The Greyhound
Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire
Set on a handsome street close to Beaconsfield’s main drag, the Greyhound is a highly trained thoroughbred. This 17th-century former coaching inn was refurbished and reopened in 2019 by a couple with extensive hospitality experience at the likes of Restaurant Gordon Ramsay and Trinity. They run a tight ship, with an exceptionally well-drilled team out front. Although there’s a bar with local real ale, fine dining’s the thing, pointed up by expensive wallpaper in the foyer and a smart semi-circular yellow banquette installed beneath wooden beams in the ground-floor restaurant. There's a similarly attired room upstairs, and a terrace for summertime food at the back. A certain formality pervades the place, admired by legions of regulars who appreciate the ‘cosy, classy and comfortable’ ambience and ‘immaculate’ staff. The food attracts praise too. As well as various tasting menus, Jermaine Harriott (promoted from sous-chef) serves up a concise seasonal carte where Norfolk quail with pickled walnuts and redcurrants might precede grilled red mullet with carrot, ginger and avruga caviar. There’s a short list of ‘nibbles’ too, including a pair of exquisitely light (and strikingly black) duck and cherry tarts with nori and gherkin. Even the good-value set lunch comes with a showering of additional tit-bits, from a standard-issue cheese gougère to a creamy yet tangy white tomato gazpacho with thinly sliced pickled courgettes. To follow, a quartered loaf of warm, moist, nutty soda bread with caramelised butter outshone our starter – an underpowered sweetcorn velouté, poured onto a tangle of crunchy sliced fennel, spring onions and Thai basil. No complaints, though, about a main course of Cornish ling, the generous portion of translucently fresh fish aptly paired with a punchy warm ‘tartare butter sauce’ and little cubes of potato. Equally enjoyable was a (much-needed) side dish of sugar-snap peas with mint, lettuce and bacon. With pre-desserts, 'sweets' (including a tangy sea-buckthorn pastille) and chocolates also on the agenda, our intense chocolate tart embedded with chewy raw pistachios simply added to the indulgent finale. A thoughtfully chosen, well-annotated wine list completes the picture.
Dining Information:
Wheelchair access
33 Windsor End, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire HP9 2JN
01494 671315
