The Hand and Flowers, Marlow

I've wanted to go to the Hand and Flowers (http://www.thehandandflowers.co.uk/) for a while now so when it turned out that McFoodie and I had friends who shared this desire, we decided to make a night of it. The place has a Michelin star, which kind of gets your hopes up, and pretty much every time I've driven past it on the weekend, there's a sign out saying it's fully booked...no credit crunch special offers here.

We had a 7.30pm reservation, earlier than I normally eat, but the place still had a good buzz to it when we arrived, and not a sprog in sight! We were seated efficiently, presented with the leather-bound menus and left to peruse what the evening had in store. Our table for four was of a decent size but far too close to two of the other tables in our area of the restaurant, so both McFoodie and another member of our group were unable to move...not a great start. This was made worse by the room being incredibly hot and for no apparent reason.

The menu (http://www.thehandandflowers.co.uk/Menus/A%20la%20carte.doc) has lots of interesting options, with some regional produce, such as Thames Valley lamb and Oxfordshire rump steak, although vegetarians are well and truly scuppered. It was a little disappointing that there were no daily specials, but the main menu provided plenty of choice. There was an interesting range of wines, with a strong French flavour. We were given a selection of freshly baked breads and some flavoursome whitebait, served in a newpaper cone with tartare sauce. However, we were not really given enough time to make a dent in this before the starters arrived. To start, McFoodie and I both had the parfait of duck and foie gras with orange chutney and bouchon brioche - the parfait was wonderfully light and quite different, although - as usual - there was far less brioche than parfait (why...when bread is the cheaper item?!?!). The orange chutney was tangy and cut through the richness of the parfait. Reports on the terrine of old spot pork and bacon with hot pickled pineapple seemed good, while the moules marinière with warm stout and brown bed was not at all what was expected but seemed to please nonetheless. The most bizarre thing about the starters had to be the enormous plates on which they were served - in the case of the parfait, which was a small quenelle on a huge dish. This was quite ridiculous, made the table far more squashed than it needed to be and seemed quite unnecessary.

After a short pause, main courses arrived. My Oxfordshire rump steak with Hand and Flowers chips and béarnaise sauce was really good - the chips have a reputation that go before them and it is certainly well-deserved, they're far superior to Heston Blumenthal's triple-cooked chips at the Hinds Head in Bray. The steak was very nicely cooked and really tender although not as strongly-flavoured as I'd expected. McFoodie went for slow cooked Oxford beef with bone marrow pudding, pomme galette and braising jus - the beef had a really good flavour but was considerably tougher than expected. The pudding, the idea of which had initially terrified me, was pleasantly herby and provided a good contrast to the rich meat. The pomme galette turned out to be a new form of potatoes that appealed to my potato-hating husband, as it's basically a big crisp! One of our friends had the tart of honey roast breast of duck with savoy cabbage and chanterelles, and commented that it was the best-cooked duck breast she'd had, although had she not also ordered a side of chips, I think she'd have felt quite short-changed. The other friend had the saddle of Thames Valley lamb with pearl barley and laverbread and seemed very pleased, notably with the accompaniments, which seemed to be a pleasant surprise. My experience of pearl barley has been the sensation of chewing on small rubber nuggets but this was not at the case here.

We'd not thought that desserts were going to be an option, partly because of all the food we'd already eaten but also because the heat was getting a bit much, but once the table next to us left and we were able to open the window, things changed! The apple tart was much in-demand at our table, and rightly so as it was one of the best apple tarts I've had in years, but the caramel ice cream was really unpleasant, with what were presumably meant to be complex burnt undertones really dominating. The tart itself was difficult to cut through, which resulted in a comment from our friend who'd had the duck tart that they'd found the same with that. However, that didn't really knock points off as the flavour was so good. One friend had the Valrhona 70% chocolate tart with malted milk ice cream, which he said was ver good and definitely on a level with the apple tart...with considerably more palatable ice cream!

Overall, this was an enjoyable evening and a good meal, but perhaps not as great as we'd expected. While the food was certainly a long way from bad, the overall experience was what let the Hand and Flowers down. The service was a little brusque and certainly couldn't be described as friendly - there seemed to be several "ranks" among the staff and you had to get the right person for your request, rather than just knowing whose eye you had to catch. On a more positive note, the staff seemed to know their stuff and certainly knew the menu. In terms of cost, this is never going to be a cheap evening, and you wouldn't want it to be, but we were incredibly impressed when the bill came along - 3 courses for 4 people plus wine was just under £190...far less than expected. The website claims that the chef "combines unpretentious modern British flavours as well as rustic French dishes" as I'm really not sure that I agree with the former point. While, in general, the food was certainly very good, the welcome was not nearly as warm as the restaurant itself - the place itself was a little stuffy, verging on pretentious at times and really just lacked buzz and that something special that makes you feel that you will definitely go back. It's hard when you go somewhere with high expectations, but I can't help thinking that places like the Royal Oak in Bovingdon Green (http://www.royaloakmarlow.co.uk/) and the White Oak in Cookham (http://www.thewhiteoak.co.uk/wo-contactus-content.swf) offer comparable food in a more enjoyable atmosphere where you feel genuinely welcome.

The Royal Oak, Bovingdon Green

Nestled in the hills just above Marlow, The Royal Oak (http://www.royaloakmarlow.co.uk/) manages to be both cosy and smart. Having visited many times for a drink, the idea of trying out the evening menu was a tempting one when Saturday night plans with friends were cancelled. We were lucky to get a table when we called - a group of ten had cancelled - and McFoodie and I were looking forward to giving it a go.

On arrival, we were greeted warmly and given the choice of going straight to our table or having a drink at the bar. We opted for the former, as McFoodie was driving and too many drinks before dinner can have an interesting effect on me. Our table was in a small area just off the main dining room, and there were about 6 other tables nearby. They have a hotch potch of furniture with jugs of wild flowers and candles on the tables, creating a nice laid-back and countrified atmosphere. When we sat down, we were given menus very quickly and we asked for a jug of water - a request which we had to repeat twice before it finally arrived.

The menu is a good one with lots of choice, plenty of locally sourced products and some interesting specials, so I really struggled to make a decision. I was seriously tempted by salt and pepper baby squid to start, although I opted for a roast butternut squash salad with Wensleydale and caramelised figs. This was a really good combination of flavours and textures, although I'm inclined to think that melting the Wensleydale was not the best idea, as the texture was not enhanced by such a treatment, and the piece of roasted fennel didn't really add anything. To follow, I chose grilled sea bass, with a shallot and almond dressing, served with lemon crushed potatoes from the specials menu - the fish was very nicely cooked and the potatoes were lovely and buttery with a lemon flavour that managed not to overpower everything else. Accompanying seasonal vegetables were a little carrot heavy but well cooked and flavoursome. McFoodie started with a crab risotto with paprika and mascarpone, which he described as "al dente in a good way" and was very well-received. I'm not a fan of crab but the mouthful I tried had a nice flavour and texture, lightened by the mascarpone. He chose pork belly with black pudding and a cider sauce to follow. This is normally served with champ but as McFoodie is not a potato fan, we requested skinny chips (yes, they're potatoes but in an acceptable form) and for once this caused no problem at all, and we were not charged for the chips. Our food was washed down by a lovely bottle of viognier and the jug of water was kept full throughout our visit. The pudding menu was tempting - a bread and butter pudding was on the specials menu and we were intrigued by chocolate brioche doughnuts with toffee milkshake, but we were unfortunately full so passed on the sweet option.

Service was very friendly but could have been more consistent - as well as having to ask repeatedly for our water on arrival, we also had to attract attention to order and request the pudding menu. Several minutes after we ordered our bottle of viognier, we were advised that there was no more sauvignon blanc, which was confusing! We were brought the correct wine, in a cooler, very quickly but when the bill arrived, we'd been charged for both. There was no fuss when we advised a member of staff of this, and the corrected bill was delivered very quickly.

The total for two starters, two main courses with extra vegetables and a bottle of wine was £59, which wasn't bad value for money, as the food was very good. McFoodie and I concluded that we'd definitely visit again (ensuring we leave space for pudding) and left feeling as though our experience had been a good one.