The Fat Duck, one of the world’s most famous restaurants, is offering a cut-price menu throughout February, well below standard rates.
It comes at a time when a scan of the website suggests securing a booking is easier than ever.
Heston Blumenthal opened The Fat Duck in 1995, winning three Michelin stars in 2004 – each retained ever since – and earning top spot in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants a year later. His bacon and egg ice cream and snail porridge are still talked about in food circles today.
Blumenthal’s tasting menu normally costs between £295 and £395 per head. It is an 11 course, meandering experience featuring dishes such as the “sound of the sea” and “like a kid in a sweet shop.”
But now, the restaurant, in Bray, Berkshire, is offering a shorter version – though still featuring many of the dishes for which the restaurant is known across eight courses – for £225, which is cheaper than the full menu served almost 10 years ago, in 2015. Then £255, Guardian food writer Tony Naylor described the price as “indefensible.” At the time, Naylor reported that the restaurant received 30,000 booking enquiries each day.
In an email to customers, the restaurant said: “For a limited period, the Fat Duck is offering an alternative, shorter menu – the Sensorium Select – giving the opportunity to experience a specially curated series of dishes that capture the creative core of the Sensorium menu – what you might call a taster of the tasting menu.
“A simple, intense way of exploring exactly what the Fat Duck is all about.”
For many years, getting a table at The Fat Duck was difficult, with customers typically having to book months in advance. However, according to the website's booking portal, there is presently plenty of room available, including a number on Thursdays and Fridays.
