In April my daughter treated me and the ‘Missus’ to Sunday lunch at the Waterside Inn at Bray for my birthday. Now I read that Prince Philip was treated to his 90th birthday lunch here as well; in his case the tab was picked up the grand children. I wonder if he sat on the chair I’d sat on? Much more fun musing on that rather than ‘I wonder if the chair I’m sitting on is the one he sat on’. It’s nice to be first!

First we had drinks on the terrace in glorious sunshine. Rebecca lives in Milano so a Campari and Soda seemed an appropriate aperitif. The tiny freebies with the drinks were a little limited for me, there were three including a foie gras based one. Rebecca is a pescatarian so foie gras is a no, no for her and Essy doesn’t like foie gras so I had to eat them all and leave the others for the other two!

We all chose from the Menu Gastronomique and I started with a Spinach and Sorrel Soup with a soft poached egg in it, shreds of chicken, and topped with slices of truffle – intensely green and utterly delicious.

For the main I had stuffed saddle of lamb with morel mushrooms and vegetables which included baby artichokes and asparagus. The lamb was better than perfect if that’s possible :-) and the jus was so intensely flavoured I wouldn’t leave a drop of it mopping it up with a piece of bread!

With this we drank a Rose from Michel Roux’s vineyard in Provence.

For dessert I chose Pistachio Creme Brulee with vanilla ice-cream in a crisp basket. Absolutely top notch.

I never have coffee after a meal but enjoy the petit fours as an extension of dessert. These were outstanding and included a small sugar coated cube of jelly – it tasted like a whole bottle of Ribena had been reduced to a teaspoon! Nougat was great and a tiny passion fruit tart superb.

Service was impeccable, Rebecca placed her handbag on the floor alongside her chair. Within seconds a small table was brought alongside and her handbag lifted from the floor to sit in glory on its own little table! I estimate that there was about one front of house staff to every 4/5 diners. The wages bill for the establishment will be enormous and must account for a significant proportion of the bill.