Foodess' Reviews

This place could be re-named Classhouse and I’d award them straight A’s in all departments. Oh Boyd can Anthony cook! Corny….. but fortunately they are not. Over 7 years ago we discovered this restaurant before first Michelin star attainment and it’s top in the trio for me. To be fair to Chez Bruce I have only eaten there once and if it were geographically more accessible then my opinion may differ.

Even with a plethora of good eateries surrounding me in the Thames Valley I still yearn to venture to the edge of the metropolis just to go here. We’ve had a couple of tortuous journeys, have arrived late, early and not at all; but undeterred, one evening last week we made it on time to be greeted warmly and to experience yet another display of passion in all they do.

If you’re passionate about food’n wine, enjoy unwinding in a quietly bustling atmosphere in low-key contemporary surroundings, and like to be served vitally good modern fare by a friendly and generally pro’ team, then do pop along. This place has consistently ‘done it’ for us. Enthusiastic sommelier happily recommends to your spec. most often with joyously glugging results and refreshingly without any pretence.

1) Lived up to expectation Sat eve 28 Feb and endorsed by friends who praised staff’s friendliness
2) £50/ head for 2 courses incl. aperitifs and 2 bottles of wine (recommended and will re-order)
3) Recession? This place in a serene Berkshire village buzzed
4) Consensus of opinion : Faultlessly scrumptious

Visited 11 Feb 09 just to check that a week or so ago wasn’t a fluke…..and definitely not, but the slow service last time presumably was. All dishes perfectly executed and arrived in respectable timescales. Instead of the Pithivier of rabbit which apparently sold out at lunchtime, I had smoked haddock soup with a poached egg nestled amongst the great fish hunks; then halibut with a carefully spiced aubergine kind of compote. The other half enjoyed the venison just as much as first time. We managed to share pudding which wasn’t the best take on a Sticky Toffee listed as “Steamed Butterscotch” but still good. Feels like a pub and still being run as one alongside the restaurant but they don’t seem to serve ordinary pub grub – thankfully.

Delightfully enticing menu with most dishes having a modern touch. Unfussy interior maintains pub atmosphere throughout. Wine list has a good variety including some recommended on a separate list. Kitchen service perhaps a shade slow as front of house staff were returning from (presumably) the kitchen empty handed. All was forgiven when we were finally presented with 5 star ingredients handled deftly and plated pleasingly simply. All components of meal carefully prepared, seasoned properly and cooked accurately; adequate amount of jus with the venison had good depth and glossy appearance. Waistline increased inches just glancing at the perfect buttery mash. Pithivier of rabbit to die for. Portions generous, so pud would have been a struggle, though a mouth-watering choice for next time. – first visit 4 Feb 09

I had been longing to return to La.T. having been recommended it last year by a regular diner and also recalling good memories of my own from a visit in the past. We booked end Oct 2008.

Décor and atmosphere like the rest of the Brucey group is informal which we like. I ordered boudin blanc in Madeira sauce served on a bed of spinach which was afloat. How it arrived without the very thin juice being spilt was a miracle, and with no starch on the plate I would have welcomed a strainer. The sausage itself was very good but I am sure that the sauce/jus was not as intended and perhaps worsened by poorly drained spinach. It had a slight acrid taint as though some cooking juices had been burnt but no sweetness present as would have been expected from fortified wine input. When asked if everything was alright, I mentioned the foregoing (minus the bit about acrid/burnt), but waitress returned to tell me that it was how it was meant to be. I can’t help wonder why it is no longer served that way – now with roast apple, bacon and mustard sauce and to be fair could purely be for grounds of variation/seasonal change. I think red mullet followed but the rest was not good enough to be memorable.

My partner and I had 3 unremarkable courses between us, the fourth as above. It was all sloshed down with reasonable quality wine; my yearning now quelled and desire to return again waned. Had I booked another night, it may have been as good as Sq.M. states in preamble if chef was on form. Looking at Glasshouse latest menu I could eat the lot, but not perhaps all at once. I hope Anthony Boyd’s standard is as good as it used to be when it was a ‘regular haunt’ of ours. He and his sous chef had been working together for over 15 years and it showed, or should I say it didn’t because you could not detect when Head Chef had a night off. Fantastic sommelier at Kew too. Anyone been there recently?

Under-stated the surroundings may be, but they belie the food event that awaits. The Fat Duck, in its plain cottage style setting (in contrast with the imposing Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saison – cross ref), produces clever culinary wonderment such as vibrant green porridge with snails, an unlikely but blissful marriage of oyster and passion fruit and has dared to mix cauliflower with chocolate. To further tease and please your senses all meats yield tenderly to the lightest touch – a celestial pork main partnered with sensational macaroni gratin. Fish doesn’t fail to delight either. Wade through the wine list to find that major investment is required in order to imbibe – discerned result is usual. Finish with breakfast – dumbfoundingly good egg with bacon ice cream. Even when things unusually go wrong i.e. a delay in service was remedied (entirely without any prompting from us) by serving what was tantamount to a complete taster menu and proved an utterly glorious way to spend a rainy Saturday afternoon.

However, faultless eating even HB’s team cannot guarantee, and on one occasion I recall that the balance of flavours and textures of one or two courses was not as good as it could have been (the moral is don’t order the same dish twice). No wonder 99% of the time it wows, afterall this is the home of the now almost ubiquitous triple cooked chip.

Fat Duck unfailingly entertains in witty fashion by delivering seriously fine plates of food for diners who will be fed and ‘wined’ efficiently. A neighbourhood restaurant it isn’t, not least because the menu hardly changes, not to mention the ‘gasp-tronomic’ prices, but chiefly because their business is not aimed at regulars….it is an experience not to be missed.

A year or so has past since I last visited, mainly because I found cooking standard to be so variable, there being better gastropubs than this to be found. Quality ingredients are used, but on one occasion chef sacrilegiously managed to crucify 4 scallops. Sunday lunch is probably a safer bet here. Though in a prettyish spot, the interior decor, now tired is tending to knock away charm that the place probably had in another era……dining outside is a good Summer option. Rumour has it that Paul Clerehugh has ‘raised his game’ recently. I am not curious enough to investigate myself yet, so if anyone else knows how it fares I’d be interested to know. I’d put this on a par with Sir Charles Napier at Chinnor (again more than a year since I dined there).

Excrutiatingly Bitter Experience

I had an open mind on my first visit (Jan 09) to Caldesi in Campagna, Bray, since I’d read only a few reviews including a positive from Jay Rayner who in all likelihood was instantly recognised, so ate well. Michelin star absence does not necessarily equate to mediocre food, but deficiencies here meant dismay, though prices were Michelin equivalent.

Bread – often a good indicator of standard to follow – was just OK . Pasta seemed a wise choice. Fettucine with duck ragu (my partner’s) was fine but the tortelloni, oh not so! Thick heavy pasta stuffed with the odd hard lump of pumpkin and patches of amaretto biscuit made some pieces too sweet; 70% edible, saved by a good drenching of butter sauce, pine nuts and some very welcome parmesan cheese.
[Seriously finer pasta can be achieved at Books for Cooks class under the direction of Sam Watherstone.]

Mains of seafood and meltingly tender venison – ‘Short straw’ again……char-grilled squid, a curiously tiny piece of sole, small king scallop and a king prawn doused in chilli and garlic. First the sole tasted slightly bitter, and I momentarily wondered whether this came from the garlic or char-grilling. Unlikely because all were golden to brown colour without even a tinge of black; hence void of heavily charred/burnt flavour. The squid was pleasingly tender to cut, but exceedingly bitter to taste, which took a few mouthfuls of wine to dispel. Needless to say I didn’t try the scallop, nor the prawn and returned it (discretely) as being inedible. I was offered an alternative so chose duck fettucine.

Quite unexpectedly, the owner appeared and began talking to a few diners. Then, I don’t know whether the ritualistic back patting was intended to placate or signify something else, but selected diners – including my partner – were subjected to this affected camaraderie. Maybe too many diners had eaten poor meals, or was this some kind of esoteric acknowledgement for the fraternity?

We felt no… More

Maze was a brilliant lunchtime experience from my foie gras & smoked eel starter to the excellent Portuguese wine recommended. For me the star of the show was undoubtedly the Daurade with shrimp & lobster risotto. My partner’s iron bark pumpkin latte with duck was in the super yummy class too. Staff were efficient, friendly and helpful. My only gripe was that one dish was too cool because it had been waiting to be served before we’d finished starters. However, we had been warned that the dishes are served in quick succession (a bit like Amaya), and we were admittedly rather slow munching through the scrumptious bread and starters, but thankfully the last two dishes arrived at a much more leisurely pace. Also liked the clean modern setting. Dined first time mid Jan 09 and can’t wait to return.