Charming gastropub in Beaconsfield with engaging service

The Greyhound is owned by restauranteurs Daniel and Margriet Vandezande-Crump who have spent previous years cutting their teeth in various forms at many other restaurants, but most notably Michelin starred Petrus and 3 Michelin starred Restaurant Gordon Ramsay. The head chef is Jermaine Harriott who has previously worked at Michelin starred Pollen Street Social. Service is evidently important to the restaurant and I did enjoy the lovely touch of having a personalised, wooden napkin ring. The lovely aspect of dining at a gastro pub is that it is virtually guaranteed to have an a la carte menu for greater choice and I enjoyed the addition of canapés and petit fours which is not normal gastropub practice. The average price of a 3 course meal is approximately £60 per person, which is fairly punchy for gastro pub food, particularly for the overall quality line displayed on this meal. However, it was a pleasurable experience and I was in good hands throughout.

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To my pleasant surprise the meal started with canapés which were two crusades with smoked potato, parmesan and sage. These were a very welcome sight and the combination were always going to be fine and held good parmesan flavour, but sadly the crusades themselves were not as crisp as can be and were thicker and more chewy than when at their best.

The menu also offers a range of snacks / nibbles for £6.50 each which is also another pleasant addition to have whilst awaiting the a la carte orders. I chose the fish and chips option (a form of brandade with caviar on top) and mushroom parcel with chive as a toasted snack and were both enjoyable bites. Another nice surprise was an amuse bouche of tomato consommé, crème fraiche sea herbs which was a light and refreshing introduction course. Complimentary milk bread with herb butter was another nice touch.

The starters chosen were salmon and spinach tortellini. The Potted Loch Duart Salmon was from salt rivers and served with caper relish, lemon and fennel pollen and was well presented. My spinach tortellini was showered in winter truffle shavings and served with walnut, ricotta and lemon. The latter was very good, with nicely done pasta and an extremely powerful winter truffle from Italy that frankly blew the aroma off various truffles I have come across in some top restaurants, so I was delighted with how soon after being picked this one was.

The mains consisted of pork and cod. The pork was braised pork collar, served with potato rosti, watercress and onion chutney and my dining companion reported tender pork with its supporting elements working with the pork well. My Skrei Cod, was served with a parsley mash and English asparagus. Whilst the asparagus may have been a touch early in the season and a tad bland as a result, the fish was cooked very well and the sauce was well judged to accompany. The sides of chips came with a smoked rapeseed mayonnaise and I like the addition of onion fries on top of the creamed spinach and garlic.

Full stomachs at the end of a very full meal meant that dessert wasn’t necessary, but the white chocolate truffles and citrus jelly petit fours were just the ticket for something sweet to accompany the splendid Difference coffee that was on offer – and chosen (double espresso of the entry level Yellow Bourbon, which is still leagues ahead of most coffees for a slight increase of average consumer price).

I very much enjoyed this lunch in the charming, homely feel that it was, ably delivered by our restaurant manager host. I would definitely recommend a visit in to here if you are headed to Beaconsfield and I predict that even the set menu here will be a fulsome lunch with good options to choose from, with very welcome add ons included for your time there.

Food Grade: 67%