Fat Duck - Oxford, UK

Amazing food and fantastic service nestled away on the high street of a small English country town. Food was spectacular and the Curiosity wine pairing was very interesting. We shared a wine pairing which worked quite well (partly because they are free pours so you probably get a bit more, but mainly because otherwise that’s an atrocious amount of wine!!! . Will come again in a few years can’t afford to come sooner!!!

Just a wonderful experience and great staff. We had the Xmas Menu, the food was superb, staff chatty, not stuffy as some Michelin starred restaurants are and you smile all the through the experience. Treat yourself, a great box ticked

In a sentence: A unique, one off experience that’s worth coming to for a special occasion, but it’s hard to live up to expectations if you already know all the secrets! Restaurant: Staff 10/10 For somewhere that is famed for its food, the staff are arguably the highlight. They are well trained, friendly, and put you at ease immediately. Particular shoutout to Alex who was passionate and enthusiastic throughout. Location 8/10 The dining room is cosy, if not slightly dingy. You are very close to other tables which can spoil some of the magic if you hear/see dishes ahead of you. Price 6/10 You can swallow the eye watering price by justifying it as a one off experience, but food and the cheapest wine paring for 2 set us back £1100+. Food: Nitroaperitif 7/10 Uniquely served and refreshing taste. Beetroot 8/10 Intense horseradish, light beetroot, great. Red Cabbage Gazpacho 6/10 Gazpacho a little too salty for my taste and mustard ice cream lacked any real punch. Lasagne of langoustine 7/10 Delicate, tasty dish unfortunately the langoustine was slightly tough which was a shame. Sound of the sea 10/10 One of the best plates of food I’ve ever eaten. The fact they serve this with only a fork and spoon (no knife) shows you how tender the seafood is perfectly seasoned and includes a variety different textures. Outstanding. Bread and butter 6/10 Nice, crusty bread and creamy butter. But it is ultimately just bread and butter. Jelly of quail 6/10 Not sure whether it was because the dish is served cold, but I felt the flavour was lacking a bit here and the quail jelly texture is slightly odd. A nice dish, but is more visually impactful than it is taste wise. The Duck 7/10 There’s nothing too crazy or gastronomic about this dish just a well executed plate of food. The duck cigar (aka their take on a duck pancake) was a highlight. Cheese and Grapes 7/10 Cheese and grapes, or is it? I’m not a big fan of blue cheese so I’m glad the flavour was quite mild nice textures and flavours. Hot and Iced tea 7/10 Cool and novel course, especially if you don’t know the twist ahead of time. Taffety tart 8/10 Delicate, tasty dish. Really nice. Like a kid in a sweet shop 9/10 The most theatrical part of the meal the wrong drawer popped out for my sweets but they quickly found the right one. A really nice touch to finish the meal.

Another amazing meal at the UKs best restaurant. We were treated to probably the best meal in the UK to date. Heston pulled it off again. We were truly blessed to be able to go again and sample this incredible restaurant. As always we were looked after and decided to take the wine flight. Couldn’t have asked for anything better. This is simply worth every penny. If you done ever go anywhere else in your life. Go here. Go. Enjoy.

First and foremost, the Fat Duck is a fantastic experience and one that I 'd waited a long time for and the whole evening lived up to that. I was lucky enough to get a table for my family and I (5 in total for 7pm for a big celebration and I feel very fortunate to have been able to visit. I do have a couple of observations following our night that might help others.. firstly don 't be too eager and arrive before your alloted time (standard Michelin behaviour but, it was throwing it down outside and we wanted to get into the dry! we ended up having a pretty rushed drink at their twinned pub to kill 15 mins while we waited. The food was interesting, fascinating, tasty, well presented and on theme with the sensorium journey although for me I didn 't feel that there were any real stand out dishes that I 'll remember for a long time. The bread course was good, as was the visit to the sweet shop at the very end of the meal but I don 't have any other favourites which I might have expected for such a high end and expensive place. The wine pairing was good, I asked to swap out the sake as I am not a fan and this was duly done (thank you although I wondered if the timing was a little bit off as we ended up having red then white.. and at points having the wine quite sometime before the course arrived. Service was generally excellent, really attentive and professional but also down to earth and whilst we were unfortunate enough to have 2 drinks spilled during the evening (we were mortified for the colleagues and it didn 't take away from the experience at all it was handled well perhaps this led to the mistiming of the wines. My main observation or comment is really around the price this is a very expensive evening, particularly if taking in the wine flight at the same time, so just bear this in mind when booking.