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The Hinds Head Hotel - a review
The Hinds Head Hotel
High Street, Bray
Berkshire, SL6 2AB
01628 626151
www.hindsheadhotel.co.uk
The Hinds Head Hotel has been the centre of village life in Bray since the 15th century. There are a number of Royal links to the place and it can even boast that it was chosen as the venue where the Duke of Edinburgh had his stag night before his marriage to Queen Elizabeth II in 1947.
Adjacent to this historic pub is the well known restaurant ‘The Fat Duck’ which is owned by Heston Blumenthal. This is a man who stands out like a prize orchid in the culinary world for regularly using liquid nitrogen in his cooking and is the only chef of his kind (or so I believe) to produce such delights as smoked bacon and egg ice cream and snail porridge. I have yet to experience The Fat Duck and with a tasting menu that costs a ‘mere’ £97.75 and an accompanying wine menu (should you so choose) at £90 a head, I am waiting for the oh so special reason to go there. I have however told my husband that this place is of one the restaurants that I would like to visit before I push up the daisies in a cemetery – and so I will keep reminding him of this year upon year.
Yes, I am aware that I went off at a tangent, but there is a clear link. The owner of the Hinds Head is Heston Blumenthal. It is under the supervision of Head Chef Dominic Chapman (who incidentally spent two years working under Heston in The Fat Duck), but you can see Heston’s culinary creativity appearing within the menu – once example being the triple cooked chips.
A weekend in Berkshire gave me the perfect excuse to go to Bray for lunch and then walk it off at the nearby National Trust stunning grounds of Cliveden.
The Hinds Head Hotel not only offers bar food, but also has a dining area. The dining room was very light and airy with the walls and ceilings showing authentic exposed beams. The tables were just far enough apart so as not to hear your neighbour’s conversation.
We started with smoked salmon (my husband’s choice) and rabbit and bacon terrine with cucumber pickles. The smoked salmon was ‘clean tasting and very melt in the mouth’. It came with half a lemon that had been wrapped in a muslin cloth. A very cunning idea because when you squeezed the lemon, the pips remained with the lemon and were not sent shooting onto the plate. My terrine was equally good and was served with some char-grilled rustic bread and finished off with a ‘line’ of sea salt and a heap of finely chopped chives. The mains arrived about 20 minutes later. Some may argue that this is too lengthy, but with very observant waiters who were happy to bring over additional drinks, and the opportunity to sit down with a loved one to catch up on things, the time went very quickly. Our main courses were baby gem salad with radish and goats cheese (my husband’s choice) and rump steak with triple cooked chips and bone marrow sauce. To the delight of my husband, there were some other hidden ingredients such as sprouted pea shoots, dill and chives. The leaves were very fresh and the dressing was not at all overpowering. My steak was cooked to perfection (I had asked for it to be served rare) and the bone marrow sauce was a rich accompaniment presented in a small quantity. The triple cooked chips were heaven – ultra crispy and very naughty – thank goodness I had the opportunity to walk them off later that afternoon.
We could not be tempted by desert. This was probably because we didn’t even peruse the desert menu as the aim was to leave this mighty fine place feeling replete and not rotund. We did however finish off our meal with a double espresso and a peppermint tea.
The dining was informal, waiters attentive and the food was spot on. The bill came to £73.45 – as well as the two courses, this also included a couple of drinks at the bar on arrival, a glass of wine and two large bottles of sparking water with the meal. A very good value meal when the quality of ingredients, presentation of food and ambience of the dining room was taken into account. Final words …. When are we next visiting Bray?
High Street, Bray
Berkshire, SL6 2AB
01628 626151
www.hindsheadhotel.co.uk
The Hinds Head Hotel has been the centre of village life in Bray since the 15th century. There are a number of Royal links to the place and it can even boast that it was chosen as the venue where the Duke of Edinburgh had his stag night before his marriage to Queen Elizabeth II in 1947.
Adjacent to this historic pub is the well known restaurant ‘The Fat Duck’ which is owned by Heston Blumenthal. This is a man who stands out like a prize orchid in the culinary world for regularly using liquid nitrogen in his cooking and is the only chef of his kind (or so I believe) to produce such delights as smoked bacon and egg ice cream and snail porridge. I have yet to experience The Fat Duck and with a tasting menu that costs a ‘mere’ £97.75 and an accompanying wine menu (should you so choose) at £90 a head, I am waiting for the oh so special reason to go there. I have however told my husband that this place is of one the restaurants that I would like to visit before I push up the daisies in a cemetery – and so I will keep reminding him of this year upon year.
Yes, I am aware that I went off at a tangent, but there is a clear link. The owner of the Hinds Head is Heston Blumenthal. It is under the supervision of Head Chef Dominic Chapman (who incidentally spent two years working under Heston in The Fat Duck), but you can see Heston’s culinary creativity appearing within the menu – once example being the triple cooked chips.
A weekend in Berkshire gave me the perfect excuse to go to Bray for lunch and then walk it off at the nearby National Trust stunning grounds of Cliveden.
The Hinds Head Hotel not only offers bar food, but also has a dining area. The dining room was very light and airy with the walls and ceilings showing authentic exposed beams. The tables were just far enough apart so as not to hear your neighbour’s conversation.
We started with smoked salmon (my husband’s choice) and rabbit and bacon terrine with cucumber pickles. The smoked salmon was ‘clean tasting and very melt in the mouth’. It came with half a lemon that had been wrapped in a muslin cloth. A very cunning idea because when you squeezed the lemon, the pips remained with the lemon and were not sent shooting onto the plate. My terrine was equally good and was served with some char-grilled rustic bread and finished off with a ‘line’ of sea salt and a heap of finely chopped chives. The mains arrived about 20 minutes later. Some may argue that this is too lengthy, but with very observant waiters who were happy to bring over additional drinks, and the opportunity to sit down with a loved one to catch up on things, the time went very quickly. Our main courses were baby gem salad with radish and goats cheese (my husband’s choice) and rump steak with triple cooked chips and bone marrow sauce. To the delight of my husband, there were some other hidden ingredients such as sprouted pea shoots, dill and chives. The leaves were very fresh and the dressing was not at all overpowering. My steak was cooked to perfection (I had asked for it to be served rare) and the bone marrow sauce was a rich accompaniment presented in a small quantity. The triple cooked chips were heaven – ultra crispy and very naughty – thank goodness I had the opportunity to walk them off later that afternoon.
We could not be tempted by desert. This was probably because we didn’t even peruse the desert menu as the aim was to leave this mighty fine place feeling replete and not rotund. We did however finish off our meal with a double espresso and a peppermint tea.
The dining was informal, waiters attentive and the food was spot on. The bill came to £73.45 – as well as the two courses, this also included a couple of drinks at the bar on arrival, a glass of wine and two large bottles of sparking water with the meal. A very good value meal when the quality of ingredients, presentation of food and ambience of the dining room was taken into account. Final words …. When are we next visiting Bray?
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