Winkfield Row - Restaurant Guide

A “fun” and smartly turned-out country pub offering “consistently good food and service” at a “price point you’d expect for Windsor: fairly high”. Launched in 2018 by industry insiders Jamie Dobbin (an ex-Savoy, Ivy and Groucho Club chef) and James Lyon-Shaw (ex-ETM group manager), it’s now the flagship of their five-strong Brucan Pubs group.

From South African owners, this eight-strong chain of cafés based in London and the Home Counties wants to be a neighbourhood ‘third space’ where you ‘feel good’ (hence the name). By all accounts they’ve hit their target: fans say the venue, with its “fabulous environment”, is “very popular with locals, always full and fun” and “never fails to satisfy or put a smile on your face”. The reason? Its “very good brunch” – French toast, the Full English, or fancier fare – and it’s also a “lovely lunch spot” if you’ve an appetite for salads, burgers and sarnies with a side of South African cheer.

“Exceptional attention to detail and exquisite food” lead to many best meals of the year being reported in this “elegant and classy” retreat – the dining room at the heart of the Dorchester Collection’s luxurious country house hotel and spa, near the borders of Virginia Water. A number of reports are “surprised it still has only one star from that ‘other’ guide” – “surely Adam Smith is knocking on the doors of two” given the “exquisite” food and “culinary theatre” delivered by the intricate succession of dishes for £185 per person. Despite its 2023 revamp, one or two critics still find its style too “oligarchy and international”, while still acknowledging that the food is “excellent”. Top Menu Tip – “turbot with caviar and two sauces… yes please!”

“So pleased we went… the food, service and table decor was excellent and we look forward to going again” – this traditional pub on the village green parted ways with Dominic Chapman in 2023 and its nowadays run as part of a growing genre of UK establishments as an Indian-in-a-pub, serving fish ’n’ chips with curry sauce, chicken tikka burger… and on Sunday it’s tandoori chicken roast.

A revamped pub from a group with a growing track-record in the Thames valley. Chef Dom Chapman and restaurateur Nigel Sutcliffe worked together at the Fat Duck (where the latter was a director) and Chapman has been head chef at its nearby gastropub sibling, The Hinds Head as well as at the (unconnected) Royal Oak Paley. Here, with business partner James McLean they will revivify this old boozer set in two acres as ‘The Jack’ with 80-cover dining room and terrace, bedrooms and kitchen garden. Other pubs connected with members of the team in the area include The Crown in Bray, The Mutton in Hazeley Heath, The Oarsman in Marlow, Buckinghamshire and The Three Tuns pub in Henley-on-Thames.

The “relatively new and very stylish renovation of a former pub near Maidenhead and the M4” – this smooth-looking, contemporary restaurant and cocktail bar from the team behind The Woodspeen in Newbury opened in November 2024 and is an instant hit with local diners. Like its sibling it provides a particularly polished and professional style of dining for the shires. The aesthetic of the design is “very relaxing”, the front of house team help “make the whole experience exceptional” and there’s a “delicious” selection of luxurious dishes from a selection of surf ’n’ turf with the headline dish, sirloin to share at £90.