Chalfont St Giles, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

“Hard to park”, but Chris & Amanda Lillitou’s “great little country pub” not far from Beaconsfield has “a superior food menu” thanks to Amanda’s Tante Claire training. You can have a burger, a ploughman’s or a 1/2 pint of prawns, but most of the bistro-esque menu, while avoiding any pretentiousness, is too sophisticated to be termed pub grub.

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.)

Entering its fifth year since its founding in 2019, Daniel Crump & Margriet Vandezande- Crump’s converted coaching inn continues to dazzle with its all-round excellence (and was sensibly rewarded by the AA as their 2024/5 ‘Restaurant of the Year’). It’s not a gastropub, but “an outstanding fine-dining restaurant”, where you can eat à la carte or there’s a tasting menu for £95 per person. “You notice the service from the second you arrive. It isn’t a surprise to find the same staff there, year on year, as they have careers and are developed as professionals. The food is always of the highest quality with a very accomplished kitchen” led by head chef George Sweeney. A very large proportion of locals said it delivered their best meal of the year and it is now one of the top-100 most commented-on destinations outside London in our annual diners’ poll.

This “great independent cafe recently changed hands when the owner sold it on to the longstanding manager” and, having initially been open just during the day (“very good salads and quiches” plus other South African-slanted breakfasts and brunch dishes and “excellent coffee”), it’s now also back to offering more complex meals at weekend dinners. Insufficient reports for a rating at this time of change.