Let's cut to the chase here, you don't get your dishes to the final of Great British Menu two years running unless they're pretty special, so we've got pretty high expectations of The Hand & Flowers; it's a place we've been wanting to go for a while. And while it also has a Michelin star, and is not so far from London (Marlow), a Google search for reviews reveals only a small handful of write ups, old media and bloggers combined. But none of that we'd guess matters for The Hand and Flowers has local if not national fame now and at 2:30 on a Friday lunchtime, the place is packed.

This is another former pub that is now a restaurant and the inside boasts old style country pub features like wooden beams and low ceilings, so watch your head. Table sizes are generous though the inside of the restaurant is long but not so wide so the large tables seem to trap you into your seats which is slightly uncomfortable.

The menu though doesn't disappoint with both Tom's 2010 slow cooked duck with duck fat chips and the pork platter from 2011 on the menu. The Roast Hog though, to give it its proper name is a sharing plate so putting us in a dilemma. While we decide, some fried whitebait are brought to the table for snacking and are pretty much spot on in their sea tasting saltiness. We devise a plan and make propose a four course lunch of our own making.

First up, two from the starter list, Quail tart with green olives, chicory and aged Gruyere, and Glazed omelette of smoked haddock and Parmesan. Both arrive at the table with clear precision to the dish, both are sizeable portions and both are fabulous. The quail arrives on a bed of rough pork pate and builds upwards with the olive, cubes of Gruyere, the quail, more Gruyere and then chicory. It's a differentiated dish with differentiated flavours.

I have loved Omelette Arnold Bennett for many years now and The Hand & Flowers version is as good as any. Quality fish, a beautiful melting texture and a fabulous glaze on top. I've never tried it at its home - the Savoy - but I doubt it could be better. 

We inserted into our menu a second course of fish, a shared main, and we were glad we did for it turned out to be our favourite dish of the day: Fillet of Cornish plaice with salt baked carrots, girolles, razor clams and lardo. We had never had plaice served up like this before but what a fantastically creative dish and a real change up from merely a well fried or grilled fish. Again, building from the plate, two deliciously done carrots, the plaice, razor clam, the girolles and then the whole plate layered with lardo. The fish was undoubtedly excellent and after the fresh fish taste registered, it was the coating of fat provided by the lardo that delivered the killer blow: divine. 

The mid course of fish also gave us a chance to try a side of Hand & Flower chips which were another revelation, and chips that would floor so many pretenders.

For the main it's the Roast Hog with salt baked potatoes and apple sauce. Remember, this was a plate designed for a sharing menu in GBM2011 and was designed to have a wow factor when carried to the table, and it did. A rolled roast with salt speckled crispy crackling, a  trotter, and two cubes of pork head. There's some apple sauce, a jus and the salt baked potatoes.

The trotter here was the star of the show, tightly compacted meat and offal delivering up a pork sensation. The head was juicy and flavourful but texturally was quite loose. We both agreed that we preferred the tighter knit pork head of The Kitchin the previous week, though a hybrid of the two would have been perfect. A small disappointment in the dish was the crackling which looked as though it was perfection but in reality had not fully crisped; the salt was also too much.

The salt baked potatoes come in a baked crusty and non edible sack. Untie the rope and slice through the top to access them. It is visually impressive and a semi interactive experience which was clearly the goal for GBM but in a restaurant, it felt a little too gimmicky, time consuming and awkward. The potatoes were nice enough but they overall joy of the Hog dish would be little diminished in the absence of the salt baked crust.

For dessert, it was Willie's 100% cacao hot chocolate tart with malted milk ice cream. What a perfect little tart this was although who Willie is we don't know. Still, the runny hot chocolate centre, crisp dark chocolate bed, a seed crisp on top and the refreshing ice cream provided contrasts and delights. We shared it on account of being too full to order separate desserts but it was one of those desserts where you don't want to stop, or give half away. A mint tea to finish came nicely presented in glassware.

We can't say that Marlow particularly struck us as a place that we would otherwise want to visit but The Hand & Flowers definitely put it on the map for us. Tom Kerridge is clearly a great chef with an inventive, unique and brilliant menu that provides a wonderful dining experience, and he and The Hand & Flowers should be embraced as national treasures. 


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The Hand & Flowers website