In September 2019, a few days before I was due to have surgery, I booked lunch at the Hind’s Head for my parents, my sister and her partner, Mr A and me. I framed it as a birthday lunch, but really it was to tell my parents that my cancer had come back.  The Hind’s Head is a restored 15th Century pub/restaurant in the heart of the small village of Bray, on the River Thames between Windsor and Maidenhead, just west of Heathrow airport.  Bray is a remarkable place, in that in spite of it being just a very small village, it’s home to two of the UK’s five Michelin 3 Star restaurants – The Waterside Inn and Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck.  The Hind’s Head, also owned by Blumenthal, has 1 star.

I was surprised to have secured a large table for a Saturday lunchtime just 4 days earlier, and when we arrived the place wasn’t at all busy.  In different circumstances that would have worried me.  The 15th century building is all exposed beams and wood-pannelled walls, so it’s nice inside but not quite as nice as Tom Kerridge’s pubs like The Hand & Flowers.  menu seemed relatively short to me, but maybe that’s because it was a little repetitive, but we all chose what we wanted soon enough.

My starter was “crab soup and a sandwich” and when it was served I realised why they hadn’t laid a soup spoon for me; the soup was in an espresso cup. It was a good flavourful bisque. 8/10. The ‘sandwich’ element was toasted sourdough with ketchup then crab and prawn mayonnaise, topped with pickled fennel.  This too was very good indeed, packed with flavours and textures. 9/10 But boy could I have done with a larger portion for the £18.50 price tag!

My main course was “chicken and celeriac”, which at £28 was in the upper range of mains.  It was a pleasant dish with nicely tender chicken, smoked almonds, Alsace bacon, baby leeks and a light jus. But it was all below optimum temperature and was very cold before I finished. 7.5/10

I had ordered two bottles of wine, a pinot noir and a Viognier (£55 and £56), but I was disappointed the white was just put in a ‘cooler’ not an ice bucket. And throughout the meal our wines were not topped up once.

For dessert I had “chocolate wine with millionaire’s shortbread”.  The “wine” was a Slushy-like crushed ice drink which tasted ‘interesting’ rather than good. The shortbread was neat and well made, but the taste was no better than my mother’s recipe. 6/10

I had a double espresso which didn’t have much crema. Instead of serving us petit fours they appeared with a piece of laminate wood bearing “Happy Birthday” in chocolate piping, and a few chocolate truffles, which I thought was a nice touch.

Lunch for 5 people, 2 Negronis, 2 bottles of wine, mineral water and coffees came to £489.83, which isn’t too bad really. But I was somewhat underwhelmed at the Hind’s Head; dishes can be expensive, portions aren’t generous and hearty, plates were cold, and service was too casual. I didn’t come expecting Heston Blumenthal’s molecular gastronomy, I expected hearty British pub food of great quality, but I didn’t truly receive that.  I feel it is fortunate to have a 1-star rating 8/10