The Fat Duck

Another restaurant experience which I loved but has polarised reviews.

My girlfriend treated us both to the Tasting Menu for my 40th.

Everything was great, the service was impeccable. The food is an absolute delight in it's assault on your senses.

We were welcomed and told to relax and enjoy the experience from the off, each course was beautifully presented and explained in a courteous manner.

Funnily enough as each course was brought out everyone in the restaurant took of photo of their plate (including ourselves)

We could barely moved after the food and opted to take our 'Sweetie Bag' course home to eat.

All in all a well worthwhile experience, we'd both happily go again.
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Bobby - View all reviews by this user
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Went to the Fat Duck for my wife's 40th birthday, and for that reason alone I did not make a fuss. However, it was the biggest disappointment of my entire life.

We entered into what was no different to many pub restaurants - there was nothing "special" about it at all. We were seated at a table in the corner and waited almost half an hour just to be given a menu!! (and I am not making this up). The service was generally dreadful, by a load of French people who could hardly speak a word of English.

The food was okay, but nothing special. I had previously had scallops in Gordon Ramsay's restaurant in Chelsea and they were simply divine. I never knew food could taste so good (along with absolutely everything else about Ramsay's restaurant, which is superior in every conceivable way to this place). Unfortunately the chefs at The Fat Duck seem to have an amazing talent - they managed to make scallops taste of absolutely nothing at all.

We were then served small portions of mustard ice cream, which I can confirm is as disgusting as it sounds.

The final insult came with the bill - almost £400 for a dreadful experience - I can honestly say that I would have had more fun and satisfaction had I gone to McDonalds.
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M. Benson
0 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Sunday, August 14, 2011

The food was fantastic, however the standout for me is the staff. The service was amazing, friendly and so slick. An excellent team that really give the chefs a run for their money.
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Matt
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, June 22, 2011

My fiance and I visited the Fat Duck today for lunch. I've never written a restaurant review before as I've never really felt the need, however, today is different. Food was truly awful - I was almost physically sick after sampling one of the dishes. Service, on the other hand, was excellent and the 'experience' (dry ice gimmicks etc) were vaguely entertaining. All in all, not worth the money.
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Alastair
5 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 2
Sunday, May 22, 2011

This Saturday, we my wife and I organised, for few month, my birthday diner there, hotel travel lunchs and THE DINNER which and up both way bad and amazingly great.

Bad : restaurant closed as no electricity in the village, so we have been moved down the same street where power was ON ? Good (great) : down that street without of knowing you can find "The WATERSIDE Inn" where great happened.....

To please and help their fellow, they had set up their own private dining room on the spot to accommodate few of the fat duck customers and made all of us very welcomed and comfy........So thanks again The WATERSIDE Inn......
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Mr S. Allgood
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Monday, December 06, 2010

After my recent visit to the Fat Duck, I said you'd have to be a cynic not to enjoy it...and I can see we have some on this site!

This isn't every day eating - it's theatre, but that's not to undermine the main purpose of a visit to the Fat Duck: exquisite food. If you go with an open mind and throw yourself into it, I would be surpised if you genuinely didn't enjoy it. Yes, expect a hefty bill, but surely you would know that before you went?!?

We went as a party of 4 to celebrate our company's first year in business. To put my review into context (and not trying to brag!), I have been to quite a few Michelin starred restaurants including Gordon Ramsay's, the Waterside, and Le Manoir. Each had something fantastic to offer - as my reviews on this site will atest. Having started at Gordon Ramsay's about 7 years ago, it has been firmly at the top of my list...until now!

An evening at the Fat Duck is an amazing experience. The food is fantastic and is served in novel and interesting ways which genuinely enhance the whole sensory experience. It's something you can bore your friends with for months afterwards.

How it could really end up with an average score of 6.9 at time of writing is beyond me. If you're thinking of going, please read between the lines of some of the less favourable reviews. To say staff read their descriptions off pat is not what we experienced; we asked some difficult questions and were very satisfied with the responses. That's one of many criticisms I would contend.

It is always going to be a restaurant which polarises opinion as it is pushing the boundaries - just don't let that make you miss out!
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Ed Gossage
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, November 29, 2010

An excellent restaurant well worthy of its reputation. The food was challenging, delicious and innovative.

However, the location of the Fat Duck is Bray, Berkshire. It isn't in London at all, but a village 30 miles west of the capital.
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Marlon Wentworth
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Monday, October 18, 2010

I have to completely disagree with anyone commenting negatively on The Fat Duck and I would have to question their motives. Based upon the dates I have been at TFD around the same time as the recent negative poster and our experience is exactly 180 degrees different from theirs. From the minute we arrived until we left nearly 5 hours later (in a taxi that was called for us by the restaurant before we even asked - nice touch) our experience was shear perfection. Our waitstaff was incredibly engaging, the Sommelier's recommendation for a bottle and augmenting glasses was spot on (and the suggestions were not the most expensive on the list), the food was not only wildly inventive and imaginative but had flvour to back it up. I think the money we spent was well worth it and wouldn't hesitate to spend it again.
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J B
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Monday, October 11, 2010

The Fat Duck is the restaurant of molecular chef Heston Blumenthal where oringinally sourced ingredients are combined with imagination and science to produce truly surprising and delicious results.

The adjective “molecular” to this cuisine is appropriate but can be misleading. The experience is molecular in the sense that it is multisensorial and ingredients are combined, amongst other reasons, for the compatibility of their chemical characteristics. However, the food is good in the most traditional definition of the word and it is prepared with the utmost repect of the ingredients.

Eating at the Fat Duck is an educational experience, a journey of discovery of new, old and secret flavours accompnaied by visual, tactorial, auditive, and olfactive stimuli that are combined in the most surprising and wonderful way. The voyage begins on arrival at Bray, the home village of the Fat Duck. Bray is a small, unspoiled, traditional english village on the banks of the river Thames. It’s small cottages, century-old stone walls and flourishing gardens inspire tranquillity and prepare the soul of the fortunate diner. Indeed, the village seems to have a gastronomic energy as, in addition to the Fat Duck, it is also home to The Waterside Inn, the 3 michelin star restaurant and hotel owned by chef Michel Roux; and Heston Blumenthal’s pub the Hinds Head.

Consistent with its surroundings, the Fat Duck is in a modest establishment, an old farmhouse that has been renovated in a sober style. The simplicity of the dining room helps the diner to concentrate on the enchantment of the meal. The Degustation Menu – the only available choice since March 09 – is composed of a good 16 small courses all accompanied by their matching wines.

The service adheres to the classic European canons of hospitality and is absolutely impeccable. The staff at the restaurant is very knowledgeable and will happily discuss the dishes being served or any other culinary subject.

However, this experience is exactly this, an experience. Something that should not be abused in order to maintain its magic. Unfortunately I have sinned and I have been to this establishment twice. My first visit was sensational, the second one was just as good, but the pleasure I derived was substantially inferior. The element of surprise was gone which perhaps gave my mind room to realize that amongst the plethora of small and delicious dished there was a distinct deficiency of “something you could really bite into”; in my mind an essential element of any dining experience.

If the Fat Duck is treated as it should, it is an unforgettable experience that should be shared with friends, family or fellow food lovers. Worth a special trip.

Price Guide: £250 to £500 pp depending on wine matching choice. The best few hundred pounds you will ever spend.
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El Jay Dee - View all reviews by this user
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Saturday, October 02, 2010

What a travesty. The emperor's new clothes........

Went today to 'tick the box', to experience the Experience. Could it have done less to live up to expectation? I went with a friend; we've experienced a wide range of excellent restaurants throughout the UK and Europe.

The food is hugely disappointing, either hugely underseasoned or unpalatably overseasoned. Flavours and textures are very confused and often just nasty.

Don't go as well if you enjoy your wine; choosing off the list was clearly not the done thing and was frowned upon because you weren't complying with the 'food above all rule'. And once you finally had managed to order a bottle, very little interest was shown in keeping your glass refilled.

The attitude of waiting staff was that you were there for their benefit and not the other way round. Lines read off pat, with little passion and less conviction.

All in all a major let down and I wouldn't hesitate to firmly recommend that you don't bother - save your money and go to The Square, perennially overlooked for a third Michelin star, where the Philip Howard is always in the kitchen turning out wonderfully cooked and flavoured food that is so far ahead in comparison, and far better value.

I wonder when Heston last saw his kitchen.............
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Don''t bother with the FD
2 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 1
Friday, October 01, 2010