Black Boys Inn

In all of my time of eating in established restaurants I have never been to such an overated restauarant.
I know the last chef left for the three tuns nearby but there should be no excuse for the offering we received.
The service was slow and at times rude .the food was bland and pretentious and the price was that of similar establishments nearby but without the quality.The only plus side was the setting which is beautiful

Well, what ever happened to the cooking here.They should give Simon Bonwick the old chef a buzz and see if he ccould get it back on track??? Service from the owners is worse than it ever was!

What is it with restaurants in the Home Counties west of London? There seem to be a rash of places just like this one , with origins as a pub, serving “gastro ” food, all with the same scrubbed pine look with modern colours , mostly with a “Michelin chef” or more accurately (since Michelin rate restaurants), a chef that has worked in a Michelin starred restaurant.

The other things they have in common is middling food and poor value for money, and the Black Boys seems to fit in well on all these parameters. Todays visit at a quiet lunchtime saw us with two unprepossessing courses each , three glasses of wine and two coffees and bill for £90, which in my judgment is 30% too much. Even if the food had been outstanding, which it wasn't, I could have an excellent lunch in a real one /two star restaurant in London for that price, but of course the competition is better and closer there. There was little on the menu that actually required real time cooking of any sort of complexity, and surprisingly for a pub, there was nothing on the wine list for under £20 and precious little under £25. Against the tone of other reviews I've seen for this establishment, the service we received was decent and friendly enough.

I do wonder why in general I seem to get better food and much better value in restaurants rather than “gastropubs”. Quantities were on the small side, though just about sufficient to avoid complaint. And I do wonder how much of the food we ate in this place and the like is freshly prepared from scratch for us?

There are some examples not too far away of this type of establishment making a better fist of what they offer the consumer. The Greene Oak in Windsor is one example, the Hand & Flower in Marlow is another. I'm afraid we won't find a reason to go back to the Black Boys when we can get better, more interesting food and better values elsewhere.

My partner and I had booked in advance for what we hoped would be a fantastic meal and experience to celebrate not just New Year’s eve but also a special anniversary of ours. We were greeted and given the inclusive glass of champagne and ordered our meals. My partner kindly gave me his glass of champagne to drink as he was driving. We both ordered the fois gras which was delicious and we were then served with the main course.

My partner’s venison was lovely but my first mouthful of the mashed potato served with the sea bass revealed that it was cold and the rest of the dish was luke warm. Obviously on New Year’s Eve I had no wish to complain but felt that for a meal costing £75.00 per head, in a restaurant that was clearly not full that it was wrong not to say something. The waitress took my plate away and I waited. When it came back there was no apology but I could immediately see that it was much hotter but both my partner and I said it looked different from what had been served first time around. Again, I had no wish to complain and didn’t work out what was different until I had finished my meal and looked across to see another person being served the sea bass with a magnificent langoustine perched on top of the fish, and I recalled that the dish was indeed sea bass served with langoustine, clams (I had one) and a crayfish sauce. Therefore when the waitress came to take away my plate I mentioned to her that I had not been given the langoustine. I was then horrified when she return with a single langoustine unceremoniously plonked onto a small plate and said here you are…. What was she thinking……??? That having eaten my meal that I would then eat the langoustine all on it’s own!!!

I really did not want to complain and ruin our New Year celebration but the more I thought about it the more I felt incredibly disappointed. These are the words I used when I did speak up to I imagine the joint owner gentleman. The reaction of oh, I understand they brought you out a langoustine…. It’s something nice to finish off with … was not what I was expecting. Again there was no apology that I was disappointed.

What then followed was that a lady (joint owner?) came up to our table when our deserts arrived and again unceremoniously and without apology simply said these are with our compliments and gave my non drinking partner (My partner had not had any wine with his meal and said at the point I ordered mine that he wasn’t drinking as he was driving) a glass of sweet white wine, and myself a non- red wine or port drinker, a glass of port. This action did not represent any apology or any attempt to see if my incredible disappointment with our New Year’s celebration had been appeased.

I can now assure you that it did not appease me, and I remain incredibly disappointed with the level of service that was provided by a restaurant with the restaurant. I wrote the above letter to them and sent it by email asking if they would like to respond. I have heard nothing and therefore am positng this review in order that everyone can know of my experience.

This Gastro pub didnt live up to its reputation. Very average food overall, and very poot hospitality on behalf of the owners. Not once were we asked if we enjoyed a course and as out of a party of 4 people on each course at least one course was left partly uneaten – but never asked if everything was ok – we left with the impression they didnt care and a bill that was far too much for such a poor evening. A real shame!!

If there was an award for cramming the greatest variety of vegetables into one dish, then Black Boy’s Inn Chef would win it. Starters are generally fine, but when it comes to the main course the plot meanders. Quality of ingredients is good and the main player (in my case halibut) may have been on steroids, but a conglomeration of veggies spoiled it somewhat. Likewise my partner's dish. Last visit, like Michael H. we had a mis-hap with wine too, a different vintage being served from the one selected – the more expensive of course, but because it was good we decided not to draw attention to the error. Venue feels slightly more upmarket than a pub except for the young inexperienced staff. Does deliver VFM.

A true delight, fantastic value for money!

Petite marmite with goose liver, gara rock sea bass fillet,woodland mushrooms and red wine fumet,are two dishes i simply adored before sticky lemon pudding which was cosmic.our friends enjoy this place as much as we do,because maybe the chef {s.bonwick} doesnt seem to have an off day! The wine list is excellent,ther are so many wines by the glass! Toilets,wood floor gleam as does the cutlery and china,this is a great night out and only forty minutes out of town??

Went there for wedding anniversary. Generally good, but didn't meet my expectations considering the high scores from previous reviewers, and Michelin Bib Gourmand status. Still worth a visit, but didn't live up to hype.
Pros:

• Better than average restaurant food
• Country/rustic setting, wood burning stove, oak beams etc
• Fantastic sticky toffee pudding
  

Cons:

• Disappointed with "Pigs Head" terrine starter – tasteless – Rowanberry sauce disappointing. Tasted like orange sauce.
• Quality of braised beef could have been better.
• Menu is unclear/pretentious, and descriptions from staff were poor. eg didn't explain that vegetables contained truffle flavours, or Mont Blanc dessert contained alcohol, neither of which I would have chosen if staff/management had informed me accurately. – Different dishes served with very similar vegetables, making them 'samey'
• Attempted to overcharge me for champagne.
• Service of courses – we felt a bit rushed to complete meal. Perhaps because it was Saturday and they had a subsequent booking for our table.