For years now we have both been wanting to visit Heston Blumenthal's flagship resraurant 'The Fat Duck'. Since he so inconsiderately moved it from London to Melbourne for 2015, we werent able to go there exactly. However, his second restaurant 'Dinner by Heston Blumenthal' is alive and kicking (and has consistently been ranked one of the top 5 in the world), so the funds Chris and Paul Hatton gave us to fulfil this Suitcase of Dreams experience would go to lunch there instead. It well well spent Chris and Paul! Thank you!!!

After some assorted sourdoughs for starters, the entrees hit the table. They were a hay-smoked salmon dish with smoked beetroot and pickled lemon, and a pig's ear ragout on crostini (toast). Needless to say both were fantastic; Sjane was really surprised by how much she enjoyed the pig's ear, while I loved the hay-smoked salmon the most.

Mains were roasted pollock with confit parsnip, greens and a sweet puree, as well as a quail dish with parmesan, kale and chestnuts. Delish! We were so excited when these hit the table that I forgot to take photos BEFORE digging in, so the photos of mains will probably not look as appealing as the other courses! Semi-devoured :)

For dessert we were served up a slice of prune and tamarind tart on short crust pastry, topped with a creme-bruleed (not sure that's a word) custard, alongside a millionaire shortbread with vanilla ice cream. Needless to say these were both epic, but the pis de resistance for us was an extra (complementary) course of chocolate ganache infused with

earl grey tea and accompanied with a carraway shortbread biscuit for dipping. Bloody hell.

All of this was accompanied by their recommended white wine. We have no idea what it was; only that it tasted fantastic and cost in excess of $100 per bottle. Money well spent!

So all in all it wasn't a cheap endeavour, but kicked off what we're now referring to as our fancypants day.

Along with our ritzy lunch, we also paid an absolute mint for London Underground day passes each. We strolled Hyde Park pretending to be rich and famous (albeit more than a bit tipsy after our aforementioned bottle of wine). We shopped at Harrods - which is surely the fanciest shopping centre in the world! And I used to think Grand Central in Toowoomba was a big deal. This place sells Picasso paintings! And had Rita Ora in there to entertain the shoppers... Sjane was very excited that her purchase of a pair of new Sketchers (thanks Mum & Dad / Monica & Ian!) entitled her to a Harrods Membership Card. No doubt she'll be flashing it for VIP entry to nightclubs in the very near future. We also did a little window shopping in Oxford Street, at which point I ascertained that the board game Monopoly was actually based solely off places in London! Sjane cracked up and thought that my ignorance of this until now was hilarious, but I think there's plenty of you out there who wouldn't have known that until now either, right? Feel free to leave comments of support for me :)

All in all a very fancy day for a couple of scruffy backpackers.