Marlow Restaurant Guide

“Locals head here rather than the overhyped and extortionately priced Hand & Flowers” when they want a pub meal from TV champ Tom Kerridge. No-one has a bad word to say about the place, loving its “delicious small plates”, “lively atmosphere” and “lovely range of ales”. It’s no- bookings policy is also actually popular. “Some of the tables are a bit random and cramped into the space – it isn’t very big – so get there early for the excellent window tables”. Top Menu Tip – “The mussels with stout broth is a favourite. And the profiteroles? Mon dieu!”.

On the site of Villa d’Este (RIP), well-known Indian chef Atul Kocchar (who runs the nearby Sindu at the Compleat Angler) opened this 80-seater site in July 2020. The focus is on “amazing” north Indian cooking from Punjab and Rajasthan, including a “tasting menu that takes you on a journey beyond the standard Indian” (£69, and coming in vegan and vegetarian versions).

“There is always a buzz” at this Thames Valley offshoot of the famed London celeb haunt (so much so that it “can be just too loud” at times). As per many of its siblings, it does attract rather middling ratings for its food, but there are those who say “it’s always a joy to eat here”.

2018 Review: This slick, booth-lined bar and steakhouse is a bit of a local fixture (“get a window seat at lunchtime and play at yuppy-spotting”); “nothing much changes”, though, “just the prices increase” – and “watch out now The Ivy’s come to town!” (the ritzy group’s Ivy Marlow Garden brasserie having opened, just along the High Street, in May 2017).

Tom Kerridge ultimately owes his TV stardom to achieving two Michelin stars for this pretty ordinary-looking Thames Valley gastropub in 2012, on the fringes of the town, and how he continues to hold them here is a total mystery. Yes, there are fans who hail “pub food at its best”, or even who say “the cooking is very good, but not the peak talked about a couple of years ago”. But more vocal are those who want to know “what is all the fuss about?” given cooking that’s “not special, not exciting, and such a let-down compared with TK’s other pub in town, The Coach”. “Once the food here was superb but it has steadily gone downhill to just average”.

2018 Review: This “real country gem” is a “lovely place to go for all sorts of reasons”: both “cosy” and “dog-friendly” (owners are “not ostracised and the dogs nearly always get treats”), it’s “a go-to for a lady’s lunch”, a family celebration or a “great” Sunday roast.

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”.

Feedback has typically been a little up and down on this well-established restaurant and there are still those who feel it's “not as good as it was”, but there are also those who describe its “pub classics” as “thoughtful and creative.” A “lovely garden” is not in doubt.

“This is a lovely half-timbered building in Cookham High Street” where “a warm welcome” prefaces some “noteworthy” Indian dishes (including a top-value Sunday buffet); there’s also a sibling, but “the Cookham branch just pips Marlow as a bit more spacious”.

2021 Review: Simon Bonwick’s acclaimed 20-seater pub is a family-run venture where often all front of house are from the clan: a feature whose “impact is clear from the moment you enter, with the warm and friendly greeting, followed through in terms of attentive service and an atmosphere more like a cosy home than a restaurant”. The cuisine takes a classic gastronomic approach, with “a short and punchy menu providing four or five options each for starter, main and dessert”. Results are splendid, and even those who feel it’s “a touch on the pricey side (with mains around £30)” feel “it’s money better spent than other poor meals for half the cost”.