As Dinner by Heston Blumenthal Prepares to Close, I Tried Its Most Playful Dining Experience

Heston Blumenthal is well-known for challenging convention, and his Topsy Turvy Tasting Menu at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park is no exception. 

News that Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will close in January 2027 has prompted an outpouring of nostalgia for one of London’s most inventive dining rooms. Sitting at the chef’s table in a two-Michelin-star restaurant wearing an oversized pair of goggles, I begin to understand why.

I’m here to review the Topsy Turvy experience, which is based around an inventive yet simple dining concept: you begin with dessert and end with the starters. It’s not the first time Blumenthal has experimented with the idea – in 2024, The Fat Duck hosted a limited-time reverse menu which was hailed a success. This iteration, however, takes it further, guiding guests on a historical journey through British cuisine. The experience feels like a snapshot of the restaurant at its most playful – particularly as the dining room prepares to close after more than a decade in the city.

I’m seated inside the restaurant at Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, close enough to the kitchen to catch the sound of utensils as well as the occasional order from the head chef. Wrapping around the walls near the table is a long canvas designed to look like a tapestry, tracing the history of British gastronomy through the ages with Heston himself tucked sneakily into the scene, dressed as a jester. At first, I must admit, I’m overwhelmed – there’s a lot to take in and all the action is somewhat distracting.

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Then a menu arrives, wrapped like a mysterious scroll and tucked into a black box, pulling me back from the kitchen theatrics. Alongside it is a small hand-held mirror. When I pick it up and unravel the menu, I realize it’s printed backward. To read it, I need to decipher the words through a reflection – a little game that confirms I am firmly in Blumenthal’s eccentric world.

The first course, I learn, is nitrogen ice cream – inspired by Agnes B. Marshall, the 19th-century ‘queen of ice cream.’ Marshall was ahead of her time, advocating the use of liquid nitrogen in cooking during the Victorian era, when it was cutting-edge technology. The base for tonight’s dessert is Madagascan vanilla, brought to the table on a large trolley. In front of me, it’s mixed with nitrogen at -196°C, releasing an instant puff of smoke. My server, Amy, leans in to tell me that the amount of Madagascan vanilla used in this ice cream is more expensive by weight than gold. For toppings, there’s meringue and raspberry, dark chocolate with praline, or a strawberry crumble – a concoction of popping candy and breakfast-like Rice Krispies. A second dessert, an indulgent chocolate bar, was served straight after.

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Then came bread and butter, alongside a pair of enormous, comically oversized goggles that flip my vision upside down. My hands have lost all sense of direction, the knife wobbles awkwardly as I try to make a smooth swipe and I nearly knock the bread off the side plate entirely. Suddenly, something as simple as spreading butter becomes a hilarious ordeal. I’m pretty sure I look ridiculous, but then again, this is Dinner by Heston Blumenthal – so a healthy dose of eccentricity was always going to be on the menu.

Glasses off and bread consumed, I next tuck into an incredibly tender duck breast, followed by roast seabass as the final main course. The fish is served with a punchy green sauce, a labor of love that the chefs prepare over the course of ten days.

The meat fruit course – a chicken liver pate cleverly disguised as a mandarin – marked the first of the ‘reversed starters.’ I’m told Blumenthal spent three years perfecting it, and the airy, velvety texture explains why. The final plate of the evening is salmon, cured over two hours.

Amy maintains that the reverse order of the meal is designed to be lighter on the stomach, and having tried it, I somewhat agree. I leave pleasantly full, but without the heavy, sluggish feeling that usually follows dessert. Would I attempt this order at home? Probably not – but as a one-off experience, it was undeniably fun. With Blumenthal’s restaurant set to close, the Topsy Turvy menu feels like a fitting tribute to his long-standing obsession with turning dining on its head – quite literally.

The Topsy Turvy Tasting Menu is priced between £170 (approx. $226) and £230 (approx. $306) depending on course count and location, and is available with wine pairings.