the front of house staff were unmatched. We ve both eaten at beautiful restaurants around the world but the staff at The Fat Duck were second to none. Our experience felt so personalised and we absolutely loved every single surprise. Our senses were tricked and delighted the whole time!!
Expensive but definitely worth trying! Ended up full and satisfied but the journey itself was the real memorable part. Special thanks to Ellan for hosting my family.
Went here for lunch as an extra early celebration of a special occasion. We have watched Heston on TV, heard so much from friends and family and was super keen to go to The Fat Duck - dating back to more than three years! We finally made it after a friend posted on Facebook that The Fat Duck will be relocating to Melbourne (Aus) for six months. We didn't want to miss out in case they decide to take The Fat Duck all around the world and not come back anytime soon... So we somehow got a very last minute mid week reservation! The Universe always helps you when you know what you want eh? As a vegetarian going with a full omnivore, we got the vegetarian menu and the original menu. Word of caution to other vegetarians, they do warn you that gelatine is used in some of the dessert courses at the beginning. Personally I was relatively OK with that because well - I know I sound like a hypocrite, but I really didn't want to miss out on any course that I am already going to pay for (literally and figuratively)! So if you are strict, be very clear when making your reservation!
Anyway - as a vegetarian, I don't feel at all like I missed out (i felt really ripped off at Noma's residency at Claridges - but not on every dish). There were 14 courses and many came with a suggested wine. As I am doing DryApril and I don't drink wine, we started with a glass of rose champagne - but I really shouldn't have on an empty stomach, went straight to my head. Although the restaurant was at full capacity, you can't really hear the conversation next to you if you are not trying to hear them. I don't want to spoil the experience for ppl who haven't been, so I will just say, it's at times theatrical, but mainly, it's a gastronomic experience best reserved for a special occasion or for the hard core foodie - as it ain't cheap! Desserts are outstanding.
Note - they will be closed for 6 months (while in Melb) to completely refurb the kitchen (extension). The dining area will also be reduced. So if you want to try the original menu, what the bloody hell are you waiting for? Otherwise, wait - and the new kitchen should enable them to extend their repertoire.
Epic meal at 3 michelin * The Fat Duck. Unique dinning experience: once upon a time for breakfast, all the way to bedtime, the end.
Exquisite detail went into each dish which words couldn't justify. Go and challenge all your senses here if you get the chance. Your eyes tell you one thing but your tastes say another. You'll leave in awe.
Staff were impeccable.
Wheelchair access Step free entrance and accessible toilets. They've done well to keep the rustic, historic 16th century features whilst offering access to all.
**spot the creepy crawlies in the last photo**
Great food, great service. Amazing weekend trip. Recommend it highly 5/7
Amazing - made my wife nearly cry. Memories forever, thank you TFD!
We were coming to London from the US for something else, but have always wanted to try the Fat Duck, so we felt fortunate to score lunch reservations for this past Thursday. Not being the "foodie" in the family, I was a bit concerned that I wouldn't really enjoy some of the more out-there courses, but I need not have worried. The food was an ever-changing delight, playing with texture, presentation, scent and even sound. As more of a meat lover than a fish fetishist, they were kind enough to substitute one salmon course on the menu for a melt-in-your-mouth pork belly dish - amazing!
But better even than the food (really?!) was the staff. They seemed instantly capable of adapting their service style to the guests' attitudes, being more formal with some guests and more relaxed with others. I was concerned that I might be under-dressed, but I felt completely at home at all times. The staff worked together as a well-oiled machine, despite the cramped service quarters (they really need the refit), always at hand when you needed them, but never hovering or intrusive.
All in all, it was incredibly satisfying to have a long-anticipated experience live up to the expectations we had developed. This was, hands down, the most I have ever spent on a meal, so if it hadn't lived up to the dream, I would have been really disappointed. Tasty and terrific - what a relief!
They will open The Fat Duck in Melbourne in early February 2015, while the Bray location is renovated, so if you find yourself on that side of the planet, be sure to stop in. And when they get back to their refurbished nest, give the duck a big welcome home!
Excellent ambience,service,food.
Well worth the whole experience, yes the walls are plain,but it's all about the food and drink.
12.5 percent service charge optional.
A truly lovely evening.
The Fat Duck presents a fantastic eating experience through Heston s childhood memories with many amazing courses, the outcome being far from just an exceptional meal. From being escorted in through an unmarked door and throughout service (which was very attentive) the evening was truly special. Yes this is an expensive meal, and booking is very difficult but worth every penny if you value a true dining theatre experience! Personally best enjoyed with a few people than just a couple, as gives a chance to talk over the courses together.
I chose the Fat Duck as the venue to celebrate with clients, because of its reputation and culinary wow factor.
For my guests it lived up to all expectations. The food and service where all one could hope for. Sadly a party at another table were not particularly considerate, delivering peculiar noises throughout the evening. It might have been nice for a staff member to request a little decorum. Difficult, but better one annoyed guest than a room casting annoyed glances.
My only other comment is that, other than for entertaining, this is not a must to revisit. The menu was all but identical to my last visit two years ago.
Such an amazing meal. The service, wine, food and theatre were all 10/10. Worthy of all of its stars!!!
Every person should at one time in their life, visit a top restaurant just to be wowed by its experience. The food confused and excited my senses, as i was sent on a culinary journey through Heston 25 year anniversary of the fat duck. Every one of the 11 courses was a magical delight, and the service impeccable. Thank you all for a experience never to forget.
My second time here, and it still doesn't disappoint at all. The theatricality of the experience is unparalleled, and the food is surprising and generally very good.
Absolutely outstanding! What a journey!
From the attentive and informative staff to the extremely knowledgeable sommelier, this was an incredible experience.
Oh, and the food was pretty good ;) just a treat for all your senses - if you're thinking of going, do it! Book now!!
Amazing, frankly. Wonderful culinary experience. More than just great food.
This restaurant was the best experience I have ever had. The people were amazing and made it a very personalised and unique experience. The food and drinks were very complex and delicious. Highly recommended to anyone who would like to try unique flavours and include all of their senses.
Amazing experience. 17 courses of magical food. Only slight criticism was there were one or two too many fish courses if you are not a fish lover. Some in our party were not a fan of those dishes. Amazing service. Definitely worth a visit.
From the outside, it's hard to tell that there is an amazing experience waiting inside, it's a pretty small place. With small round tables and controlled lighting, the service here is exceptional! Every detail is taken care of.
They bring you small portions of a lot of food, starting from breakfast to dinner and they use a lot of molecular gastronomy. The experience is designed as a journey that Heston had as a child. Apart from this, you can make a special request and they will usually comply!
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