This establishment, like The Fat Duck, also run under the Blumenthal umbrella, provided a suitable home for us for the rest of the day. Contrary to what the url might suggest this is not, in fact, a Hotel, rather 'the perfect pub' serving exceptionally good quality pub grub.
We rested up for the afternoon following an eventful lunch, I tried out the gin and tonics for size whilst Thomas said the beer was one of the best he's had in terms of pipes and barrels etc. It was only kronenberg but it tasted better here than elsewhere, apparently.
We got peckish again at about 7pm and decided we might as well stay for dinner, I was keen to try out the triple cooked chips and did exactly that. I must say they are the very best chips I've ever eaten, this Saturday he explained how they achieve the crispiness on Saturday Kitchen. They are seriously good and, like with most things he makes, Heston's attention to detail and dedication to getting the most out of ingredients is all worth it in the end when the resulting food is as good as this.
Apologies for the poor quality picture, I blame it on the Bombay Sapphire.
I wasn't exactly hungry after all that food at lunch and so went for the crab with watercress and toast. This was very nice, the crab was well seasoned and was served very cold which I really like when it comes to crab. I was slightly disappointed to bite into a large fragment of shell at one point, otherwise I had no complaints.
Also pictured is an iceberg salad which was nicely crisp and I liked the mustard seed dressing. Thomas ordered the t-bone steak which at £27 was rather pricey.
It did, however, come with some bone marrow sauce which was rich in umami flavour and was absolutely delicious over the steak or with a chip dunked into it. This came with the triple cooked chips for this price at least.
Expensive for a pub we thought but also certainly better food than most pubs around. It could perhaps be considered overkill to visit both Blumenthal eateries in Bray on the same day but I was impressed with both and after the brilliant meal at lunch it seemed a shame to head straight home on such a beautiful day. And, as they say, you can't have too much of a good thing.
The Hind's Head
High St
Bray
7.5/10
5 comments:
Had a great meal in Hinds Head with a bunch of fellow foodies from the BBC Food Chat board, I think it was two christmases ago.
Expensive for pub food yes, but very enjoyable and for me, definitely worth it.
I had potted shrimp, steak with bone marrow and banana eton mess and enjoyed all three immensely.
Boo, eating in both The Fat Duck and the Hinds head in one day - wow - jealous.
Expensive day out I'd imagine, to say the least, but if your going to Bray - why not?
What are the prices like in the Hinds Head? rough guide?
Kavey - that all sounds great, It's certainly above average pub food. I wish I'd had a dessert now, banana eton mess?! Yum.
Dan - it's fairly pricy bearing in mind the travel expenses, we spent about £40 on what we had ate, 1 course each and my crab dish was only a starter portion. For 2 drinks (a beer and a g+t) it was the best part of a tenner.
You didnt mention their 3riple cooked chips though!!Thats a cardinal SIn!!!
Indeed, didn't see that on the menu - again, the gin may have hampered my vision!
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