I haven't talked about food for a few days. Amazing that, so will today give it a focus.

It is all about Tom Kerridge's 'Hand and Flowers' pub at Marlow. A pub with 2 Michelin stars, and the only pub in the UK awarded 2 stars. (Eleven pubs have 1 star, including for the first time this year Heston Blumenthal's  'Hind's Head').
 
The ' Hand and Flowers' is also top of the UK  'Budweiser 50 Best Gastro Pubs' list, but there are quite a number of lists and awards for 'Gastro Pubs' coming from various sources.

Gastro pub, defined as 'a public house that serves high quality food' is a term debated. More focus on the quality of pub food was aimed at keeping British Pubs viable, but there has also been criticism that this move has removed from some pubs the very features that some patrons value.  There is also debate that the term has become diluted, and because of this the UK Good Food Guide has banned the word 'gastropub'.

Tom Kerridge's pub (?) is known in Australia because of his television show 'Great British Menu'. Our friends B and P suggested going for a meal there, and we were surprised when I booked online that there was a list of the availability of bookings that for some time slots stretched into 2014. We were after a lunch time slot only, and were able to get a time three months hence at 2.45pm! (So first rule for a pub as suggested by some broken - we had to book.)
 
 
 
Well, our date was Monday, and we turned up just before out allotted time. As did a number of other people. As each of us entered we were told our tables would be ready soon, and would we like to have a drink while waiting. There is no bar area (so is it a pub?), so it was outside to have a drink, which was fine, though I don't know what they do when it rains. 

Those of us sitting outside were ushered into the pub in the order we had arrived - it was very nicely done. We ordered from the menu and some to time after we received complimentary bread, butter and whitebait. Very well presented and very tasty. 

I chose a scotch egg variation as an entree, and Bob had terrine - see the menu on the website for details.  I then had venison, and Bob the beef, and we finished by sharing a Chocolate and Ale Cake dessert. All the dishes were very good, but the dessert stood out for me. It seemed a cross between cake and mousse, and was melting in the mouth delicious. I took some photos, but the huge plates made the dishes not come up well, so I have taken a couple of images from the website.

So is it a pub, or is it a restaurant? To me it seemed more restaurant. The service was excellent, but the food more complicated than I imagined for a pub. And does it matter? Really, who cares. If I had one complaint it would be that it was uncomfortably hot inside. Towards the end of our meal I got up and opened a window. One of the men near us, who was very red in the face thanked me heartily.
 
 
 
It was a great experience, not particularly costly, and a good insight into the food scene here. And of course we got to see Marlow as well. It is a very attractive town on the Thames River not far from London. 

And I nearly forgot to mention that in the morning we drove to the Highclere Estate (the house used for 'Downton Abbey' shooting. I knew it was closed, but thought we might get an outside view. It was not to be, and all we saw was the tower above the trees in the distance and the front gate. But we drove around the beautiful wooded area, and I could imagine Maggie Smith arriving in a chauffeur driven car to film. Or would she come in a helicopter?

All in all a lovely day. And no dinner required.