Restaurant-Guide.com
hand picked restaurants

A child of The Fat Duck, this relatively new and attractive place at Marina Bray aims to offer the unashamedly high standards of its parent to a wider audience - and so it does. The genius and skill which Heston Blumenthal has lavished upon Fat Duck for the last eight years has transferred, along with his former Head Chef of many years standing, Garrey Dawson, with a high degree of success, into humbler surroundings and at considerably lower prices. An interesting wine list offers a reasonable selection under £20 and there are very fair by-the-glass prices. No pipes or cigars in the dining room.

Bray is a quiet little commuter village not far from Maidenhead, known until recently for its questionably good fortune in having The Waterside Inn and The Fat Duck in its midst.

Now those who are looking for something a touch less formal have joined in the fun, and under the wing of Heston Blumenthal no less, there is now a gastropub to meet the need.

The surroundings are bucolic, with a long, low wood-panelled room that sets the mind at rest, and that's before you even see the menu.

A wonderful array of user-friendly dishes, potted shrimps with watercress salad, Lancashire hotpot, oxtail and kidney pudding, rabbit and bacon terrine with char-grilled bread and Cumberland sauce, or steak and kidney pudding; yes, the general trend is towards good, hearty food that pleases.

It is possible to eat at the bar, which places you marginally nearer to the admirable Hook Norton bitter, or in a nearby serviced dining room. This is a refreshing demonstration that one of the maestro chefs in UK has his feet firmly on the commercial ground and can tackle two sectors of the eating out market with equal skill.

A native of Berkshire, Heston Blumenthal has returned to his roots. Influenced by the cuisine and the richness of France, this chef likes to challenge the rules and venture into the unknown. Although located in a XVth century building, the Fat Duck offers a modern minimalist interior, warm welcome, attention to detail and a cuisine which is strict yet original. Some dishes have become classics: snail porridge, salmon poached with liquorice or the now famous smoked bacon and egg ice-cream.

There are not too many people who could turn cooking into the high art that it has become under Heston Blumenthal. In 2004 Fat Duck was awarded three Michelin Stars, followed in 2005 by the Harpers and Moet Best Restaurant of the Year outside London Award.

This latest phase has resulted into a procession of small courses with choices available at the third, fourth and sixth courses only. The majority of those who experience them speak of the results of this approach with awe. Meanwhile on the wine list front the credits continue to roll, with never an indifferent bottle in sight. House wines from £30 are certainly not cheap, but at least you can trust them. No pipes or cigars in the dining room.

The Waterside Inn is located alongside the River Thames, with a room that links the river and dining into one harmonious whole. To be entertained there is one of the classic experiences that should not be missed. Opened by Michel Roux, who already owned Le Gavroche in London with his brother Albert, his has been one of England's top restaurants for many a year now.

The cooking is a confident statement about what the restaurant thinks its clients value and they are spot on. This measure applies to everything; nothing is neglected in the desire to please. Excellence at this level does not arrive cheaply.

Whilst the menu exceptionnel at £83.50 sounds incredibly expensive, the five course dinner selection could include dishes like pan-fried escalope of foie gras with soft white beans and wild mushrooms, citrus sauce; followed by lobster medallions with a white port sauce and ginger flavoured vegetable julienne; granité of passion fruit and white rum, then roasted leg and best end of milk lamb with seasonal vegetables and a minted hollandaise sauce, and finish with a selection of wonderful French cheeses or warm golden plum soufflé.

House wine starts at around £25, but they have an undoubtedly fine choice, at prices to match.

It is not everybody who would seek to expand into a town that happens to be the only one in Britain with two three-Michelin-starred restaurants already well established. But then Giancarlo and Katie Caldesi are not just 'everybody', and with three other successful restaurants up and running they are clearly entitled to tread where others might not.

The results support this supposition, and an a la carte menu really says it all. A primi of warm thinly sliced roast pork stuffed with Italian herbs on salad leaves and green lentils sets the tone before moving on to the pasta dishes with a ravishing Sicilian tortelloni stuffed with mozzarella and aubergine with a cherry tomato sauce.

No Italian menu is complete without its pesce dishes and the char grilled king prawns and squid with oven-roasted baby fennel and cherry tomatoes resounds well. So too does the wild boar stew with red wine and tomato sauce on truffle polenta, though oven-baked lamb cutlets in red wine with wild mushrooms and shallots work well for me.

From the dessert menu out of a choice of six, including the cheese selection, with doughnut sticks with Strega crème patisserie and Sambuca jam there really is no competition. It may be bold and brassy and Italian, but this is an Italian restaurant - par excellence.

The wine list is almost Italian, as one might expect or indeed hope for. Some of the Southern and Sicilian wines are particularly noteworthy and when it comes to dessert wines . . . . . .

This is one not to be missed.

Reached by footbridge or boat there is a slight feeling of leaving the country, but this is quickly dispelled as you trip over the first rabbit, legions of which share the island with the peacocks. The menu covers amazing territory and certainly goes a long way towards keeping everybody happy. Good wine list with house wine at £18.