Dates of visits – Several from 2008 - 2011
No doubt you have heard about the Fat Duck at Bray. Well,
this is not a review but a case study in
trying to book a restaurant when all the critics are saying it is the best
restaurant in the country – it later went on to win that accolade. Well, we used
to moor our boat at Bray, so passed the Fat Duck very often, and decided we
should try it, although neither of us fancied the snail porridge
I found the number and rang many times before I could get
through, as it was permanently engaged. When I did finally get through, it was
to an answer phone informing me that they were fully booked for the next three
months, and to call back at a future date that they quoted.
Ha ha, thought I, I’ll call in, which I duly did one day
when we were passing. It was late afternoon, all the lunchers had left, and the
staff were having a break before the evening onslaught. I asked if I could make
a booking, but of course not. I had to phone. I checked whether I had the
correct number, and was told that it was. Really? Are Giles Coren and AA Gill
going through all this nonsense? I don’t think so.
I was telling a friend of ours about the trouble I was
having, and he triumphantly pulled out his phone. “ I bank with Couttes,” he
informed me smugly. “They have a concierge service. They’ll get us a
reservation.” Sure enough, a day or two later he phoned with a date. Damn and
blast! We were on holiday. Sorry, Dave, if that cost you anything!
By now the Fat Duck had won the Best In Britain Award, so
booking was even more impossible, and I gave up, consoling myself with eating
at the Hinds Head in Bray, which is also owned by Heston.
And then he had the great food poisoning drama, and the
restaurant had to close. And when it re-opened the moment had passed and I had
moved on. I might never get the opportunity to refuse his snail porridge!
You get the same quality – and his triple cooked chips –
at a fraction of the price in the Hind’s Head. The pub is right in the middle
of Bray – about two hundred metres from the Fat Duck, and wonderfully old-fashioned,
but everything is shining and spotless. The staff are excellent, and sometimes
you get to eat something that Heston is trialling for the Fat Duck. You’ll need
to book for the formal restaurant and at weekends the bar can also be full –
not surprisingly.
It is also very dog-friendly, which is a great plus in
its favour. Tables are big and old-fashioned, so not somewhere to take buggies.
The decor is bright and funky, with an entire glass wall overlooking a really bucket and spade beach. All the chairs face the view, which is a good idea.Anybody that has eaten at one of the chain of Jamie's Italian restaurants would recognise some of the menu ingredients, such as the amazing olives. but the food was a level up - as were the prices. We had some sharing platters to start that were mostley good - although I didn't like the beetroot in pancake - followed by fish and meat that were excellent.
