British, Modern Restaurants in Princes Risborough
1. Glaze at Crowne Plaza Marlow
British, Modern restaurant in Marlow
Fieldhouse Lane - SL7
Experience excellent food and fine wine in the 4 silver star Crowne Plaza Marlow’s newly refurbished Glaze Restaurant in Marlow, AA Rosette awarded for its culinary excellence. Having recently undergone a huge refurbishment project, the Glaze Restaurant is no...
2. The Sir Charles Napier
British, Modern restaurant in Chinnor
Spriggs Alley - OX39
Julie Griffiths’ “atmospheric gastropub with lovely real ales and log fires” has been a feature of the Chilterns deep in countryside off the M40 south of Oxford for yonks and is, for its many fans, “an amazing institution that just keeps giving”. “Julie and her team look after you very well” and its unchanging attributes include “good if expensive” cooking and “a wonderful selection of wines”. (“A recent house move prompted the alarming thought that the first visit to the Napier was around 40 years ago. Since then we have visited dozens of times, celebrating special occasions and the everyday. What has never changed is the friendly and attentive welcome, the sense of ease settling by the fire in the bar or taking an aperitif in the beautiful garden. The menu always feels reassuring but upon closer inspection reveals constant fine- tuning in response to availability and season. Once installed in the eclectic dining area, the Napier remains an unchanging, unalloyed pleasure”.)
3. The Chequers Inn
British, Modern restaurant in Weston Turville
35 Church Lane - HP22
Owner Ranka Lani began her career at Soho’s Bar Italia, and nowadays owns and runs this “relaxed” country pub in the Bucks countryside: a “high-quality” operation with numerous menu choices, from an à la carte brasserie-style menu to set Sunday lunch and tasting options.
4. The Lamb Inn
British, Modern restaurant in Little Milton
High Street - OX44
Situated in the village of Little Milton outside of Oxford, this charming 16th Century thatched public house has been serving elevated British pub food since its reopening under new ownership from 2022.The kitchen, run by Michelin trained Head Chef Nat Berney, provides ...
5. Mash Inn
British, Modern restaurant in Radnage
Horseshoe Rd, Bennett End - HP14
2023 Review: “Foraged food prepared over a fire: unbeatable?” – Nick Mash’s higgledy-piggledy village inn is “an absolute treasure of a place”, with “really interesting, special cooking” on a purpose-built wood-fired grill that helps achieve outstanding results. It’s “well worth the trip” to the Chilterns, “(and the beautiful rooms mean it’s worth the stay, too)”. We’ve rated it in the hope that it can maintain the high standards set by former chef Jon Parry, who departed in mid-2022 after five years at the helm.
6. Crocker’s Table
British, Modern restaurant in Tring
74 High Street - HP23
“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.
7. The Five Arrows
British, Modern restaurant in Waddesdon
High St - HP18
2022 Review: You can eat like a Rothschild at this gastropub on the Waddeston estate, dining on meat from the estate’s farms and vegetables from Baron Rothschild’s walled garden at Eythrope. The pub serves “really excellent food” and is set in “pleasant countryside”, with profits going to support the historic Waddesdon Manor, now owned by the National Trust while the Baron retains the estate. There is also afternoon ‘teapas’ – a selection of savoury small plates and more traditional scones and cakes.
8. The Hundred of Ashendon
British, Modern restaurant in Ashendon
Lower End - HP18
2023 Review: “The team is small but work incredibly hard to create beautifully presented dishes that always hit the spot” at this “lovely pub” between the Chilterns and the Cotswolds, where Matt Gill’s cuisine provides “excellent food” from an à la carte menu that, while “rustic”, bears no relation to pub grub.
9. Gilbey’s
British, Modern restaurant in Amersham
1 Market Sq - HP7
“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.)
10. The Grocer at 15
British, Modern restaurant in Amersham
15 The Broadway - HP7
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.
11. Olivier at the Red Lion
British, Modern restaurant in Britwell Salome
2023 Review: Chef-patron Olivier Bouet, who had presented “excellent rustic French cuisine” at this Chilterns village gastropub for five years, recently moved on, and the new owners reopened in July 2022, announcing their plans for an ‘eclectic modern British menu with South African influence and popular grill favourites. Every item on the menu will be made on the premises’. It’s a big change of style, hence for the time being we’ve left it unrated.
12. The Butcher’s Tap
British, Modern restaurant in Marlow
15 Spittal Street - SL7
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.)
13. The Coach
British, Modern restaurant in Marlow
3 West Street - SL7
“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.
14. The Hand & Flowers
French restaurant in Marlow
126 West Street - SL7
“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!
15. The Cape Grand Cafe & Restaurant
British, Modern restaurant in Beaconsfield
6a, Burkes Parade - HP9
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.
16. The Pointer
British, Modern restaurant in Brill
27 Church St - HP18
2022 Review: This rural pub (complete with beams and roaring fire, and also accommodation) in a lovely Buckinghamshire village still achieves solid ratings, and – notwithstanding gripes from the occasional reporter about its takeover by Oakman Inns in late 2019 – most feedback rates the food as “very good”.
17. The Gatsby
British, Modern restaurant in Berkhamsted
97 High St - HP4
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.
18. The Greyhound
British, Modern restaurant in Beaconsfield
33 Windsor End - HP9
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.
19. The Jolly Cricketers
British, Modern restaurant in Seer Green
24 Chalfont Rd - HP9
“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.
20. The Golden Ball
British, Modern restaurant in Henley-on-Thames
Lower Assendon - RG9
In November 2022, after 15 years at the helm, Stephen Luscombe dramatically handed over the reins of this pretty former pub with a foodie reputation to local boy Ben Watson (whose CV includes the acclaimed Core by Clare Smyth) and Priya Arora-Watson (a former FOH at London’s famed Gymkhana). By all accounts there is “little to suggest any adverse change” now it‘s running under an abridged name – and indeed, for fans, the local, seasonal food is “even better” now, with the “brilliant set menu” (£23 per person for two courses, £28 per person for three) representing very “good value given that prices everywhere have gone stratospheric”.
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