The Fat Duck, Bray, Berkshire

Molecular gastronomy may have polarised the critics, but culinary alchemist Heston Blumenthal's much talked about Fat Duck remains one of the leading exponent of this style of cooking in the UK.

Molecular gastronomy may have polarised the critics, but culinary alchemist Heston Blumenthal's much talked about Fat Duck remains one of the leading exponent of this style of cooking in the UK. This unassuming restaurant, with its low beamed ceiling, smart soft furnishings, and abstract art on the walls, is way ahead of the style pack, with its memorable flavour combinations that appear to have been dreamt up in some kind of parallel universe. Dishes like snail porridge, and bacon and egg ice cream, have become modern classics. Others continue to challenge and amaze. Take, for instance, the humble cauliflower, which much like beetroot, it seems to be going through a renaissance. It's sautéed in a risotto and paired with chocolate jelly. Mussels are cooked in popcorn sauce with hake. Then there's veal sweetbread, cooked in a bag with hay, sprinkled with pollen and paired with salty and sugary cockles. Further dazzling dishes include grain mustard ice cream with red cabbage gazpacho, and green pea puree layered with quail jelly and langoustine cream. But do all these wacky, out-there flavour combinations really work? Indeed they do. Blumenthal who, despite his razzle dazzle cooking, manages to keep a relatively low profile, combines gastronomy with real scientific knowledge and techniques. Who would have thought that chemistry could be cool?

The Fat Duck, High Street, Bray, Berkshire 01628 580333, www.fatduck.co.uk, lunch Tues-Sat 12-2pm, Sun 12-3pm, dinner Tue-Thur 7-9.30pm, Fri-Sat 7-10pm. Meal for two, excl wine: £130