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hand picked restaurants

Windsor is one of England's most beautiful towns, steeped in history and located in a wonderful natural setting on the banks of the Thames. There is so much to do locally with great shops, wonderful museums, Windsor and Ascot racecourses, The Great Park and of course Windsor Castle, home to the Royal Family.

The only thing lacking was a flagship restaurant and bar that the residents could be proud of and in which visitors could indulge themselves. That was until Browns opened in May 2002.

Browns Windsor became a favoured location in less than two years. In the winter months the restaurant oozes warmth and charm as shoppers, tourists, business folk and Windsor's discerning residents utilise Browns as the ideal place to relax and meet friends and colleagues.

However, in the summer the restaurant really comes alive. Browns Windsor is the place to people watch and be seen, whether you are there to enjoy a meal on the balcony, or a long cocktail on the riverside decking.

The restaurant is located opposite the river ferry which takes people to the races at Windsor and Ascot, and makes Browns an ideal location for corporate entertaining and race-goers. Browns Windsor combines modern style with the high values of excellent service, quality food and drink that has made it the much loved restaurant it has grown to be.

Browns is a classic English restaurant with a menu that evolves rather than changes and there's always a dish to suit your taste. So typical starters might include pan seared scallops on a bed of pea and mascarpone purée with chorizo and chilli butter sauce or lobster and crab croquettes with a garlic cream leading on to main courses such as slow cooked shoulder of Welsh lamb in Rosemary and garlic jus with minted broad beans and peas, and sweet potato dauphinoise or grilled chicken breast topped with prosciutto and taleggio with basil oil, served with watercress and crisp seasoned fries.

A quick look at the dessert menu brings you to the conclusion that this is no place to skip on sweets, so indulge wholeheartedly in the apple, gooseberry and elderflower crumble with custard, profiteroles with warm chocolate sauce or the lemon and mandarin tart with clotted cream.

Browns offers a genuine value for money experience but also can cater for large parties with a more expansive budget. A full wine, cocktail and champagne list, with the champagnes being particularly famous for their sensible pricing, ensures that every occasion is well-blessed with joie de vivre.

For more information, including their full menu, have a look at their Website.

Windsor Grill, only a stone's throw from Windsor's Long Walk, is a continuation of the Antony Worrall Thompson crusade for simple, honest food, largely British, to be served in his restaurants, using only the finest ingredients. The Grill is a welcome addition to the pleasures of this historical royal fortress town.

One of the principal attractions of the Grill is the expert attention paid to the selection of the meat courses, combined with a certain leaning towards some of the more traditional dishes as befits a decent brasserie type menu. Devilled lamb's kidneys, or bang bang chicken with peanut sauce, Mr Machin's Scottish smoked salmon and avocado prawns all carry connotations of red damask and shiny brass rails. But for many the steak tartare never fails, served as a starter or main course compete with capers, shallots, gherkins with grilled bread, and chips with the mains.

There is a culinary symmetry at work here and it is little surprise to find seared scallops, salmon and smoked haddock fishcake with buttered spinach and Hollandaise, or chilli salt squid with guacamole, sour cream, and chilli jam sitting comfortably within range of sumptuous steaks.

Few burgers have a better pedigree than those offered by AWT, and the eponymous version weighing in at 8oz is good value, made with 35 day hung Scottish beef and served on an onion bun with salad horseradish and tomato sauce, mayonnaise and skinny or chunky chips.

Six different cuts of steak start with a 10oz rib-eye, and move through a 24oz rib-chop on the bone, described as "a mega piece of meat", a modest 6oz fillet that is very tender and fat free, finishing with a 16oz Chateaubriand for two. Five different sauces give pretty total taste coverage.

That traditional piece of indulgence in the form of a classic mixed grill brings to your plate steak, lamb cutlet, pork sausage, calf's liver, dry cured bacon, lamb's kidney, black pudding, tomato and mushroom, though pork enthusiasts are likely to be sidetracked with a plate of porchetta, black pudding, sausage, belly, bacon, sage and onion stuffing and a good helping of apple chilli jelly.

A menu of daily specials explores Parma ham, grilled figs and melon salad, slow cooked duck leg served with soy and sesame Asian salad, a 9oz fillet steak, fillet of brill with a medley of greens, creamy garlic and white wine prawns, and a vegetarian dish.

One always has the feeling that desserts at a robust restaurant such as this are a bit of an afterthought, but a vanilla pannacotta, berry coulis and tuille biscuit, fresh English strawberries with pouring cream in season, or some very agreeable Wigmore soft cheese are certainly not to be ignored. Their lunch and late supper menu meet a real need in the town and at less than £15 for three courses who's to grumble?

A well selected wine list yields some intensely interesting prospects and those who like their cocktails will certainly not be disappointed. AWT these days wears the contented smile of a man who has escaped the rat race and settled down with a nice number of restaurants in each of which he can take a close interest. For further information a quick click on their Website does the trick.

Avanti Bistro Bar Cafe is a smart, highly presentable eating place in Peascod Street, with a combination of Classic Italian and Traditional British cuisine that yields a wide and interesting menu calculated to please all tastes. History does not relate about the possibility of royal patronage but whoever calls will be treated with the same courtesy and efficiency for which Avanti is renowned.

It doesn't take too long for people to fall in love with the tourist town of royal Windsor. Said to be the Queen's favourite residence, the Castle looms, though not unpleasantly, from almost every angle and following the fire in 1992 and the subsequent restoration, visitor figures have increased.

Avanti's red awning gives you a hint of what to expect inside; pasta, steak, wine, beer, cappuccino, cakes, et al. The present owners took over in 2005 and have succeeded in building up a first class response to the widely varying tastes of their customers. Life starts at 8.30am with three enticing options if you include the vegetarian choice. An Avanti and the full English place emphasis on quantity and sausages, bacon black pudding and eggs are only part of a blistering opening to the day. There are plenty of more restrained dishes such as eggs Benedict, croissants, blueberry pancakes and an all day brunch which keeps the spirit of breakfast alive.

For later in the day prawn and avocado salad, gourmet burgers with Aberdeen Angus beef, wonderful pasta including a bolognaise to die for, choice of pizzas and chicken pesto alla Genovese. The British end of the menu offers traditional fish and chips, still a top favourite dish despite incursions from other parts of the globe - and very welcome too.

The food here could not be described as adventurous, but for its clientele is absolutely right, sound cuisine with reliable ingredients and as I am sure they would say in Yorkshire as well as Berkshire, "no mucking about". The British excel in their preparation of lamb, from cutlets to steaks, and a lamb steak at Avanti is served with a red wine and rosemary sauce, on a bed of mashed potato - simple, so very tasty and hunger quenching.

There is an excellent Patisserie menu with all sorts of mildly naughty but oh-so-delicious confections that raise the spirits when taken with one of their speciality or herbal teas. A small but adequate wine list can be purchased by the bottle or glass, London Pride ale carries the flag, and if the day is long and your feet are giving you a hard time a Bloody Mary outside in the sun may turn out to be just what you need.

Yes, the majestic Castle certainly beckons, but how can one forget the quiet charm of those little gift shops and places like Avanti Bistro Bar Café? But charm draws and their book-a-table option ensures that you can find your table waiting for you rather than the other way round.

Check on their Website for menu changes, special occasions and offers.

With quality food, friendly staff, quick service and excellent value for money, Nando's is a great place to eat. Don't expect identikit, pre-fab restaurant interiors which are usually a staple of the larger chains; each restaurant is tailored to its local surroundings and customers, offering up a unique restaurant experience to go with the equally unique taste of legendary, Portuguese, Peri-Peri chicken.

Your peri-peri chicken, when the chips are down so to speak, is a fresh A grade chicken that has never seen the inside of a freezer, but having made the supreme sacrifice is butterfly-cut, marinated for 24 hours in a secret brew called - you've guessed - peri-peri, and is then cooked to your choice over an open flame.

There are, of course, many variations on this broad theme, numerous plays on words such as Nando's experi-perience, peri-peri good reasons why you should eat at a Nando's, and all one hopes is that for their sake chicken never goes out of fashion. New Nando's are opening all the time, peri-peri quickly in fact, the spicy bastes become hotter and more daring, and the full platter offers a whole chicken, large chips or spicy rice and Nando's salad or coleslaw.

Since chickens are vegetarian it seems logical you can order veggie or bean burgers and patties, and still feel the heat from the peppers. All in all, Nando's is hotly recommended for those occasions when you have a large following of permanently hungry children, or adults even, to keep happy - the only thing taken really seriously is the quality of those peri-peri good chickens.

Nando's is a place for bright people who love to laugh and love to eat, and is guaranteed to spice up your taste buds. Their fun approach to life means that when you visit Nando's you can fully relax without the airs and graces associated with more starchy dining out.

For the location of your nearest Nando's restaurant and a host of details about menus, parties and drinks, a click on their Website will reveal a Pandora's box of information.

Bella Italia is a restaurant that pulsates with Italian style and fashion, where the day starts with breakfast, not least the Inglese, the familiar bacon, sausage, mushroom, tomato and fried or scrambled eggs and sauté potatoes with ciabatta toast so beloved of hearty eaters seeking a good start to the day, particularly when they don't have to prepare it. A vegetarian option is available, along with the bambini of sausages, tomato and scrambled egg, or a strapazzata, scrambled eggs on ciabatta toast. A cappuccino or hot chocolate offers a more gentle awakening and croissant or pastries are welcome at almost any time.

It is always worth remembering that eating Italian is a great opportunity to work away through something rather more liberating than the conventional 3 course English meal. Little and often seems to be the motto but move on to the antipasti and it's immediately obvious this is no easy task, confronted with well over a dozen dishes, not one of which you really have the heart to turn down. The selezione classica assembles a few of the favourite starters; oven baked lemon and rosemary chicken wings, spiced meatballs, calamari, mini garlic butter-filled calzoni and lightly battered courgettes served with flamed pepper and lemon herb dips.

A speck e rucola pizza, added to a traditional margherita brings together two traditions with Italian speck ham providing the second, but it is within the pasta and risotto dishes that you can adapt almost any main ingredient, as well enjoy some of Italy's most traditional treats. Who can deny a well formed spaghetti Bolognese or penne Marco Polo? And not for nothing is a nicely prepared spaghetti carbonara the preferred dish of many.

From a selection of five choices amongst the secondi many will head unerringly for controfiletto ai ferri, a 7oz sirloin steak char-grilled to preference and served with garlic butter, roast field mushrooms, fries and rocket, or the fritto misto, lightly battered prawns, cod fillet, calamari and courgette with fries and a herb lemon and caper dip.

Could anything be more appropriate than The Godfather, for 1 or 2 naturally, with nutty chocolate fudge brownies, vanilla and toffee ice cream with chocolate sauce, fresh cream and wafer curls, and rest assured the coffee will do justice to the meal.

With a wine list that makes few concessions to other countries - and why should it - good Italian food can receive an equally national baptism by wine. For further enlightenment, news about their on-line shop and special deals, a click on their lively Website will reveal all.

Café Rouge has over one hundred branches throughout Britain all offering a wide range of dishes drawn from the French cuisine. Slightly less than half their branches are in or close to London. Almost inevitably the décor and design of each restaurant differs from the others, but there is a general curtsy towards La France.

Many restaurants do an excellent breakfast, or shall we say petit dejeuner, at which such delights as scrambled eggs and smoked salmon on toasted brioche, croque Madame, croissants and pain au chocolat make welcome appearances, and to their credit the English traditional gets top billing.

An array of small dishes takes in pulled pork pâté with French bread, and spicy beef and lamb sausage with harissa mayonnaise. Salads and pasta feature largely, as do baguettes and croques. Quick dishes, ideal for lunch, include slices of saucisson and cured pork loin with French bread.

Moving on to more serious stuff we find steaks, an 8oz bavette and thin cut rib eye, with a choice of béarnaise or peppercorn sauce. No French menu would be complete without the poulet jaune grille, pan-roasted breast of corn-fed chicken served on a warm taboulé of bulgar wheat and a medley of roasted vegetables with minted crème fraîche, or a steak frites before moving on to the crème brûlée, or the tart tatin. Almost invariably the coffee tastes like coffee should, something that sadly can all too often still not be said of our English restaurants, who depend too much upon technology and too little on the acquisition of a certain flair for this important conclusion to a meal.

By now we all know that the French, despite their distinctive habits when it comes to matters of satisfying the inner man, maintain a miraculous longevity of life. This is generally attributed to a number of causes, of which a measured consumption of decent wine is foremost. Café Rouge, you may be pleased to hear, encourages this with a well-chosen selection of French wines. Their prix fixe lunch and meals for children, both at a very reasonable figure, also offer excellent value.

Their Website will keep you updated on menu changes, news and other competitions and offers from the Café Society.

Opposite Windsor Castle, Zizzi Windsor offers a delicious Italian menu in a relaxed, cosy setting in the heart of this bustling town. The idiosyncratic interior is inspired by the nearby Legoland theme park and boasts Lego sculptures, checko chairs and coloured glass light window pendants. The restaurant is also less than a minute's walk from Theatre Royal Windsor.

Close to Windsor's shopping hotspots like the Windsor Royal Station and King Edward Court shopping centres, Zizzi is a welcome retreat for tired shoppers.

The bustling open kitchen at Zizzi turns out freshly prepared, tasty fare. The extensive à la carte offers distinct sections of antipasti, salads, pizza and calzone, pasta, risottos and mains of seasonally changing meat and fish dishes with a variety of tempting desserts to finish.
 
Zizzi's special antipasti platter has mixed Italian meats with buffalo milk mozzarella, marinated sun-dried tomatoes, mixed olives and red onion focaccia bread. There's also choice of arancini, crispy risotto balls stuffed with mozzarella and peas and served with a tomato chilli sauce as well as gnocchi gorgonzola, potato dumplings in a creamy gorgonzola and spinach sauce seasoned with nutmeg and black pepper, setting the tone for a hearty meal.

For a delicious pasta or risotto choose between penne vodka, king prawns, chilli, peas and Grana Padano in a creamy tomato and vodka sauce; ravioli di capra, goat's cheese and spinach ravioli served with tomato sauce and topped with pesto and pine nuts; zucca e pancetta, pumpkin, pancetta, spinach, sage and Grana Padano topped with mascarpone and rigatoni con pollo e funghi, chicken in a tomato, onion, rosemary and mushroom sauce. Gluten-free pasta is also available on request.

If you prefer a pizza, then you could try Zizzi's speciality pizza rustica, which couples extra thin and crispy bases with a range of toppings such as bufala, buffalo mozzarella with sunblush tomatoes, basil, rocket and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil or mare e monti, one half topped with tiger prawn, courgette and mozzarella and the other with spicy sausage, tomato sauce and chilli, all finished off with a rocket and crème fraîche. The carne piccante calzone has marinated chicken, meatballs, Bolognese sauce, mushrooms, chillies, tomato and mozzarella while the clarissa version, has aubergine, and red pepper caponata, olives, goats' cheese, rocket, pine nuts, tomato and mozzarella. Zizzi's calzon'pizzas, half calzone and half pizza, add an interesting twist to the meal.

Sumptuous mains include agnello con peperonata, roasted lamb shank served with basil, roasted vegetables and a little pot of potatoes with tomato, red onion and Grana Padano; duck arrosto, slow roasted whole duck leg in a balsamic, olive and pancetta reduction served with Tuscan potatoes and green beans; and sea bass al vino, sea bass pan fried with wine, garlic and baby plum tomatoes and served with herby potatoes.

The scrumptious dessert list offers torta cioccolata with its thick hazelnut chocolate base topped with rich chocolate torte and served with vanilla mascarpone; homemade tiramisu; creamy vanilla pannacotta with fruit compote and torta Zizzi, an almond-based plum and fig tart topped with pistachios and icing sugar and served with gelato.

The wine list is dominated by a range of Italian wines from regions such as Veneto, Lazio, Sicily, Tuscany and Lombardy. Also on offer is an assortment of beers, and spirits as well as a range of soft and hot drinks.

More information can be found on their Website.

Carluccio's was started by Antonio and Priscilla Carluccio as a small café and shop stocking Italian food and ingredients in 1991, and grew into a restaurant serving authentic cuisine at sensible prices in 1999. Antonio is an expert on food and has been a wine merchant, restaurant manager and owner, cookery expert on television and author of twelve cookery books. It is therefore not surprising, that today Carluccio's has over fourty-nine outlets across the UK.

Antonio believes Italian cookery involves minimum fuss and maximum flavour. This is exactly what his restaurants try to do by using fresh produce, and working largely with families who make things the traditional way - with care. Their passion also translates into special events like hands-on cookery classes and recipe sharing, Antonio and his team regularly organise for interested guests. They also offer takeaways and a catering service.

The breakfast menu offers croissants and breads served with butter and preserves or honey and free range eggs, either scrambled or fried and served with pancetta or ciabatta. They also have long cured Parma ham and healthier options like muesli and fruits. These are best had with coffee, tea or freshly squeezed juice. Carluccio's offers an impressive list of white, red, rosé and sparkling wines which complement your meal.

The restaurants offer a range of soup and salads which give your meal a nutritious start before moving on to the mains. If you like pasta, enjoy the small filled parcels served in a ham and cream sauce, or sample the Neapolitana spaghetti with whole fresh clams, garlic, herbs and chilli. The branzino con salsa e patate, fillet of pan fried sea bass served with tomato salsa and sautéed potatoes and Somerset rib-eye steak with rosemary potatoes, called bistecca di bue con patate, are good options too. If you are looking for something lighter, you could opt for the numerous sides called contorni and panini.

In the Tuscany region of Italy, meals end simply with almond biscuits dipped in a sweet local wine, Vin Santo and eaten. You can enjoy that experience at Carluccio's, or settle for a more conventional dolci of tiramisu, warm chocolate and kahlua pudding, your choice of Italian cheeses or gelatos in different flavours.

Things seem to move fast at Wagamama - the Asian inspired, noodle restaurant chain that was started in 1992. As soon as you decide what you want to eat, your order is taken via a PDA, and wirelessly networked to the kitchen, so it can be made fresh and served right after. The restaurant chain does not believe in taking reservations, and all customers are seated on a first come, first serve basis. In fact, be aware that most of the tables are long ones and you will often be asked to share them.

The restaurants are modelled on traditional Japanese ramen bars that have been popular for hundreds of years - ramen are Japanese style noodles, served in a meat-based broth, topped with pork, dried seaweed or even corn. Chilli beef ramen, made of noodles in a spicy pork and chicken soup topped with a marinated and grilled sirloin steak and fresh vegetables, is hearty and satisfying.

Apart from ramen, you could opt for the coconut soup based kare noodles or teppan, cooked on a hot, flat griddle. They also offer many rice dishes like katsu curry, chicken fillet deep-fried in panko breadcrumbs, served with a lightly spiced curry sauce and sticky white rice. Vegetarians are definitely not ignored, as they can opt for saien soba, made using whole-wheat noodles in a soup topped with stir-fried vegetables, seasoned with soy sauce, sesame oil and garnished with sliced spring onion.

Meat and vegetable dumplings, skewered chicken, deep-fried prawns and raw salads double as both sides and starters. Steamed green soya-beans, called edamame, go well with drinks - hold them up to your mouth and squeeze the succulent beans from the pod. If you've noticed, Wagamama is more about eating healthy food fast and less about the order. Don't be surprised if you're served the main course before the side dish - order isn't important, the aim is, don't wait - just tuck in and share.

Wash down your meal with sake, plum wine or even a Japanese beer. Wind up your meal with coconut reika - three scoops of dairy coconut ice cream topped with a fresh, tangy mango sauce and toasted coconut flakes or the tamarind and chilli Pavlova, with a crunchy meringue base served with a raspberry and tamarind sauce.

At Wagamama, you can also shop for cookbooks, sauces, ramen bowls and t-shirts. The restaurant is all about enjoying genuine, reasonably priced, Pan-Asian cuisine in a sleek but informal setting.