Here’s what we ate

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Degustation Menu – £85.00

Designed to maximise the Fat Duck dining experience. This menu – consisting of a series of small courses (plus a few hidden extras) – is intended to be taken by the whole table

NITRO-GREEN TEA AND LIME MOUSSE

OYSTER AND PASSION FRUIT JELLY, LAVENDER

POMMERY GRAIN MUSTARD ICE CREAM, RED CABBAGE GASPACHO

QUAIL JELLY, PEA PUREE, CREAM OF LANGOUSTINE

SNAIL PORRIDGE
Jabugo ham

ROAST FOIE GRAS
Almond, cherry, chamomile

SARDINE ON TOAST SORBET
Ballotine of mackerel

SALMON POACHED WITH LIQUORICE
Chicory, “Manni” olive oil

SWEETBREAD COOKED IN A SALT CRUST WITH HAY Crusted with pollen, cockles a la plancha and parsnip purée

MRS MARSHALL’S MARGARET CORNET

MANGO AND D0UGLAS FIR PUREE
Bavarois of lychee and mango, blackcurrant sorbet, Blackcurrant and green peppercorn jelly

SMOKED BACON AND EGG ICE CREAM
Tomato jam, tea jelly

A selection of wines by the glass carefully selected to accompany this menu £50.00

From the individually-prepared green tea and lime meringues, ‘cooked’ in liquid nitrogen and served on a spoon – so cold that we all snorted steam as we ate them, one by one around the table – to the Orange and Beetroot Jelly (the orange part tasting of beetroot, the purple of orange) all the way through to the Bacon and Egg Ice Cream, this was an extraordinary meal. About as different from what we normally call food as a small pill is from a dead fly. The ‘few hidden extras’ included Blumenthal’s famous white chocolate and caviar combination, parsnip flakes with parsnip milk and a Christmas Tree sherbert dib-dab (or perhaps this was the Douglas Fir again). We obviously also had the carefully selected selection of wines to accompany, ending on a thick gloopy sherry which was unspeakably good. (At the wonderful Rimrock Resort Hotel in Banff, they call this a ‘flight’ of wines, a much better term.) I can’t think of a better way to have celebrated my 40th.

And two days after we ate there, The Fat Duck was awarded a third Michelin star.

Update: tastingmenu has a course-by-course photo album that records the entire Fat Duck ‘Degustation Menu’ experience, albeit some 6 months or so later and in daylight, so it doesn’t quite match ours.