Denham Restaurant Guide

2022 Review: Upscale Georgian gastroboozer, handy for J1 of the M40, whose “very pleasant surroundings” (in a ridiculously picture-postcard village), superior ambience and “nice garden” add considerably to its charms. The food, which is divided into small and big plates of comfort food-style British fare, isn’t wildly ambitious but is “consistently good”.

2021 Review: “When all you want is an old-school burger”, these US-based arrivals of recent years really “hit the spot” – you can “build your own”, with “tons of accessories”; plus “seriously addictive fries”, “thick milkshakes”, and “more soda flavours than is reasonable”. “The eat-in experience is as depressing as McDonald’s”, though, in fact perhaps more so – “some branches have a strangely gloomy ambience” – but fans feel that “if you don’t mind 1980s-rock, a trip can still be surprisingly fun”.

Malik Ahmed’s traditional but “exceptional” curry house has achieved consistently high ratings for more than 20 years. Part of a trio with siblings in Cookham and Marlow, it’s run hands-on by a family with 150 years in the business – the restaurant Malik’s great-great-grandfather founded in what is now Bangladesh is still going strong!

This village gastroboozer was taken over by Terry Wogan’s daughter Katherine and her husband Henry back in 2011 and “what a local” it still is, turning out “always superb food” (“Sunday lunch is amazing”) that’s “great value” too. Having called time on its elder sibling The White Oak in Cookham in 2024, after failing to renegotiate the lease (the new regime there is the Brucan Pubs group), this “top-notch gastropub” is now the couple’s only focus.

Reopened after a £450,000 refurb and extension in May 2024, this venue from Heartwood Inns, founded by Raymond Blanc as the White Brasserie Company, offers a French-influenced menu of more ambition than most gastropubs.

Billed on their website as the result – four decades later – of an Anglo-Argentine love affair, this upmarket venture is “great for a steak”, whether you find yourself at the Northwood original or newer Gerrard’s Cross sibling. The “very good” victuals are based around beef sourced from Aberdeen Angus cows reared on the Argentine Pampas, and then seared on master griller Daniel Veron’s ‘V-Bar’ grill; there’s also a decent range of (ceviche-centric) small plates, plus beef burgers, steak salads and “good alcohol-free beer”.