The Hinds Head
White Fizz – Chase Gin, Apple Liqueur, Lemon Juice, Egg White, Popping Candy
Devil on Horseback / Scotch Quail Egg
White and Wheat Bread with Salted English Farmhouse Butter
Potted Shrimp with Cucumber Relish and Grilled Bread
Smoked Guinea Fowl and Foie Gras Terrine with Apple Chutney and Brioche
Hash of Snails
Triple Cooked Fries
Shepherd’s Pie
Banana and Custard Quaking Pudding
Warm Chocolate Pudding with Orange Marmalade Ice Cream
Having joked with my dining companion at The Fat Duck that we should head over to The Hinds Head afterward for some more of Chef Blumenthal’s superlative cuisine I’d be lying if I said I ever figured I would actually visit the Michelin starred gastropub and yet with a bitter aftertaste lingering in my mouth after walking out of Waterside Inn it was immediately to the 15th Century pub that I turned, the lone walk-in table in a fully-reserved dining room serendipitously waiting just for me. Apparently once a residence and subsequently a pub before being renovated into a full-fledged restaurant under the direction of Heston and his team it was within moments of ducking my head to gain entry that I was greeted by a young woman and with menus in hand and a cushy seat beneath me I quickly felt at ease, the heft of a room laden with wood and history standing in stark opposition to the pleasantries offered at every turn by a staff so well trained that it could just as easily have served right across the street. Every bit a pub in its styling and offering nearly two-dozen English classics spruced up with techniques dating back to its Chef’s earliest days of culinary intrigue it was admittedly with wide eyes and a surprising number of questions that I perused the food menu first and with a 3-course prix-fixe as tempting as the options a la carte a plan was devised – one set-menu and an a la carte section paired with each, plus a duo of meaty yet balanced bar snacks to compliment a clever cocktail amongst the best of my trip. Again chasing away comments from my young server that what I’d ordered would prove to be ‘quite a lot,’ it was with little delay that my meal began and doing my best to not overindulge on the same great bread from Dinner and The Fat Duck my first course arrived, a duo of spreadable meats paired simply with exemplary condiments plus even more irresistible bread in portions not at all dainty. At this point debating a second cocktail but mindful of what was to come it was perhaps good fortune that the packed house kept my server away and with water kept brimming by back-staff it was not after only a short delay that round two would arrive, the snail-hash tinged in a tantalizing herbal pesto atop yet more bread while Heston’s famed chips proved absolutely irresistible next to a textbook Shepherd’s Pie served so hot that it required at least five minutes to cool, the lamb inside somehow still a gamey perfect medium. At this point almost happy that my Waterside misadventure had led me to The Hind’s Head it was finally in dessert that I partook and although neither may have struck me at first as particularly ‘British’ I’d be hard pressed to name a better version of either to ever pass my lips; the tired concept of ‘lava cake’ reinvented into something harkening brownie batter inside a chocolate cookie shell while the Quaking pudding somehow achieved the structure of panna cotta without an ounce of gelatin, the result far smoother and light like the base of a soufflé rather than that of a crème brulee, the later hinted at not in heft but rather by the boozy caramelized banana.
RECOMMENDED: Nothing I tasted was short of textbook so I’d suggest the chips and scotch egg for their significance in Heston’s career and then whatever British specialty tickles your fancy.
AVOID: N/A
TIP: The menu changes daily but does receive online updates; fish and chips are rarely offered but are instead featured just down the street at Blumenthal’s newest venture in Bray, The Crown.
