Hinds Head Review

The Hinds Head Hotel in Bray is a gastropub owned and operated by Heston Blumenthal the Chef proprieter of the Fat Duck restaurant which has 3 michelin stars and is just a few doors down from the Hinds Head. Clive Dixon is Heston's head chef who has previously worked in another michelin starred restaurant.

Having had the pleasure of dining at the Fat Duck costing a whopping £400 for myself and my wife I was quite intrigued to try the Hinds Head and take my three children for a meal I could just about afford. By taking the whole family we were able to try a broad range of the menu and give the place a thorough review.

Our visit to the Hinds Head Hotel in Bray was on Sunday March the 21st 2010.

Bray itself is a quaint little Berkshire village bosting 2 restaurants with 3 michelin stars as well as the Hinds Head Hotel. The Hinds Head Hotel looks like any other nice country pub and nestles neatly into the beautiful village of Bray. For some this is their local. I have to say I wish I had a local pub like this.

The bar area itself is quite small and mostly people there are waiting for tables to become available. The decor is nothing special and it is a little dark in the corner but we enjoyed a quiet drink before going to our table. The staff are shoe horned into the serving area and are very attentive and helpful and a choice of straight glass or handled beer jug was offered which pleased me greatly as I am a big fan of the old fashioned beer jug. Unfortunately this was not continued at the table where I was just given a straight glass despite already having a jug but if you know this then you can advise the waiter or waitress.

The person I took for want of a better word as the Maitre D' looked continually stressed in front of house and should really learn to relax in front of his guests as it gives a bad impression. Our waitress however was a delight and extremely helpful and friendly though not very knowledgable on the menu. She did however go and enquire to all our questions.

The food of course is the main event and it was mostly very good. I was mildly disappointed with the menu as it seemed a tad smaller than the example online. 6 starters were offered where there are 8 online. 4 specials when there are 7 online. That said we duly ordered our starters and main courses. For starters the five of us chose:

Potted Shrimps
Tea Smoked Salmon
Terrine of Duck and Guinea Fowl
Goats cheese tart x 2

Potted Shrimps

Served with 4 quarters of toast. These were simply delicious. Simple with a good salty butter these shrimps were full flavoured and delicious.

Tea Smoked Salmon

Excellent texture dry smoked salmon with the smoked tea flavour lifting the fish and delivering a strong finish

Terrine of Duck and Guine Fowl

Strong gamey flavours and lightly cured, well layered with complementing flavours

Roast onion and Goats cheese tart

Well executed and exactly what is says on the box but my Wife said she would pick the salmon if she went again and my daugher said she would pick the shrimps.

The starters were probably a bit smaller in portion size than your average pub but personally I think they got that portion size just right.

For the main course we had chosen:

Aberdeenshire Beef with Bone Marrow Sauce and Triple Cooked Chips - T Bone
Aberdeenshire Beef with Bone Marrow Sauce and Triple Cooked Chips - Fillet on the bone
Venison Cheese Burger
Chicken Leek and Ham Pie x 2

Aberdeenshire Beef with Bone Marrow Sauce and Triple Cooked Chips - T Bone

This was a well flavourd steak, the sirloin side very tender and the rump not surprisingly a little tougher but with a good flavour. The Bone Marrow sauce however is sensational. The Triple cooked chips were frankly the biggest disappointment of the day. This is the only item on the menu which is Heston's own dish and it is one of his most famous signature dishes so we were really looking forward to trying them and even ordered an extra portion so those who did not have them included could give it a try. Firstly while they were crunchy with a nice fluffy centre they did not look anywhere near as good as the ones pictured on the website, this was not their greatest fault however because they were seriously let down by the fact that the oil was well past it's best imparting that horrible bitter twang so reminiscent of bad cafes and chip shops. Perhaps Heston was trying to help us relive some childhood memory of crap seaside chips? The service charge alone would have paid for the cost of changing the oil in the fryer. So Clive, Heston please, please fix this as it would have been a perfect meal if these chips had lived up to expectations.

Aberdeenshire Beef with Bone Marrow Sauce and Triple Cooked Chips - Fillet on the bone

This piece of beef was incredibly good. I personally had chosen the T-Bone because I would normally have chosen rib-eye or sirloin and the only other choice was rump. Normally whilst the fillet is tender it lacks the flavour of those other steaks. Not so here, this was a true delight. However shame about the chips.

Venison Cheese Burger

My middle daughter chose this and enjoyed it but could only manage half of it so lucky old me finished the other half. It was simply the best burger I have ever eaten. The venison was tender and rare. The bun was golden and fantasticly complemented the burger. Seasoning and dressings were spot on.

Chicken Leek and Ham Pies

These looked a little small but both my wife and youngest daughter failed to finish theirs. They did enjoy them thoroughly but would have preferred a little more chicken as the ham dominated.

Having had a T-Bone, half a venison burger and various tastings I was only fit for a coffee but the girls all soldiered on to puddings and chose:

Rhubarb Trifle
Caramelised Apple Crumble
Steamed treacle sponge with custard x 2

Rhubarb Trifle

The Rhubarb was tart and firm, the trifle welle executed and nice sprinkling of crunchy candy topping

Caramelised Apple Crumble

Nice and crunchy crumble, the apple could have been a little more caramelised.

Steamed treacle sponge with custard

Very sweet and sticky with a lovely soft sponge

Summing up

Well the Hinds Head Hotel gastropub made a few mistakes most notably those chips. The food generally was superb and heads above any standard pub serving frozen ready meals that they buy in. The price however reflects this. We had the above, 4 pints of beer, 1 bottle of white wine, a few cokes, 1 coffee and 1 large brandy for the princely sum of £268.

Would I go back again? Yes I think I would definitely go back but probably to have the cheaper items. Venison burgers all round without starters and puddings would be a really great value meal.