The Hinds Head, Bray

The Hinds Head High Street Bray Maidenhead  SL6 2AB Web - www.hindsheadbray.com and also follow on twitter @hindsheadbray Tel - 01628626151 Cuisine - Gastro Pub The Hinds Head in the beautiful village of Bray is steeped in history dating back to the 1500's and known to have been an Inn for at least the last 400 years is owned by gastronomy expert Heston Blumenthal.  Mentioned in the Michelin Guide the pub cuisine is brought to a high level with it's seasonal menu created by head chef Kevin Love.  A raft of awards have followed over the years including Best Pub 2011 and Tastiest Scotch Egg 2011, 2 AA Rosettes have also been awarded to this Tudor built eatery. Many other awards are on show in the restaurant, we were luckily seated next to the cabinet! Our night started at the bar as we waited for our table, packed full of locals I heard a great story told about one of the rare Gin's served whilst I waited. Served in what appeared to be more of a wine glass "so you can smell the aroma..." with a small drop of colouring as the tonic is poured and stirred a wonderful gold colour appeared as the story told that in the past this particular Gin was "worth it's weight in gold". I went for a pint of fruity Zebedee Ale to fit in with the other gentlemen at the bar and it was really nice, exactly what I was looking for before we started our meal. Apparently the King of Jordan and Walt Disney have been to this building and HRH Prince Philip celebrated his stag do here to, whilst Zebedee may not have been on sale then I'm sure lots of Ale was sunk that night. After being sat we were presented with the evenings menu, I had previously been on the website and saw a picture of the delicious looking scotch egg and therefore had an inkling I was going to go for that, then whilst sat seeing the award for tastiest scotch egg we were both in no doubt that we were going to go with that. I was inspired by an engraving on the fire place for my choice of main, it read 'fear knocked on the door, faith answered and no one was there'. I generally always go for red meat over fish but after seeing the engraving I went for the Sea Bream and Mussel broth whilst my partner went for the 10oz RibEye with Triple Cooked Chips and Bone Marrow Gravy. We deliberated over the wine a little longer as the menu carried a real assortment of Old and New World wines, we couldn't decide between the Pinot Noir or go with our love of the Sangiovese grape, we eventually went with the reasonably priced Angelo Nero d'avola Sangiovese, fruity and full bodied, perfect with the steak. The scotch eggs arrived quickly and we soon realised why it had won awards, crispy on the outside, soft in the middle with a lovely runny egg which looked like the egg of a quail. Very tasty, certainly the tastiest I have had.  Our mains then arrived, the steak cooked perfectly medium rare, the triple cooked chips were fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside and enough to keep you full but not bloated, the accompanying gravy made with bone marrow was thick and rich in taste. My sea bream was pan fried with a crispy skin and the fish was moist and fell off the fork, served with plentiful mussels the aroma was outstanding, served with tasty seasonal crushed peas and diced carrots it was a stunning dish. I would recommend the Jersey Royals to accompany this dish and these came cooked to perfection in keeping with the rest of the meal. We stayed away from having dessert but finished with a coffee and a special Honey Jack Daniels, this is extremely rare in this country and the head barman imports this from Tennessee direct? I drank half neat and the other half was in my coffee, was a great end to a lovely meal. The staff were great all night and very knowledgable.  Total price was c£110 including 12.5% service charge. Gastrogreglarr rating: 10/10 top level restaurant food in a Gastro arena, would not believe anyone if they said they have been anywhere better Gastrogreglarr likes: the atmosphere allowed me to indulge in to new flavours Gastrogreglarr dislikes: nothing, was a very enjoyable meal. Although nut allergy sufferers would struggle with the dessert menu