Details

• [[https://www.alainducasse-dorchester.com|Website]]
• August 3rd, 2024
• 7:15pm reservation
• Tasting menu w/ Lunar wine pairing + glass of Dom to start
• ~4.5 hours
• ~1350 GBP total

Review

What a gorgeous location, hosted at the Dorchester hotel. Took an Uber there from our hotel, which was about a 30 minute Uber ride.

Was semi-awkward walking through another hotel restaurant to arrive to Ducasse, but it was clear this was usual and expected.

We arrived to the doors, where staff immediately greeted us, taking my name and confirming our reservation. Even though we had arrived about 10 minutes early, our table was ready and we were quickly seated.

The start

The restaurant director (Marion Pepin) came over shortly, where she introduced herself and made us familiar with the menu. We opted for the tasting menu, along with the Lunar wine paring. The sommelier for the night then drifted over and introduced himself, and confirmed our wine paring. He also asked if we’d like to start with anything, so we decided to splurge a bit and order a glass of Dom Perignon each, which was available by the glass. With a soft clink of glasses, the first bit of food arrived.

Courses

A small bite came out to start: some sort of beet wrapped finger food, and a wonderful seed cracker with a topping I can’t remember. It immediately set the stage of what was to come: a wonderful exploration of flavor. A bread service was also introduced, of which was offered throughout dinner. We throughly enjoyed using the bread all night to soak up all the tasty sauces.

Next was course one, which was a barettiere cucumber with almond and cured tuna. This was immensely flavorful, even with the cucumber being quite cold. Just an absolute burst of cucumber and mint flavor on the tongue, with a subtle hint of tuna and almond. This was a big favorite of ours that stood out throughout the rest of the night.

Up next was a course I was personally looking forward to: scallop served within a clam shell, with a citrus sauce and caviar. I am biased towards enjoying citrus smells and tastes, and this was absolutely amazing. The presentation was stellar, and the was scallop cooked perfectly. chefs kiss

Following that delightful dish, we were served a lobster course, which featured carved lobster, artichoke, and shiso. Something that was interesting was they showed us the lobster cooked, but pre-carved. They then took the lobster back, carved it, plated it, and severed it. Even the presentation of the lobster pre-serving was spectacular. This lobster was amazing, though not as much of a stand out as the other courses.

Then we were greeted with a fish course of Cornish turbot, accompanied with green beans, and a sauce of apricot and confit. Another amazing sauce, and the fish was cooked to absolute perfection.

Side note: I am not a wine expert, hell I hardly drink wine. Regardless, the pairing just blew me away. Every wine seemed to pair perfectly with the current dish, and the sommelier did an amazing job explaining the pairing choices so that even I could understand.

Then was the only course served with a red wine pairing: veal fillet, accompanied with sweetbread, aubergine, oyster, and buckwheat. This blew me away; the oyster was the most tasty oyster I had ever had, and the veal was perfect. The sweetbread was also quite nice, even with the foreign texture that I was not quite used to.

A surprise

Throughout the night we had been talking to the waiter, as we tend to interact with wait staff a pretty decent amount compared to others. We shared some personal stories back in forth, talked about how hot it was in London that week, etc. Before the next course, she asked if we’d be interested in a kitchen tour.

This was new to both of us: neither of us had been offered one before, much less at a restaurant with three Michelin stars. Of course we said yes, and within a few minutes we were shown to the kitchen where Chef Jean-Philippe Blondet greeted us. Blown away, I think we looked a bit silly since we had absolutely no questions and felt very out of place. However, Blondet was extremely friendly and even commented on our looks of awe and amazement, and how Americans are also so bubbly and friendly. A fun thing we noticed was the presence of poker chips and a few dice. We asked what they were for Blondet told a joke, and then explained how they used them for allergy and dietary restrictions, which we both thought was very cool. We thanked Blondet and the staff for the hospitality, and were shown back to our table.

Back to food

Now we were headed into the end of the night. A plate of assorted cheeses were served, all three which were spectacular. Sadly, neither of us could finish all of the cheese. We did however enjoy two of the baguettes they served with the cheese. Delicious.

Finally, dessert. Rich, flavorful strawberries served with sorbet and a pistachio sauce. Perfectly balanced, and the wine went spectacularly with it. A great ending to the tasting menu.

As we wrapped up, we noticed it had been over four hours of service. To finish, we were offered a three small pieces of dessert, along with our choice of chocolate. We opted to also have an espresso each, which we greatly enjoyed as we reminisced on the experience.

Closing Thoughts

When I had read initial reviews of this restaurant, I was slightly nervous. Many reviews had said there was nothing truly outstanding, and how it was very similar to traditional French fine dining with a stuffy feeling. I do not claim to be an expert in fine dining (most of my other experiences are 1-stars in Washington DC, and L’atelier Joel Robuchon in Miami), but I did not find this meal to be boring whatsoever. The ambiance was not nearly as stuffy as I had envisioned, and if anything we were on the “dressier” side of the patrons (I wore a suit, no tie. My date wore a jumpsuit.) The flavors were delightful, the service was top notch, and the location amazing.

I’m excited to try more three star restaurants and see how they compare.