By a rare fluke of fate, (or rather due to my judging responsibilities for Restaurant Magazine’s Front of House Awards) I recently had the pleasure of dining at Bacchus and then visiting the Fat Duck for lunch on the following day. It was a great opportunity to see whether the “school of Blumenthal” was indeed a philosophy rather than a band wagon. I have a sneaking suspicion that Heston must cringe when phrases like “Molecular Gastronomy” are bandied about and when careless food writers link his name to any culinary initiative that’s remotely cerebral or avant garde, particularly in the provinces. Do you remember when Nouvelle Cuisine was brought to its knees by the half-baked attempts of chefs keen to copy what had started out as a manifesto of sound culinary principles? In the twinkling of an eye it went from being “the next big thing”, to a single sprout paired with a solo strawberry on a sauce splattered plate. Now Nouvelle Cuisine has become shorthand for “unacceptably small portions”.

At Bacchus, which is to be found on a roughty-toughty stretch of Hoxton Street, chef proprietor Nuno Mendes is keen to emphasise that “we dabble with modern and old cooking techniques to create a very casual ‘fine dining’ atmosphere… the food is a very personal reflection of my travels and work with many talented, passionate and beautiful people…” This place looks like a gastropub, service is friendly and the food is very complicated. Mendes is a good cook and is particularly adept at combining textures – he seems to have a bit of thing for crumbs. On the eight course tasting menu several dishes have a gritty, crunchy, flavour element. There’s a rosemary gomasio with the tuna toast – sesame crunch; there are coral crumbs with the yuzu crab; and there’s black olive migas with the confit potatoes and cepes. You’ll also find powders, papers, foams and jellies. The flavours are good and (unusually for a lengthy tasting menu) the dishes seem to get better and better as you work your  way down the list. By the time you get to “crispy suckling pig, fresh and dried figs with their caramel, Iberico ham, marscapone cubes, almond basil powders” things are really singing. But even a starter like “Yuzu crab, tobiko, herbal broth, lemon grass gelée, baby shitake, coral crumbs” is a real mouthful, the long list of ingredients does the dish no favours. It sounds over-facing and over-complicated, but when it arrives the flavours work well together. If I were Mr Mendes I would re-write the menu and aim to say about half as much about each dish

Which is pretty much what Heston Blumenthal does at the Fat Duck. A dish of roast scallop comes with “scallop tartare, white chocolate and caviar”; a pot roast loin of pork comes with a “gratin of truffled macaroni”. These dishes are no less complex or considered than their counterparts at Bacchus but they read a whole lot more comfortably. Like Bacchus the Fat Duck was once a pub, but unlike the Hoxton restaurant, as the Fat Duck has climbed to the pinnacle of the Michelin rankings it has taken on the mantle (or rather white linen tablecloths) of fine dining. Which is an interesting observation – the two restaurants may differ when it comes to ambience but when it comes to prices they are not so far apart: £80 buys you the Tasting Menu at Bacchus or an à la Carte meal at the Quack.

Bacchus is worth watching, the cooking is to a high standard and the menu shows a real flair with flavour combinations. The Fat Duck has preserved the theatre of dining out with some splendid flights of fancy underpinned by notably good cooking. But whether in Hoxton or Bray you don’t need to understand the meaning of molecular gastronomy to have a really good time.

Charles Campion

Bacchus, 177 Hoxton Street, N1 (020 7613 0477)

The Fat Duck, High Street, Bray, Berkshire (01628 580333)