Bourne End Restaurant Guide

2021 Review: “Well cooked and presented meals” – and “good value”, too – are served at this unusual venue in the foyer of the beautifully preserved 1930s Rex cinema. There’s also a cocktail bar with live pianist – and a particularly strong lunch and pre-film menu.

2022 Review: Set in a “lovely building” with tables under a 200-year-old olive tree, this restaurant – one of eight in a local chain – is frequently packed with regulars, who come back for its “good honest Italian fare at a reasonable price”. There’s “something for everyone on the menu”.

Set in a “real rural location” just outside London in the Chilterns, this village pub is serious about food and offers a “good choice of very tasty dishes”. David & Becky Salisbury celebrated 25 years at the helm in January 2024.

This “lovely old pub” in the Chilterns, handy for the Harry Potter antics at Warner Bros Studio nearby, built up quite a reputation for its Anglo-French cooking over nearly two decades under husband-and-wife team Sally & Alvin Michaels. The 18th-century venue is now managed by Alvin’s former protégé Matt Jackson (and part of the growing RedCat pub company) but, on limited feedback this year, its “exceptional pub dining” still makes it a local magnet.

“Very good Thai food” remains the order of the day at this “cramped” fixture of the local scene, whose extensive menu (wok dishes, curries, fresh papaya salads) represents excellent value for money. From Tuesday to Saturday there’s a lunchtime noodle bar, and they also do a swift trade as a takeaway.

“Prime manages to feel special and cosy all at once” – a family-friendly steak specialist where the main event is dry-aged on the bone and “not cheap but well worth it” for a “special occasion choice”. This branch recently added a new canopied gin garden with heating in winter, and you can also check out a trio of siblings in St Albans, Beaconsfield and Berkhamsted.

As per its appearance on Netflix’s ‘Million Dollar Buffet’ with Grace Dent, the dining room of this luxe country estate hotel revolves around a buffet that’s “best for those who want to splurge” (to the tune of a still highly reasonable £65 per person during the week, or £78 per person on weekends). Live-action food stations showcase a “huge choice of different cuisines” – sushi, seafood, stone-baked pizzas, just to stick with the ‘s’ options – that, while not being mega-foodie, are “excellent all-round” and make for a brilliant family outing (not least as kids “love the dessert section”). Top Tip – despite the very posh surroundings, the ambience is “not at all stuffy or pretentious” as one might fear.

Away from the main property, with a terrace facing onto the golf course, this casually luxurious venue is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and would suit a smartly dressed-down weekend family meal. With its brasserie menu incorporating a selection of burgers and chicken and steak grills, fans “prefer it to the generally more highly rated Glasshouse at the same venue” although even some who mark it highly say: “it’s good, but some of the prices are just far too high”.

This “great local” has had an up-and-down time of it of late, with the Gerrards Cross branch under new management, and The Grocer at 91, which had pivoted to being a food shop in the pandemic, now closed. On the plus side, this “very busy” outpost is still going strong with its “reliable” (if pricey) sandwiches, salads and toasties, and they also recently opened a new Amersham venue, The Grocer at 2 (Whielden St), spanning a grocery store and café.

“Tasty bistro food” is enjoyed in the “lovely setting” of a seventeenth-century former school in Old Amersham, a “cosy” local spot opened by the Gilbey’s gin dynasty 35 years ago. Founder Michael Gilbey passed away in summer 2022, and his widow, Lin, has put the site up for sale. (She also runs its sister restaurant in Eton.)

“Amazing food, top-notch service” – and “the value is OK for fine dining” – such are the attractions of Scott Barnard’s polished neighbourhood restaurant, which divides between a chef’s counter operation with tasting menu and open kitchen seating just 16 people overall; and larger dining room. The latter is considerably cheaper at £60 per person: at the chef’s table the experience is £105 per person during the week, rising to £130 per person at the weekend.

This small but perfectly formed venue (there’s a small dining area behind the boozer) in the Cathedral Quarter leapt 22 places this year in Estrella Damm’s ‘Top 100 Gastropubs’ list, coming in at a very respectable no. 72. The 15th-century building was taken over by Sean Hughes and family a decade ago, with John Searle overseeing the expertly sourced pub grub featuring specialities such as dairy cow rib and fresh Cornish fish.

“Another local winner from Lussmanns” – “a small independent group of restaurants in Hertfordshire” (and, as of late, London’s leafy Highgate) “with an emphasis on sustainability”. This “always reliable” outpost is “convenient for the Abbey but off the main tourist trail” and occupies an “interesting and well-decorated” building with a glass roof (“unusual for the group”, which favours more historic surrounds) plus a “courtyard when the weather is kind”.

This “good neighbourhood Turkish restaurant” – which serves a “nice variety of interesting dishes” using “fresh and high-quality ingredients” – celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. It now has spinoffs in Berkhamsted and Harpenden – the latter “attracting a younger crowd than usual for Harpenden, which gives it the sort of buzz which is rare in these parts”.

A “buzzy” atmosphere and “welcoming service” are the strong suits of this “expanding group”, with 16 branches in London and another handful nearby. While nobody disputes that they’re “lovely to sit in” and offer “value for money”, the “Middle-Eastern-inspired cooking” divides opinion, with some reporters “pleasantly surprised by the tasty food” and others bemoaning “underwhelming” dishes that “sound better than they taste”.