Wokingham Restaurant Guide

Following the departure of chef Dominic Chapman, this smart pub on a village green still ticks the boxes for “top food, service and environment at a sensible price” – now with British-Indian fusion cooking branded as ‘Milaanj’, a play on mélange meaning mixture. Top Menu Tip – “the Scotch eggs” (served with curry mayo).

“Wow, Wow, Wow! Surpassed all expectations… loved every moment” – all reports this year are a hymn of praise to this sumptuous dining room, which has won numerous accolades over the years and where Steve Smith has been at the stoves for five years now. “Imaginative food is presented with real style” in a six-course ‘discovery’ menu for £175 per person that’s “consistently very good”. Top Menu Top – “desserts are particularly good: for example, the rhubarb and truffle chocolate is unusual, delicious and a great ending to a meal”.

This “Reading institution” occupying an 18th-century tollhouse in the town centre has “had a few ups and downs over the last 25 years, but this year is back on top form with a solid menu and excellent service”. Self-taught chef owner Paul Clerehugh, a former rock guitarist with Sweet, also runs the Crooked Billet music pub in Stoke Row (see also).

This “lovely restored Victorian lido” (complete with heated swimming pool and spa) has been “the best ticket in the culinary disaster of Reading for several years now”. One regular feels that the Mediterranean-style food “is still good, but the à la carte prices seem to have gone up more here than most places – still, it always feels like you’ve had a mini-holiday when you’ve been here”.

Set on a 400-acre estate, this converted 18th-century manor house is nowadays a 45-room hotel and promotes its commitment to sustainability, complete with its own biodynamic farm. Skye Gyngell (of London’s Spring) oversees the dining room, which receives a very mixed rep in our annual diners’ poll. Many are wowed or find the cuisine “tasty but playing it a bit safe”, while others settle for “OK, but thought it would be better”, and nobody says it’s terrible. Views diverge on the interior, too – “soulless” to some but an “exceptional” highlight to others.

“An ex-pub that’s turned itself into a wonderful restaurant with very interesting menu and excellent-value lunch” – well-known chef Dom Chapman took over this destination just outside Maidenhead in late 2022 and all reports attest to its “delicious food, attentive service and delightful setting”.

“Very friendly service with good-quality food on a menu that’s refreshed regularly” is the recipe for success at this smart boozer that is now the flagship of Brucan Pubs, a five-strong group from chef Jamie Dobbin (ex-Savoy, Ivy and Groucho CLub) and James Lyon-Shaw, ex- operations manager at the ETM group. One unusual feature is the horsebox converted into a mini dining room in the garden – a tribute to the regal town’s equestrian tastes, perhaps.

“More an experience than a meal out: an amazing trip with faultless service and a restaurant and kitchen running like clockwork” – that’s a convert’s take on Heston Blumenthal’s temple of bizarre molecular gastronomy, world famous for its outlandish culinary concoctions and wacky ideas (like listening to the sea on headphones as you eat seafood). Especially for a first-timer, it can seem “outstanding in all aspects”, and to be fair even many of its detractors do actually rate the kitchen’s creations here as outstanding. But that it delivers “gastronomic theatre rather than a meal out” leads to a view in some quarters that this is “a once-in-a-lifetime experience, rather than somewhere to return to” (and a reporter who did comment on a repeat visit found the second run lacked variety). Then there’s the perennial issue of the “outrageous” prices, which continue to be a major detractor for about one third of reporters and which foster a feeling among more sceptical diners that the whole schtick is a case of “emperor‘s new clothes” – (“at least paying in advance removes some of the shock of the astronomic cost”). Finally, the ambience of this converted pub is “difficult to score as the decor is minimalist and the room is dark”: it isn’t dire but it’s safe to say that it’s not a huge contributor to the event. None of the above is new, by the way – this is a similar review to the one featured in the guide for many of the last ten years… and the show marches on…

“Classics are made very very well (with a twist) in a comfortable proper pub environment” at Heston Blumenthal’s ‘other’ operation in Bray – a 15th-century tavern a short stroll from the Fat Duck ‘mothership’. Over the years, it has successfully avoided leaning too heavily on its celeb associations and if its renown has maybe waned a little over the years, appreciation for it has, if anything, grown as a “beautiful and charismatic venue” with “top-quality cuisine in a pub”. (“Who knows how much input Heston Blumenthal still has nowadays, but the dependable menu of imaginative takes on hearty traditional fare still hits the spot!”).

“A masterpiece of impeccable food and service” – Alain Roux is doing a fine job of steering the Thames-side flagship of the Roux culinary dynasty, founded by his late father Michel in 1972. It is one of the top-10 most commented-on destinations outside London in our annual diners’ poll and ratings were off-the-charts good this year, with it delivering “everything you would expect from a three Michelin star restaurant”. “This is formal fine-dining at its best” (jackets must be worn and sportswear is not permitted), with staff who “manage to make your experience feel individual and very special”. Of course, there’s a “price tag to match”, but even those who complain on this score (and a fair number do) generally go on to say something along the lines of: “even though I wouldn’t say it was quite worth it, it is a superb destination, even if you actually only go once, or just once a year for that (very) special occasion”. (The late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary here). There is a tasting menu as well as the à la carte, but at heart this is utterly classic French cuisine, with dishes such as: ‘Tartare et queues de langoustines d’Ecosse, caviar osciètre, macédoine de légumes au raifort et émulsion à l’estragon’. Especially in summer, it’s “a lovely setting too”, with pre-dinner fizz out on the terrace. “Superlative every time”. “A real gastronomic experience”.