Heston Blumenthal baffles diners after charging nearly £50 for celery dish

10 October 2023 , 12:33

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The dish has pricey ingredients which is reflected in the cost of the meal (Image: Bloomberg via Getty Images)

It can be a real treat when you go out for a nice meal and indulge in some fancy food, and most of us tend to opt for something we wouldn't tend to make at home.

It can get pricey when eating out, especially in Michelin-starred eatieries - as one diner found when they saw the price of one of the dishes served at Heston Blumenthal's restaurant.

Opting for a vegetarian braised celery dish, they were gobsmacked when the plate came to a staggering £48 at the trendy London eatery, called Dinner by Heston Blumenthal. It was served with Gruyere cheese, girolle mushrooms, truffle, cider apple and smoked walnuts.

Diners on TripAdvisor were divided over the price

The restaurant has some divided opinions on TripAdvisor, as some raved about their "excellent" meals, whereas others weren't impressed by the quality and the price, and wrote: "It was good but I didn't expect it to be almost as expensive as the meat dishes." The meat and fish dishes can set diners back nearly £60 a pop. Dishes such as roast cod and cockle ketchup cost £56, powdered duck breast is £58 and spiced squab pigeon for £62.

The braised celery meal dates back to the 1730s has a historical background. Defending the eye-watering price, Chef Deiniol Pritchard, COO of Dinner by Heston Blumenthal said that the "utmost care was put into creating the dish", as the vegetables were braised for 90 minutes. He also claimed it's also due to the pricey ingredients involved.

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"The main cost is black truffle. There are a couple of celeriac purees and crumbled-over that is black truffle. We get frozen Australian or Spanish truffle and the cheapest we'll ever get it is £650 - it goes from 65p to £1 a gram," he explained, according to The Mail. He also claimed that the food is "intellectually driven" and that it "takes a lot of work" to understand the historic dishes before they can start to develop the dish and adapt it to a fine dining meal.

The eaterie's five-course tasting menu costs £155 per person and is set inside the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park Hotel in London, and the whole menu is inspired by archaic dishes adapted to fine dining.

Niamh Kirk