The Royal Oak

[david goodfellow]

It was back in April that we dined here, exactly one week after our meal at The Hinds Head. Eager to make a comparison we made the long schlep down to Berkshire in anticipation of great things.

Listing its location as Maidenhead, perhaps it was expecting too much for it to be in Maidenhead itself.It is in fact about five or six miles out of town and even with the help of google maps and my trusty navigator it was difficult to find.

Pretty unassuming from the outside and no remarkable machinery on its car park it would be easy to pass by without a second glance. A bit later however a Maserati and another couple of heavyweights jostled for space.

The welcome was excellent, top marks for waggy tails, although we had phoned to let them know we were lost and to expect us a little late.

Another extremelly sunny day, so we declined a table outside as strangely no sun shade was evident on the tables and it looked as if those without sunglasses were squinting badly. We pitched up at a table inside with good view to the garden through our window.

With a glass of beer and glass of wine we settled in to peruse the appealing menu. A choice of eight starters, mains, and desserts were offered plus Scotch eggs, Roll mops, and surprisingly Fried courgettes, also on offer were six side dishes. Tempting starters included Devon Crab, Somerset Smoked Eel, but I chose a truly wonderful,

LASAGNE of RABBIT, WILD MUSHROOMS and CHERVIL (£12.50) Featherly light pasta, dense flavoured rabbit, perhaps a bit stringy, could have done with a bit more sauce.

Wonderfull start to the meal,

She who must be obeyed, chose the simple but effective,

ENGLISH ASPARAGUS with a fried DUCK EGG and PARMESAN (£8.50)

Freshness was the key here.

A lot was made about the freshness of the fish which is bought in daily so I opted for fish, whilst our other choice was,

PEPPERED HAUNCH of VENISON with CREAMED SPINACH and SAUCE POIVRADE,(£24)

Judging by the oohs and ahhs from across

the table this was most enjoyable I could not have agreed more as I begged for a taste like a lap dog to its master.

A side order of MASH (£3,75) and CHIPS (£4) were also taken.

Super smooth and creamy.

Better than The Hinds Head version.

Most appealing main dish for me was,

ROAST SCOTTISH HALIBUT with SAMPHIRE, COCKLES, and MUSSELS,(£22). Now sad to say my first bite was not good, not good at all. Overcooked by a margin it was like soggy cottonwool, not that I have ever tasted soggy cottonwool but, well,

This really is one of those moments that I dread, everything going swimmingly well and bang. I knew on my first mouthful that this had to go back, not only is the texture destroyed by overcooking a big part of the flavour evaporates too.

Typically though for all of the normally fawning attention, where was the waiter? no where, thats where. As my other half was engrossed in said Venison I really had no other gentlemanly option other than to carry on with mine save spoiling her enjoyment. By the time our server had reappeared more than half of the dish had gone and I had second thoughts about complaint.

" Was everything OK "

Oh dear, I'm afraid the floodgates opened, and at this stage I regretted my spell at The Oliver Reed Charm School it simply did not help matters. Apart from pointing out that I NEVER leave a dish uneaten, perhaps I went on a bit much.

Charming as ever I was offered an alternative dish but declined so as not to spoil the flow of the meal.

Nice sounding, poor execution.

Desserts were simple and homely sounding from Yorkshire Rhubarb Trifle to Coxs Apple Tart, I chose a creme brulee of sorts, billed as,

CAMBRIDGE BURNT CREAM (£6.50) which thankfully was a big portion as I was still a bit hungry.

Ever so simple but tasty no less.

The other dessert was Warm VANILLA RICE PUDDING with JAM DOUGHNUTS (£7)

This was declared "enjoyable"

I almost forgot to mention the bread, perhaps because I forgot to take a pic. Its inevitable to make a comparison to The Hinds Head offering and if I was in charge here I would nick the recipe from the aforementioned. The offering here looked great, filled with holes like swiss cheese but it was hard work and much too dense.

Domonic Chapman was not in the kitchen on our visit and his sous chef was eager to look at the fish dish that I sent back. I suppose its easy to get a bit of fish wrong by a couple of minutes but thats really what sorts the men from the boys at this level, most especially that they now hold a Michelin star.

Service was really very good apart from the blip surrounding the fish dish. I feel that I need to mention that the fish dish was taken off the bill, as were the desserts and no service was added. I tipped generously but the manager? insisted that I accept it back, I off course declined.

I would really like to give this place another go, but its just too far away for a second visit. I bet the locals love it especially when Sir Michael is in attendance. If your reading this Parkie, pm me, we just might make it again

[Pam Brunning]

Very interesting David - this is on our home ground but we have avoided it like the plague as 'celeb world'! Not a breed I like dining with.

Despite the fish dish the food doesn't sound or look bad. I would suggest your halibut was farmed - there is a lot about now and they are too small to have a good texture - those beasts need to be big to get good firm flesh. Get a small farmed one and overcook slightly and oh my g!