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USAPalmer Arms, The
Palmer Arms, The Summary
- Address: Village Road, Dorney, Windsor, SL4 6QW (Map)
- Tel: +44 (0)1628 666612
- E-mail: Click here to contact
- Cuisine(s): English, Gastropub
- Opening Times:
Mon - Sat (food): 12:00 - 21:30
Sun (food): 12:00 - 17:30
Mon - Sat (pub): 11:00 - 23:00
Sun (pub): 12:00 - 20:00 - Avg Price: £32.00
(Avg Price is the average cost per person for a full meal, drinks/wine and service/tip.)
Palmer Arms, The Description
Next time you find yourself on the M4 with some time to spare or equilibrium to regain, head off at Junction 7 for Dorney village and the civilised delights of The Palmer Arms.
The word 'gastropub' seems to be gaining a wide variety of interpretations, the great majority of them encouraging in so far as they offer decent food, sometimes inspirational, in pleasant surroundings with a minimum of fuss at prices which mean you can comfortably take along the whole family, if you so wish. No wonder therefore that it was awarded "Best Dining Pub in Buckinghamshire 2007" in the The Good Pub Guide.
The Palmer Arms has a Newsletter, an up and coming trend, often creating a sense of community and interest in what has hitherto been nothing more than the village boozer.
From a range of six menus let's look at the a la carte, with starters of, say, a rare roast beef salad with a Roquefort and horseradish dressing, or a powerful broth made with tomato and chickpea, and served with rustic breads. Anybody who offers Craster kippers, on toast with a lemon and watercress salad as a main course has to be my friend, not to mention the fish pie, or the eponymous trio of local sausages with mashed potato and red wine onion gravy. One of the really brilliant things about their menus is that they make you want to order the lot. Now what that says about my tastes I don't really mind, but I bet I am not the only one.
Take, for instance the Palmer Burger - nice piece of alliteration there - not just with any old cheese, but a generous helping of Somerset Brie, with handcut chips and homemade piccalilli. Their rib-eye steaks are 21-day aged and believe me, you can tell the difference.
For the follow-up there's a Bramley apple and blackberry crumble, complete with English custard, or possibly the chocolate pot with candied zest. The wine list follows the same high standards, with sixteen by the glass, including champagne, though a bottle is cheap enough in all conscience as well as being symptomatic of their all round sensible prices.
It is impossible to do full justice to The Palmer Arms in the space available. I commend it to you as a 'must visit'.
Fixed Lunch
- £12 (2 courses) to £15 (3 courses), Mon - Sat, £15.50 (2 courses) to £18.50 (3 courses), Sun
Your Reviews of Palmer Arms, The
David Henderson (20 November 2007)
We've been there before- for lunch and dinner with friends and both times we'd enjoyed it. So we were a bit surprised last night to be served very mediocre food. My squid and chorizo starter was OK, albeit that the chorizo had been cooked till tough. But my main course of slow-cooked belly of pork was fatty and unpleasant with little flavour. When cooked well it’s a delicious dish but not last night. My wife was kind of puzzled why the ham with her main course was served cold - it didn't say that on the menu.
And then there was the strange wine conversation. I chose a wine to be informed by the waiter that the list had recently changed and that the wine I asked for wasn't available. I suggested there might be the odd bottle in the cellar, but he indicated not, because the last bottle was in his wine rack upstairs! I said that he was a lucky fellow because I was quite taken by that wine, and he demurred saying that he didn't much like it, which gives rise to all sorts of interesting questions - like why he wouldn't sell it; why he chose to tell us he'd snaffled the last bottle, and so on.
Last night was Monday, so maybe the issue was that they had the second team out both in the kitchen and front of house. Let’s hope so because otherwise there's been a major drop in standards at the Palmer Arms. My wife asked questions about a Christmas menu for her group of friends, and was told that it wasn't properly available yet- on 19th November. Not quite right we thought.
So overall, it was disappointing; not least because our previous positive experience had driven our expectations. Let’s hope next time would be back to the previous standard.
Baronhardup (4 November 2007)
My wife and I tried the Sunday lunch starters were duck salad and cock o' leekie soup followed by lamb shank and a mushroom/cheese risotto. All dishes were good and we awarded seven out of ten for quality, cooking and taste, although a little over-salted. It was £55 for two courses, three glasses of wine, two coffees and optional ten percent service. The staff were friendly, dining room fully booked, no tablecloths but there were only linen napkins. On enquiring about the roast beef and pork specialities for Sundays, the beef is served red unless otherwise requested. It is worth going back to try a dinner.
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Additional Info for Palmer Arms, The
Children welcome- Groups allowed
Air conditioning
- Outside seating
- Reservations
- Cover Charge
- House red: £12.50
- House white: £12.50
- Service charge: 10% (optional)
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