River restaurant reviews

[Richard Shead]

Complete Angler

Sunday lunch

Pretty much a traditional Sunday lunch but served to perfection with an excellent choice of wine. Starter main and dessert presented well, cooked well, full of flavour and most importantly served by staff that knew their stuff.

However this is to be expected due to the nature of the hotel, the location and of course the price which was top, top end.

For a special occasion and if you can get a mooring I cannot fault it.

 

[Richard Shead]

The Chequers

And this is where the wheels came off...

After a very nice lunch at the Complete Angler and far too much wine afterwards the evening came along and we were hungry once more although I suspect this was booze hunger...a pizza was all that was needed.

Off up Marlow High St - Pizza Express - full of kids but it was a Sunday B/H and there were more waiting to come in so we let them go ahead.

Off to ZiZi - rude, people pushed in, they never even asked us if we wanted to eat so we walked...over the road to The Chequers.

Not been here for years but it looks like it was recently taken over and is now a rather fine steak house, you order by weight from the cabinet and they cut it there in front of your eyes.

Having a steak was too much (after lunch) so we had a burger......

As I have said before my cheese burgers are judged in a special way usually its the last meal before boarding a plane home and I have eaten them all over the world.

The current record was a truly sensationally Cheese Burger at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach two years ago, you could not fault this, the burger, the roll, the filling, the presentation etc....I have had many in between but nothing beats this baby...until the burger at The Chequers

Again, the burger was cooked to perfection (how I wanted it), the roll was a good size and lightly toasted, the fillings were just right and a big chunk of cheddar lightly melted to finish off.

Chuck in another bottle of white and I cant tell you how much the bill was but I dont think it was that much....

I am looking forward to going back here for a decent steak and red but saving it for the winter.

Hope this helps!

 

[Brayman]

OTT

I can concur with Richard. We ate there for my daughter's birthday some time ago and being mid week in January it was only about a quarter full but for some reason they jammed everyone in the same quarter of the restaurant and very close together. Made for a less than pleasant ambience. I thought the food was ok but SWMBO wasn't so impressed!

 

[neale]

Show Boat - Harleyford

Had both an evening meal and a breakfast in there last week and thought it was very good indeed. Lovely food and good service. Wasn't expecting much but came away very pleasantly surprised. I am told the steaks were fab and can personally vouch for the morning fry up!!!

 

[jecuk]

Chequers

And this is where the wheels came off...

Not been here for years but it looks like it was recently taken over and is now a rather fine steak house, you order by weight from the cabinet and they cut it there in front of your eyes.

I eat there a lot being local. While service is sometimes a bit lazy, it is always friendly and the food is very good. We really like their steaks.

 

[watson1959]

Now there's interesting. I wonder how they would cope with my propensisty for eating my steak raw if I can get it that way. Failing that, break its horns off, wipe its backside and walk it through a warm room. The best steaks I have ever had were cooked at, indeed on, a forge.

or as my sons are sick of hearing me say 'Don't kill it twice'........which I intend to have on my brass plate after the cremation

 

[Lazy Days]

Just back from a week up river:

Swan at Pangbourne
Nice view, decent pint but food very below par pub-grub. My chicken burger turned out to be a whole grilled chicken fillet which was moist and flavoursome but the rest of what was on the plate was sad, dry and tasteless. Similar story for OH whose fish and chips had probably seen more of the inside of a freezer and a microwave than the sea.

Boat House at Wallingford
Chain pub hard by the bridge. Thought that the new moorings at Wallingford looked so smart we should try them out if only for an hour or so. Chose the Boat House for a pint simply because of its lovely location but that unfortunately is the only good thing about it. Huge soulless cavern with Sky News on too loud. Guest beer was Black Sheep which was served so gassy as to be almost undrinkable. The menu had photographs; suffice to say we did not eat there.

The Plough at Clifton Hampden
What a find. Proper pub - locals seem to drink there which is always a good sign - well kept beer and the bonus of a fabulous little Chinese restaurant on the side. Charming and friendly hosts, excellent food, super service; the only thing which was moderate was the bill!

Beetle and Wedge at Moulsford
Turned up for lunch on Tuesday on spec and it was made very clear that we were very lucky to get a table (for two only) having not booked so perhaps best to call ahead even on a weekday lunchtime. Lots of local food on the menu including a very delicious Berkshire pork loin; also picked up some handy steak cooking tips from the grill chef - the secret is all in the "restaurant grade" charcoal apparently. Three courses plus wine and pudding wine and coffee came in at £120 for two which for the quality of the food I thought was very reasonable. If I was going to be picky (which of course I am) I would say that the food was slightly let down by the service, e.g. on a table of two at a reasonable restaurant I do expect the waiting staff to know whose dish is whose without having to interrupt conversation to ask (all three courses).

La Barca at Henley
Fabulous Spanish restaurant/tapas bar next to the Hobbs booking office on the waterfront. Opened about a month ago I understand. Super staff who couldn't have been more helpful, friendly and accommodating. Food was beautifully fresh and delicately cooked. £90ish for two but £50 of that was alcohol - they keep a very fine Manzanilla....

The Chequers, Marlow
We went to Chequers based on the recommendations in this thread and were not disappointed. Meat was perfectly cooked or should I say perfectly not cooked New Marlow favourite for sure.

 

[DukeII]

Dog & Badger - Medmenham

Having not read this thread recently, we walked up to the Dog & Badger in Medmenham on Sat night from the moorings down Ferry Lane and joked about how it could be egg and beans on toast if the pub was closed...but it wasn't!

The new owners have only had the keys 5 weeks, but they seem to be doing a good job in their words trying to turn it back into a proper 'pub' pub with good food rather than a gastropub. They are dog friendly and child friendly (we only have the former) and even though they were sold out of the main I ordered they made one of the light bites into a main for me and it was brilliant (maybe I'm easily pleased, and small of stomach!). The OH had chicken breast, cous cous and sweet potato chips and was averagely impressed. He also had a dessert, which involved a chocolate tart...

Overall we thought it was good value for above average food, we drank Amstel so can't comment on 'proper' beer I'm afraid, but the staff were great & made us feel very welcome and we'll certainly be going back.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25739174@N05/5801281757/

Emma

 

[bradtarga34]

Had a very good meal at Chez Gerard in Henley today. Haven't been to one before, but very impressed with the food and service, spot on!

 

[apollo]

I agree, we eat there a lot and the one in Marlow as well.

 

[Sulley]

We just got back from a week on the Thames - Windsor to Abingdon and back, experienced lots of different weather!!

We had some BBQs when the weather allowed but we also ate out. Some of these are the big chain restaurants so nothing that exciting..

Wagamama, Windsor - Same as everywhere, quick, reasonable, kare lomen is my favourite.

Zizzi, Henley - Good pizza/pasta, excellent service in this one.

The Bull, Sonning - Very nice old style pub/restaurant, needed to book mid week and lovely Fuller's beer.

Chequers, Henley - This is where it all went wrong, we couldn't get a table until 9pm which was ok. We arrived at 8:40pm, got a drink in the bar and let them know we were there and were told no problem we'll come and get you. 9:05pm nothing, checked and told yes, yes we will come and get you. 9:15pm still nothing and when we asked again told we are busy we'll come and get you. At this point there are numerous empty laid up tables and a group of 4 walks up with no reservation and gets seated. 9:20pm I tell them we have had enough of waiting and they were very uninterested. So we went over the road to Pizza Express as it was getting late and we were hungry. After all the reviews on here we were looking forward to it but I'm not sure I can be bothered to go back.

Thai Square Windsor - Lovely Thai food and good service, would recomend.

Carluccio's Windsor - Superb Italian food, loved the spaghetti vongole and a really good espresso and limoncello to finish.

 

[HONEYMOMMY]

Had a very good meal at Chez Gerard in Henley today. Haven't been to one before, but very impressed with the food and service, spot on!

There's a 2 for 1 voucher on their website offers page at the moment.

 

[bradtarga34]

Bel and the Dragon - Cookham

Had a fantastic lunch there the hoer day, quality of food and service couldn't be faulted, and very smart both inside and out the back after the recent . The blue Devon lobster in warm garlic butter was absolutely sensational!

 

[lolypoly]

what is the procedure of online booking for 6 people? if they don't have valid id proof .

 

[watson1959]

Henley: La Barca

Had a fantastic tapas lunch at La Barca, a new restaurant in the old Hobs chandlery building on the river front.

Great food (seems the Spanish owner is a food importer and clearly has access to great ingredients)....very good service....bright modern decor...choice of indoor or outdoor eating.....all Spanish staff.

Lunch for two, incl a bottle of Cava and 6-7 tapas dishes was around £65 inc service.

The only thing which I did not like was them automatically adding a service charge: it's such arrogance in a restaurant, leaving you only the option to make a fuss if the service is poor....

Regardless: this was worth every penny.

 

[thamesS23]

Villa Marina - Henley

Went here on our recent holiday trip, and took advantage of their lunch offer. 3 courses for £16.50.
This is a great restaurant, but can work out quite expensive for a evening meal, so it is really worth doing their lunch deal if you get the chance. A good choice of starters and mains and then you choose from the desert trolley. Food is top class plus the service is what you expect from a traditional italian restaurant.
Our meal came to about £60 for the 2 of us, but we did have a glass of champagne each followed by a few more glasses of wine each.

 

[rosssavage]

Runnymede hotel

Pre booked for dinner and overnight stay on 10th august.

Concerned about depth of mooring - 'Emma' from guest relations popped out with a stick and actually measured it for me! 5* for that! (1.1m Staines end, deepening progressively to 1.5m at lock end)

Mooring was supposedly reserved, so slightly disappointed to find a slipper occupying it on arrival. However, turns out slipper had run out of fuel, so he left as soon as he had run to the petrol station and refuelled. Can't really blame the hotel for someone else's poor fuel management.

Dinner was at the Leftbank (one of three restaurants there) and was a buffet style affair. We both had a mix of hot and cold starters, the calimari was notable as being excellent - light, crisp and fresh batter, and very tender squid.

Main course for me was an excellently cooked pork roast. I have to say that it was really very good (bit of a pork fan, into slow cooking and smoking myself) so I was very impressed at the melt in the mouth texture, full flavour and delightfully crisp crackling. Veggies were nicely prepared (ie not boiled to sludge) but a little predictable. Carrots, broccoli, cabbage etc... Three types of gravy, again very flavoursome. Service from the polish waitresses was quick and efficient (I hate waiting!) but SWMBO did complain that she was leant across at one point rather the the waitress walking to the other side of the table.

£54 for both.

Overall, 4* for dinner food and service.

Overnight mooring uneventful and free.

We hadn't booked breakfast, but having been impressed with dinner we thought we'd have that too. Unfortunate start to the proceedings though, as when I asked for a table for breakfast, the maitre'd informed us that "there are children in there, so I would recommend going somewhere else" "ok" say I, "we can cope with that, we'd still like a table cos we're here by boat so this is convenient, and your food is nice". Cue slightly annoyed expression and Mexican stand off type stare.... "so, can we?" I prompt.. She eventually relented and showed us to a table in the only half full restaurant. At this point the service resumed the previous evenings higher standard, and we both had fruit and pastries to start, and full English for main. Again, very good standard of food - fresh, good quality ingredients nicely cooked.

4* for food, 4* for waitresses, 1* for odd maire'd behaviour.

£36 overall.

I would go again but maybe pre book breakfast to circumvent slight oddness from maitre'd.

Recommended.

 

[No Regrets]

I wouldn't take any **** from staff like that.

I'll accept slack service as being part of modern culture and all that, but 'The stare' as you so beautifully put it is one step away from fisticuffs IMHO.

 

[Brayman]

On our way back from the Forum get together in Windsor we stopped overnight in Henley and had a very enjoyable meal in La Barca, they weren't very busy so we had plenty of time to chat to the very friendly and informative staff.

Looks like they have very attractive lunch offerings too.

 

[stevieb50]

The wharf restaurant

The wharf is a lovely restaurant on the old toughs boat yard site at teddington lock, based in an old boat house, when i visited they had a jazz band on a sunday afternoon