Bray Restaurant Guide

“It has to be done… and at the price it’s possibly a never-to-be-repeated experience… but what an experience – theatrical, magical AND delicious!” – Heston Blumenthal’s famously wacky temple of weird molecular gastronomy is entering its 30th year, and most reports say it’s “still an unforgettable and amazingly inventive experience”. Perhaps sensitive to the odd accusation that it can “feel a bit dated and a bit behind the likes of Core, The Ledbury and Row on 5” nowadays the rate of innovation has stepped up this year. A cheaper à la carte option has been reintroduced after an absence of many years (three courses for £255 per person); and there’s now ‘Mindful’ and ‘Journey’ menus (including iconic dishes of the last 30 years) for £275 and £350 per person respectively. Bad vibes about its cost-levels abated somewhat in this year’s annual diners’ poll – only 1 in 6 now consider it “overpriced”.

Heston’s take on the gastroboozer – a former hunting lodge that the celebrity chef took over in 2004, and is just a short waddle from his more famous and fancier Fat Duck. What it offers is “not really pub food per se”, but rather “reinterpretations of classic dishes” that delve into Britain’s gastronomic history, from ‘Quaking Pudding’, to their signature soft-yolk Scotch egg. The results are still relatively down-to-earth, “supremely tasty” and “remain great value”.

Simon & Deborah Bonwick took over this well-known pub (which boasts a cosy, traditional interior and huge garden) in mid 2025, and its website now dubs it as ‘A cosy pipe and slippers kind of pub’ that’s ‘A Gastronomic Chapel amongst the Culinary Cathedrals here in Bray-on-Thames’. He has been and continues to be involved with a number of other pubs in the Henley / Marlow area, and here aims for ‘highly executed seasonal French cuisine’, with dishes such as ‘Market Fish “Like When in Paris”; and ‘Aged Highland Beef fillet “A La Ficelle” with a Rather Nice Sauce’. Reports please!

“A midsummer evening… drinks on the terrace overlooking the river… memorable” – and especially “great for special occasions”. That’s what the royal family thinks, anyway, about this Thames-side legend: one of few restaurants ever to have hosted them in the public dining area (and also, for private dining, the choice of the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip as the venue to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary). Opened in 1972, and celebrating its 40th year of holding three Michelin stars in 2025 (first under the late Michel Roux, nowadays run by his son Alain) it is also one of the Top 10 most commented-on restaurants in our annual diners’ poll outside London; and is especially tipped for landmark celebrations with reports this year of successful 60th, 70th and 80th birthdays marked here. You don’t visit the Waterside for the latest in culinary trends – this is essentially “classic and refined” Gallic haute cuisine and “each element is so full of flavour” with “incredible attention to every detail” from a kitchen team headed by Fabrice Uhryn reporting to Alain. Deft, “welcoming and professional” service is intrinsic to its success, nowadays overseen by Frédéric Poulette, who began his working life as a commis waiter here aged 18. If anyone makes a complaint it’s that it’s “good only and overpriced” and that’s what drags ratings into more middle territory this year, not for the first time. For more diners though it’s just a case of “perfect food, done perfectly”. (“We’ve earned our spurs eating at the Fat Duck and Ynyshir in recent years, but the tasting menu at the Waterside was the best meal of my life. I wouldn’t go back to the first two, but I would definitely go back to the Waterside. My wife bought me a voucher for Xmas so we stayed the night along with two friends. The welcome, the rooms, the service, the tasting menu – all agreed it was outstanding. An expensive evening but an experience I will remember for years”.)

“The food is always delicious” at this riverside bistro from the Roux family (it was founded by Alain and his late father Michel Roux senior in 2017, on the site of a nightclub famous from the ’20s to the ’60s). The “slick, professional welcome always makes for a very enjoyable experience”, and there’s a “simple but well-thought-out menu” – the table d’hôte option is “actually very reasonable” at three courses for £35 per person. Top Tip – “if you can, grab a table by the huge window where you enjoy a fabulous view of the River Thames”.

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.

A “beautiful location in the old stables at Cliveden”, where “you can sit indoors on a lovely cobbled terrace” in the summer, is the main attraction of the second-string restaurant at the Astor family’s glamorous Italianate mansion, where Christine Keeler came to salacious fame back in the Swinging 60s. It’s “expensive” and “relies on its setting”, of course, but “service is good” and there are no complaints about the food this year.

“You feel like royalty” at this “amazing property” owned by the National Trust, which dates back to 1666, but was transformed into the Italianate mansion that you see today by Sir Charles Barry in the 1850s; Cliveden has welcomed a Who’s Who of 20th-century history, and was once owned by America’s richest man, William Waldorf Astor, as well as providing the backdrop to the notorious Profumo Affair. While the modern European cooking doesn’t always outshine that epic backstory, few places offer a more “amazing ‘Arvo’ tea”: “a truly wonderful retrospective experience of grand living in the 1920’s, with first class cakes and savouries and superlative views of the gardens”. One savory is ‘Winston Churchill Roast Beef & Yorkshire Pudding’, namechecking just one of the many famous former guests here.

2023 Review: “Good food at a fair price” was reported again this year at this well-regarded pub: part of a local group with siblings in Gerrards Cross and Beaconsfield. In good weather you can eat on the terrace, or book an ‘Oak Pod’ which seats up to 6 people, and incorporate a heater.

2023 Review: “Every dish is fresh and authentic” at this comfortable curry house which occupies a half-timbered building on the high street, and which has become well-known over many years for its superior Indian cuisine. Heston is a fan.

“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.

“Very much a local gem” – “Dom Chapman’s pub/restaurant remains a most attractive and well-run establishment”, with a “cosy and inviting interior”, “friendly staff” and a “great-value set menu if you want to save some money as well”. Ratings have slipped a notch on reports of some “pedestrian and inconsistent” dishes, but the broader message is of a “great local”.

2024 Review: This “stylish restaurant” near the bridge to Windsor has been run for almost 50 years by co-founder Lin Gilbey, who is responsible for its interior design. Her husband and business partner Bill (scion of the Gilbey’s Gin dynasty) sadly passed away in 2022, but Lin has pressed ahead with improvements, acquiring the premises next door to offer corporate entertainment and private dining facilities. Modern British cooking is generally felt to be “solid”.

2022 Review: This ultra-stylish boutique hotel reopened in late 2016 after a multi-million-pound, two-year renovation. Its “lovely food choices” run the whole gamut from Japanese dishes through to sourdough pizzas, and a large garden contributes to what's “an ideal spot on the way to Henley”.

2024 Review: “Very welcoming hosts have time to chat even during a busy service” at the Chab family’s popular Moroccan stalwart, which has been a fixture for over 25 years thanks to food that’s “fresh, flavoursome and delicious”. It’s run by the children of the founder, Mustapha, who passed away in 2020.

“Amazing, innovative food”, “welcoming staff and a brilliant wine list” combine to good effect at this neighbourhood restaurant, which was opened by Wesley & Francesca Smalley as the Covid restrictions lifted and has prospered ever since – what’s more, it’s “fantastic value for money”. Top Menu Tip – “the lightest cheese soufflé ever”.

“Excellent pasta at excellent prices” means it is “always hard to get a table” at this two-year-old deli-restaurant from Sandra Kuleviciute & Flavio Arruda, a “husband-and-wife team who have completely nailed it for cheap but fantastic homemade pasta” (which is available in gluten- and egg-free versions). There are also a couple of steaks and chicken Milanese on the menu – and no single dish costs over £20.