In a tiny little village called Bray, there is a 3 Michelin Star restaurant, which you certainly wouldn’t find by mistake. We just went there last weekend and what a visit it was. You know those places where you enter and immediately feel like this will be a good visit? Well, Waterside Inn at Bray is just the place. Tucked in an idyllic surrounding, right on the river Thames and less then an hour from central London, one feels immediately welcomed. It was pouring with rain, but still, the last thing we would have expected was a doorman in a top hat meeting us at the car and escorting us under the umbrella inside. You hardly get this in London. Anyways, here is my Waterside Inn review.
As we arrived almost an hour early for our lunch, we sat in a cosy room sipping champagne while waiting for our table to be ready. Honestly, it couldn’t be a better start. When we were finally escorted to our table, things got even better from there.
What to eat in Waterside Inn at Bray?
The Waterside Inn menu was extensive and everything looked so good, it was genuinely hard to choose. First we got few appetisers to share and there were amazing, melting in the mouth like butter. Honestly, I could have the whole lunch just made of these and would be happy. There was a mini quiche Lorraine with sausage, croquet with prawns and little crostini with salmon.
For the starter I chose pan fried foie gras with dates and chocolate scented banylus wine sauce. The chocolate sauce added interesting touch, however it was beautifully balanced and the chocolate didn’t overpower the rest of the dish. my husband chose lobster medallions with a white port sauce and ginger vegetable julienne. Next time, I think i will chose this one, as it was light, fresh and overall perfect starter.
As a main I chose fillets of sole with plankton mousse, red prawns and button mushrooms and cherry wine sauce. This was divine and definitely a highlight of spectacular lunch. Prawns were cooked to perfection and the sole was soft and and full of flavour. My husband chose venison in a pastry crust with wild mushrooms. I really have no idea how one can make such a perfectly pink meat, but this chef surely can.
The pudding for me were the weakest point of this otherwise perfection, but I must add that it is definitely not because they would not be nice. It is purely because the pudding menu was a list of my least favourite puddings of all times. So I would say it was a rather bad luck for me. However my husband and I shared the selection and they were amazing, objectively speaking, just not the type of pudding I enjoy normally. We also tried some cheese from cheese trolley, which was as good as it gets.
Would I go again?
The Waterside restaurant is not cheap (Prepare to spend around £300 or more / three courses for lunch for two). But the perfection of the food, amazing and jolly atmosphere and the service that runs like a clock, is worth it. So will I be going back? For sure, in fact, we are already planning our next visit. It takes us close to 2 hours to get to Waterside Inn at Bray, so it is not a journey I would love to do weekly, but I can’t wait for next time. I really can’t recommend this place enough, it was a delight to have our Saturday lunch there.
Have a chic day
Petra
xx
