Riverside Brasserie, Bray

[AdamLawrence]

Review: Riverside Brasserie, Bray

Saturday June 1 was a beautiful day. So I was pretty pleased that – a couple of weeks earlier – I’d booked a table at Heston Blumenthal’s Riverside Brasserie in Bray Marina. We were taking Lucy’s 81-year-old step-grandmother – a local resident – out for lunch. No, correction – Rowan was taking us out for lunch, since the last time we lunched together, at the Fat Duck last summer, we paid.

You have to say that, on a warm, sunny English summer’s day, sitting by the river and eating a decent lunch is a pleasant experience. You don’t need fantastic food in those circumstances. Which is just as well: although we all enjoyed our meal, and it was pretty good value for money, I wouldn’t call it great, and I was a little disappointed by the overall quality of the experience.

I started with a squid and chorizo tartine. This sounded better than it actually was – it didn’t have much chorizo in it at all, and the squid was only OK. Mostly greenery, I thought it would have benefitted from a bit of chili. The bread base was excellent though. Lucy and Rowan both had a sardine tart. I only got a bit, but the little fish were good, and the biscuit-y pastry base was better.

Moving on to mains, and I – with a few misgivings, but wanting something that would match with white wine, because we already had a bottle on the go, and I didn’t want to order any more (driving) – chose the roasted breast of chicken with ceps and pomme puree and roasting juices. This was, for me, easily the star of the meal. Served on the bone, the chicken had the mushrooms stuffed under its skin, and had been infused with their flavour. It was also beautifully moist. The potato puree was very heavy on the butter in the modern French style, and the gravy just about right. Lucy’s spaghetini with peas, clams and tomato came with a foaming top, and was no more than OK. Could have done, again, with some chili. I wonder why the kitchen was holding back on the heat? Rowan had pan-fried fillets of gilthead bream with couscous. The fish was nice, if a bit meagre, and properly cooked, but I personally find couscous a very dull grain. This didn’t change my mind.

Lucy skipped pud, I had a perfectly serviceable dark chocolate tart (with which I’d have liked some cream or mascarpone, but never mind) and Rowan had crème brulee, which had been infused with lavender. Pretty good, if nothing special. Espresso was OK, but I’m getting a bit hacked off with the lousy standard of most espresso these days. With a pleasant bottle of Sancerre and inclusive of service (slips closed, well done), the bill was GBP 115. Good value (especially as I wasn’t paying) and a pleasant meal. A few too many braying (!) Thames Valley types for my proley tastes, but you can’t blame the restaurant for that. But it’s not – repeat not – a baby Fat Duck. Whether that’s a good or a bad thing, you must decide for yourself.

[tim young]

We also went on Saturday evening to the Riverside Brasserie: a great evening for a walk along the towpath and our appetites sharpened by vast numbers of exhausted lycra-clad rowers at a regatta on the new rowing lake.   It got a little cold after about 8 o'clock but the waiter switched on those brazier on lamppost style objects scattered around the deck.   Over half the covers are outside, yet they are open all year, apparently.   The waiter told us it was a greasy spoon until around eight months ago and then re-opened with Heston as a consultant: some of the money has been put up by Lee Dixon of Arsenal fame.

Our expectations were on the high side too and I would agree with all that Adam has said.   Fair but unmemorable starters (the squid and chorizo was off by the evening), decent gilthead bream and  rather good ribeye, respectable chocolate tart (unadorned) and crumble.   Keeping the food hot is obviously a challenge for them.   The service was notably slow and the bill tried to overcharge us by £50 (charged for 2 bottles of Sauvignon, not 2 glasses)- revised bill at £78 for two not £138: they were pleasant enough and we enjoyed watching the boaties gliding up in their faintly absurd cabin cruisers.

The walk and the locations were worth a journey, but the meal was probably not.   It was good to try it out, but the Fat Duck associations probably do the place a disservice.

[cappers]

ive been there 3 times now and enjoy it lots. the highlight was the 1st time when i was given a complimentary course (connections!   ) of Boudin blanc which was akin to a never ending orgasm.

Brasserie is good value at lunch. i dont agree with them charging for bread though without telling you.

[Lord Michael Lewis]

i was given a complimentary course (connections!   ) of Boudin blanc which was akin to a never ending orgasm.

How? In what way? Have you ever had a never ending orgasm? If you have, you are orgasming now. Does this cause dehydration? What do you do with all the jizz? Can't you come up with better similies?

[cappers]

dont drag Heston's name intothe gutter again. we know how jealous u r of him.

now go away and leave this board. we dont want you here. Right Andy ? i know that you were too chicken to show your face at any functions because youre a sad man.

ps - Brasserie got a great review in the Independant.

[Andy Lynes]

Please, don't drag me into this for God's sake!

eGullet is for everyone who is interested enough to post. I think we've proved that time and time again, (especially recently). We have a few rules that people need to abide by, but apart from that, this really is a free speech zone.

As older lags of eGullet will know, LML and myself have bashed heads a few times in the past, which is what cappers is referring to, but I genuinely have no wish to see him leave these boards and it is extremely presumptuous to assume otherwise!  

cappers - how is LML dragging Heston's name into the gutter? His posting is off topic in that it deals only with your use of the English language. I also think you have been unecessarily personal in your response to LML's piss taking, which at the end of the day, is all it was.

[cappers]

backstabber

[Andy Lynes]

Cappers - I fail to see how this is backstabbing when we discussed this via "instant messenger" before I posted anything on eGullet. I was trying to avoid a scene around LML's post, but seems to have failed. Nevermind.