Early in 2010 I travelled north from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire with my good friend Charlie Broadbridge to watch the Leeds United v Wycombe Wanderers Coca-Cola Football League One match at Elland Road admist all the snow and ice (1-1 was the final score). We travelled up the M1 on the Friday night and stayed at a Bed & Breakfast in Leeds opposite a pub. Charlie ordered a pint of Fosters larger and I had a large Barcardi with diet coke, ice and lemon. The whole round only cost £4.25
Now this was both a pleasant surprise and a bit of a shock to us as the Barcardi and Coca-Cola alone in the Charles Dickens in Beaconsfield, Bucks comes to £7 on its own and a pint of Fosters around £3 on its own. Given we appear to be paying more than double for drinks down south it got me thinking, “does drinking and eating out leave you with nowt?” – well the answer is yes if you live in South Bucks, as the cost of dining out is ridiculously expensive compared to “up north”.
For example, at the same Yorkshire pub, Charlie had a full English breakfast with chips and toast for only £2.75 – In Buckinghamshire you are very fortunate if bread served before the meal is as cheap as that. No wonder people who live in and around High Wycombe are eating out less and going to the pub less often!
The eating places that seem to be booming are the restaurant’s offering real value for money and some selected well established high end eating houses with fantastic reputations, which certainly do seem to cost an arm and a leg, like the Crazy Bear in Beaconsfield, whose drinks appear to cost even more than the Charles Dickens!
CATAGORY|Eating Out
Part of the southern elevation of the magnificent Stoke Park Club located in Bucks
I recently had the privilege of having dinner in the very grand restauarant at Stoke Park. The quality of the food, its presentation and service was exceptionally high, and a real treat in wonderful surroundings. Having been given a window seat, the only thing that was not of a high standard was the large single glazed draughty vertical wooden sash windows. I am sure this is to do with Stoke Park being a listed building, but given the huge size of the windows, I could not help thinking how much heat and energy was escaping through them, given the enormous numbers of windows in this wonderful period property, which along with the adjacent Stoke Park Golf Club in Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire, are famously known as the location for several scenes of the James Bond film Goldfinger starring Sean Connery.
Having played Stoke Park Golf Club on many occasions, you can not help but notice the many magnificent large houses that back onto the course, many with energy efficient modern double glazed windows, doors and conservatories, unlike the main Stoke Park building. Nowadays the course has 27 holes, so is spread over quite a wide area, and is inbetween Wexham, Slough and Farnham Common in Bucks. I can thoroughly recommend the cuisine and surroundings, and hope that one day the southern Bucks based private members Stoke Park Club might come to Hazlemere Windows for a quote on new double glazed sliding sash windows to improve their grand Stoke Poges property and reduce their heating bill, as, personally speaking, it is rather sad about the inefficient old wooden vertical sash windows at Stoke Park, as everything else is top notch!
CATAGORY|Eating Out
The variety and quality/cost of take away and restuarant food in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire has changed considerably over the last decade, with many food businesses coming and going, partcularly pubs, although to be fair many have been replaced by decent restaurants.
Beaconsfield New Town used to have the legendy “Earl of Beaconsfield” public house (where Waitrose now is), and also the “Beech Tree” pub in Maxwell Road (now Vodka Revolution), whereas the Old Town has lost the Old Hare pub (now Zizi’s), the George Hotel (now the Crazy Bear), the Prince of Wales (now the Old Bengal Indian restauarnt) and the White Horse pub (now Loch Fyne).
The question is, have all the many changes over the last ten years improved the quality, choice and value for money of food and drink in Beaconsfield? Frankly, there is not a straightforward answer, as whilst the town has “lost” Santella, Bucks Tandoori, La Lanterna, it has gained Basmanti, Jungs and the Crazy Bear Thai restaurant. The answer is probably yes and no, as their have been some sad losses, but also some good additions.
If variety is the spice of life, then try “Alex’s” kebab van next to Nat West Bank in Beaconsfield New Town, which is open 7 days a week, often into the early hours at the weekend. If serves a decent burger and chips, and well as donor and chicken kebabs, and going by the hordes of young people hanging round the van, it offers good portions and value for money. Other take away options in the New Town include Jungs, Smiles Fish & Chips, Tao Chinese, Mumbai Spice and Subway.
Despite Beaconsfield not being a very large town, it does still have an awful lot of choice, both in terms of type of food and the standard of the fayre, which goes from adequate to excellent. So the bottom line is that while the grub available in Beaconsfield is up to the task, some of it is rather expensive to be able to afford to eat out more than once a week, be it at the excellent Spice Merchant or the never to be forgotten Crazy Bear, which has toilets which are shall we say……unique!!
CATAGORY|Eating Out
My family went to Pizza Express in Beaconsfield Old Town for our daughters 21st birthday meal early in 2009 (her choice), which was OK, but nearly £80 for 3 dough ball starters, some olives, pizzas and a bottle of wine, plus a few soft drinks seemed a lot to me? The important thing was that it was what our 21 year old wanted, so fine, but in my opinion any Beaconsfield eatery needs to be on its toes because of the intense and varied competition.
The black and green olives starter I had at Pizza Express that evening turned out to be mainly rather unpleasant browny/purple olives and a few nicer larger green olives, I left the non-black olives as they tasted funny. I did not bother complaining as it was my daughters birthday, so did not want to ruin it, but on reflection have I helped Pizza Express by not telling them? Probably not, but I will next time, as how are they going to improve if they are unware of this deviation from the menu?
Beaconsfield is blessed with an excellent range of restaurants, so it is not as though us punters don’t have a wide choice and can only have bread with bits on top. Beaconsfield New Town has three eat in or take away restaurants within 50 feet of each other: Jungs bistro and delicatessen; Smiles Fish and Chips and the Jasmine Chinese Restaurant. Just round the corner is Stix Wine Bar that does Tapas and The Royal Elephant Thai Restaurant, whose Royal Elephant Banquet 3 course set menu at £21 is excellent value and very tasty.
From around 6.30pm Alex’s Kebab van parked outside Nat West Bank in Beaconsfield New Town does huge kebabs, good burgers and nice chips. On the weekend, Alex is sometimes there till 3am in the morning! Costa Coffee and Starbucks are two of three coffee shops in the New Town. There is the China Diner Chinese restaurant, a Subway, Tao Chinese takeaway, Mumbai Spice Indian take away and the Va Pensiero Italian restaurant. At the Revolution vodka bar and restaurant in Maxwell Road, the £7.95 Full English Breakfast includes a choice of tea/coffee or orange juice and toast, but more importantly comes with a sirloin steak and a portobello mushroom which is delicious. The only down side is that Revolution does not open to 11am, but the breakfast is high quality and great value.
Beaconsfield Old Town has two Chinese Restaurants (Tao and Leigh House), three Indian restaurants (Basmanti, Old Bengal and the Spice Merchant), Zizzi’s Italian, Loch Fyne, Pizza Express, five pubs (Charles Dickens, White Hart, Saracens Head, Greyhound and Swan), the Old Windsor Tea Rooms and the Crazy Bear. All the pubs do food, with the White Hart and Saracens Head having designated dining areas.
On the outskirts of Beaconsfield are the Harvester, Ho King Chinese take away, the Red Lion pub at Knotty Green and the Royal Standard of England pub at Forty Green, so within about two square miles the choice is pretty jolly good, so those eatery’s that want to survive (many have not) need to offer good value, good food, good quality and good service every time.
CATAGORY|Eating Out
Beaconsfield Old Town boasts three excellent Indian Restaurants, the Spice Merchant, Basmanti and the Old Bengal. On top of that the Mumbai Spice Indian Take Away in the New Town offers reasonable fare and free home delivery on all orders of £15 or more. The area has lots of decent Indian restaurants that I have enjoyed meals at including Mr India in Loudwater and Maliks in Cookham. I appreciate there are lots of other good ones in the area, it is just i have not eat in them all – yet! The Spice Merchant also has a restaurant in Cookham (almost opposite Maliks in the High Street), Uxbridge and Henley-on-Thames.
However, I am somewhat biased towards the Spice Merchant in Beaconsfield, because of the sheer quality of the food, the ambiance, excellent service and the option in the Summer to sit and eat in that wonderfully landscaped garden. For the record, the service and quality of food and service at the Old Bengal and Basmanti is excellent, and less expensive. The truth be told, I can not really afford the Spice Merchant’s prices, as it is on the expensive for me, but the food is so superb that I always encourage anyone I know to take me there!
The owner, Bashir Islam is an avid Manchester United fan, and a generous host, backed by his very professional staff, and seems to have built up a very successful business. Is the Spice Merchant the best Indian in town the? Well for me it is, I just wish I could afford to go there more often, but when I do go it is always a special treat, which I suppose is what eating out should be!
And if you fancy trying out the Spice Merchant before 12th February they are offering two main courses for the price of one (the least expense is free). To benefit from this great offer (as I did on Tuesday night) simply register on their website via the hyperlink above.
CATAGORY|Eating Out
Until last Summer I had not been to the China Diner Chinese Restaurant in Beaconsfield New Town since it was refurbished about 18 months ago, but was pleasantly impressed with the decor, service, food and the prices.
So much so, I have been there five times since, once taking 41 other fellers from my Church, Kings Church Amersham for a social meal out. The feed back from the chaps was extremely positive, which for blokes must tell you how good the food and price was. The most recent time I have been was with my brother Paul last Monday night, and, like the half a dozen occasions before, it was good quality and value for money.
Having tried two of their set meals, the 3 course Peking Special at £18.50 a head and the 4 course Chef’s Gourmet Banquet at £21.50 a head, I can genuinely recommend both, however if you like Chinese food with a bit of added spice, my advice is to go for the Chef’s Gourmet Banquet, which is for my money, the best value on the menu. The great thing about the China Diner, or indeed Leigh House Chinese Restaurant in Beaconsfield Old Town, they will swop a dish for another if you do not want or like one of the main course dishes on the set menu. Both restaurants do an excellent chicken with cashew nuts main dish if you like that sort of thing!
Neither Leigh House or the China Diner in Beaconsfield New Town opposite Costa Coffee are expensive, but on price the China Diner is slightly better value at present, as both the food and wine are slightly less than Leigh House, which is always good value and excellent quality too.
In terms of the other two Chinese restaurants in Beaconsfield, Tao in London End in the Old Town is great if you are going with a group of people as you can be noisy and even rowdy, plus they have two separate sections upstairs for larger groups and their starters are very good. The Jasmine on the Penn Road next to HSBC bank in the New Town is also a good Chinese, and their take away service is good and fast. Personally I enjoy going to all four restaurants, and Beaconsfield is fortunate to have so many excellent Chinese restaurants to choose from. If I was forced to make a choice, I would have to say the “Leave it to us Feast” at Leigh House in Wycombe End is probably the best quality combined starter, crispy aromatic duck and main course in the Town, but only by a whisker over the China Diner. I’ll just have to keep trying all four restaurants to make sure!!
CATAGORY|Eating Out
On Saturday night, my wife and I were very kindly treated by very good friends of ours to a meal out in the main restaurant at the Crazy Bear Hotel in Wycombe End, Beaconsfield. Having watched the builders, painters and decorators come and go for nearly five years, and heard so much about the digging out of the basement and the apparent tens of millions of pounds spent, we were both intrigued to see the results.
The Crazy Bear is on the same site as the George Hotel and the old Georgian Coffee Shop next door. The old oak beams, subtle lighting, expensive drapes and lots of dark mirrors form a major part of the ambiance. The Crazy Bear Hotel Beaconsfield has two restaurants, one English, one Thai, ten bedrooms, two meeting rooms and two bar areas, one of which is in the basement. Despite the fact that most drinks are double pub prices, the place was packed last Saturday night and the restaurant apparently booked up for months.
The food is expensive, though no more than the Spice Merchant Indian Restaurant in London End Beaconsfield. Like the Spice Merchant the quality of the food is quite excellent, although after only one visit to the Crazy Bear, the service at the Spice Merchant knocks spots off the Crazy Bear. If you are going to charge around £59 for your cheapest bottle of Champagne and £7 for a large Barcardi, then you really need the service to match. Don’t get me wrong, the service at the Crazy Bear was not bad, it was just not good, and given, it appeared to me that most folk were spending over £100 a head on average, the service should not just be good, but exceptional, which sadly it was not.
Don’t be put off from trying the Crazy Bear out because of my personal views on the service we received, as on another day it might match the superb quality of the surroundings and food. It is certainly worth going for the experience, even if all you do is have a drink and venture to the toilets, which are unique and extremely unusual to say the least. However, take your American Express card and expect your drinks bill to be more than your food, as the drinks prices are really crazy!
CATAGORY|Eating Out
