The Fat Duck

Well first of all let me say how difficult it is to get a booking for Fat Duck! Paul made the booking in around September 2011 and he didn't get a table right away. Fortunately we got placed on a reserve list and received a pleasant phone call one evening! I was simply over the moon to find out we would be going on the actual day of my 27th birthday (January 17th).

The Fat Duck is in a quaint town and you wouldn't think it was an international top 10 restaurant just walking by. The restaurant was heavily staffed - interestingly none of them sounded English; they seemed to have very thick European accents. So I'll shut up now and move onto the food :)

Aerated Beetroot with Horseradish Filling

I was a sucker for the use of dry ice!
This was to create the feeling of being in woodlands.

Snail Porridge

Roast Foie Gras - AB-SO-LUTE-LY DEEEELICIOUS

Mock Turtle Soup (from the Mad Hatter's Tea Party)
There was a pocket watch made of gold foil which the waiter dissolved into the soup.

My favourite dish - Sounds of the Sea
There was an iPod shuffle in each of our shells playing soothing ocean sounds!

This was weird to eat: sashimi with seaweed, "sea foam" and "sand" made of tapioca.
Listening to the ocean sounds simultaneously made me feel like I was at the
beach getting dumped by a wave!

Roast venison with beetroot puree and yes, BRUSSELS SPROUTS

Risotto of spelt and umbles - one of my favourites of the courses

BFG - Black Forest Gateau

Gummy candies made of different whiskeys

The sweets came in an old-fashioned striped candy bag but I was way too full to eat them so I took it home!

This was the cherry on top...

A birthday card for me signed by Heston Blumenthal!!
I love my husband :)

London Calling

My treat for my 27th birthday was a trip to London. This was 6-7 months before the 2012 Olympics so it was frosty! Not as cold as the -32 celcius I experienced in Canada but still a chilly 5 degrees. Compare that to a 15 degree winter's day here in Sydney! We arrived the afternoon before my birthday via the Eurostar from Paris. It was such a pleasant trip, Paul and I shared our train carriage with only one other passenger and the meal we got was really nice!

Beautiful French Countryside

This delicious meal on the Eurostar was finished off with a macaron au chocolat and earl grey flavoured chocolate.
The wine was surprisingly good too!

We stayed at the H10 hotel in Waterloo, a convenient 5 min walk to Waterloo station for easy access to the rest of London.

The hotel was very new and clean but also very tiny!

View from the hotel room window

Beautiful sunset to finish our first day in London

An opera singer busking in Covent Garden

I began my evening with a delicious treat from Patisserie Valerie.
Yes I only wanted it cause it was pink. 

So, onto my birthday treats! The biggest thing was lunch at Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire.... but that will be elaborated on another time. My experience there deserves a post on its own! After Fat Duck we had just enough time to take the train back to London to watch Les Miserables at the Queen's Theatre. It was FANTASTIC! I recommend it to anyone! The next day Paul took me to afternoon tea at the Ritz. A superb 27th birthday.

My favourite sandwich was second from the left with Scottish salmon. Mmmm.

We didn't make any music requests but my highlight was when the Russian pianist broke out
in a slow jazzy version of Outkast's "Hey Ya"

The interior of Palm Court in the Ritz was simply exquisite!

The pianist in the court started to play "happy birthday" and brought out this cake
then everybody stared and clapped.

Montréal

Ahhh.... J'aime Montréal! How I love Montréal! This beautiful city feels just like being in Sydney except with much more history, beautiful food and a French flair. I have had the opportunity to visit this city twice - once in Summer 2010 and last December 2011, in winter. I really, really need to brush up on my Français. Fortunately for me, the city is French-English bilingual (unlike other cities I've been to in Québec) and especially when they hear my Aussie accent they are more willing to converse in English! Apparently they are less willing to speak English to the English Canadians.

Last December it was a must to visit Schwartz's Montreal Hebrew Delicatessen (3895 Saint Laurent, Montréal) for a SMOKED MEAT SANDWICH. I still drool today thinking about how much I loved it.

So juicy, so succulent, so divine!

Action shot of Paul gorging

All you need on this baby is smoked meat and mustard

Restaurant le Pégase: 1831 Rue Gilford, Montréal

This restaurant was so lovely and intimate. It was an old converted terrace house with only about 5 or so dining tables. My only complaint was the lack of space to move around (people often have to get up for one person to leave the table for the bathroom etc) and when you have love handles like I do, you like a bit of space! The food speaks for itself.

Thank you to North Face for protecting me from the -20 degrees Celsius temperatures!

Escargot with caramelised apples and blue cheese

Foie gras

Profiterole with goats cheese and veal cheek

A big hunk of veal

Lamb chops were the signature dish for Pégase and recommended RARE which I normally don't do
but I dared to try it... and I absolutely enjoyed these!!!

La Mort au Chocolat - Death by Chocolate

A great classic - crè­me brûlée

Montréal, à la prochaine fois - until we meet again.