Dinner and Lunch
We are always very fortunate staying with Trevor and Janice at Chorleywood as there is always an inexhaustible selection of restaurants, brasseries and eateries within a relatively short drive of 'home'. Seldom do we return to the same place. Perhaps the only exception being The Grove. www.thegrove.co.uk.
Thursday evening saw us navigating some very narrow twisty back lanes that would have been a credit to Devon. Seemingly mile after mile of one car width road with nary a passing spot. Eventually we arrived at 18th Century Bricklayers Arms. What a quaint name for a country pub that is mentioned in the Good Pub Guide for 2017 and is the winner of the County Pub Dinning section for the forth year.
It boasts many accolades from the Times and Telegraph foodie writers. The warmth of the reception was most heartening as was the rather nice selection of gins available. An extremely varied menu was offered and all agreed it was cooked to perfection and presented in a timely manner with great smiles and attention to detail.
Mike as usual managed to 'forget' what his choice for main course was and insisted he take Janice's Bass and clams. She meanwhile very diplomatically suggested he was wrong and he was the trout in almonds. After the trout had been returned to the kitchen, our waiter returned with his 'notes' he established, Mike was, once again wrong.
The trout was delicious. As indeed was the whole meal.
Lunch on Friday.
The Riverside Brasserie at Bray. www.riversidebrasserie.com Bray is a small village with a marina situated on the River Thames just upstream from Windsor. It is Heston Blumenthal's latest venture. He already has The Fat Duck nearby, for which you need to book weeks in advance as well as various eateries in London.
The Shillabeers had booked an outside table but as we drew closer to the venue so the grey and thundery clouds seemed to follow us to the Thames riverbank. Here we had the option of sitting outside, which we choose and then opted for the £25 lunch menu. Three courses included various champagne cocktails. The cocktails arrived with the first clap of thunder. By the time we were part way through our first course the rain had started. Deciding to 'tough' it out beneath the huge umbrellas our determination soon waned when the rain came down in torrents. Even the huge square umbrellas seemed incapable of holding back the storm. I say storm as now the wind had risen and was blowing the rain in upon us. We like many of the other guests opted to move inside. It was toasty warm. The décor inside was smart and chic. The service faltered somewhat for thirty minutes whilst the staff relocated the various diners but it made no impact upon us. We were sat at a cosy window seat and could happily watch the pleasure boats cruise up and down 'Old Father Thames'.
A very pleasant lunch with a delightful Rioja for Mike which he felt complemented the meal. Alas we were unable to walk around the Marina and admire the various craft as it was still raining. Nevertheless a most delightful lunch.
