Flackwell Heath, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

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.

2023 Review: “Good food at a fair price” was reported again this year at this well-regarded pub: part of a local group with siblings in Gerrards Cross and Beaconsfield. In good weather you can eat on the terrace, or book an ‘Oak Pod’ which seats up to 6 people, and incorporate a heater.

Owned by the National Trust since 1942 and a hotel since 1985, former guests at this famous palazzo (dating from 1666) include many of the 20th century’s most famous figures (Churchill, Gandhi, Roosevelt…). The “slightly stuffy but still jaw-dropping ambience of the beautiful dining room” of this famous palazzo makes it a perennial nomination for a “romantic” meal, but its fairly conventional modern European cuisine (with starting options including a wide selection of caviar) has never established itself as an especially foodie one, particularly for those concerned with value. as it can often seem “overpriced”. Top Tip – “Heavenly afternoon tea” – “a nicer location than grand London hotels” and “the views are exceptional”.

A “lovely location – the converted stables on the Cliveden estate”, the Astor family’s Italianate country mansion where Christine Keeler famously frolicked in the pool, to the delight of War Minister John Profumo, is sadly let down by its number two restaurant, in the former stable block – “the main dining room was closed during the week so we ate in the Astor Grill, but the disappointing menu and even more disappointing food led me to wish I had waited a few years until my wife’s birthday fell on a weekend. Suggest you do the same. My only excuse is that you don’t turn 80 every day!”.

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.

Where TV chef Tom Kerridge’s venues in Marlow are concerned, there’s an inverse relationship in our annual diners’ poll between their celebrity (and price…) and how well people rate them. His least-known site is a low key, casual venue that combines a proper community pub with well-sourced carnivorous fare. With its ‘Meat Locker’ concept, you select your cut from the butcher’s counter (they’re also happy to hand out advice to improve your home cooking) and watch it being grilled before your eyes; offering “amazing food at a reasonable price”. The happy-go-lucky menu also includes a take on old-school hotdogs and upscale sides like truffle fries. (In December 2023, Kerridge opened a spin-off – his first London pub – on the site of the former Queen’s Head, just around the corner from Chelsea’s Sloane Square.)

“Our favourite of the Kerridge empire” – a view oft-expressed locally on this straightforward local in the town centre, which has modified its no-bookings policy to allow same-day reservations. There’s no celeb swank, it’s just a “brilliant, affordable pub” with chef Sarah Hayward, offers a ‘small plate’ menu that would win praise as a “great concept” even without the backing of one of the UK’s most famous names in food (though whether it would necessarily also have a Michelin Star is more debatable). Ratings were solid here this year and it also held its place as one of the top-100 most commented-on destinations in our annual diners’ poll outside London.

“Is the Michelin Guide having a laugh” – incomprehension remains a key feature in feedback regarding the two-star status of this Thames Valley pub, whose elevation by the Red Guide in 2012 propelled chef-patron Tom Kerridge to media stardom. There’s no denying it does have its supporters, who say it’s “worth the drive” for “a brilliant experience with imaginative interpretation of pub food and a decent pint beforehand too”. But, given that it is one of the top-20 most commented-on destinations in our annual diners’ poll, it is striking that not a single reporter this year nominated it for their best meal of the year. More eye-catching are the one in three for whom it’s “too expensive by a mile”, with “variable” cooking and service that can seem “rushed”. In particular, a number of former fans just say it’s “not the restaurant it used to be”: “It’s a pub that wants to be a restaurant that wants to be a pub. Overpriced, overhyped. (Not sure why it is still relevant. Was great 12 years or so ago: now it’s just lost its momentum and identity)”. Top Tip – if you want to make up your own mind, a visit in the evening or Sunday lunch will set you back £175 per person. But the set weekday lunch is £48 per person for two-courses and £55 per person for three-courses. Quite a saving!

“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.