The Griffin

*Chef Tomas Topolar has left to head up the kitchen at the Barn Restaurant at Oxmoor Farm, Great Hampden, Buckinghamshire*

Amersham’s handsome main street isn’t short of plush hostelries and restaurants, so the fact that many locals – from work colleagues to young mums with babies – dine at this grand old coaching inn even on a midweek lunchtime says a great deal. Readers’ comments have been especially positive about the ‘simply beautiful’ Sunday roasts, where the likes of suckling pig with chorizo lead to ‘clean plates all round’.

The rambling interior is split into various dining areas, with wooden floorboards and ancient beams juxtaposed with green-velvet chairs and a preponderance of fake greenery in the bar area, which looks out on to a little terrace garden. Chef Tomas Topolar joined from the now-defunct Mash Inn, Radnage in 2024, but the menu has retained its modern pub-food feel plus at least one old favourite, a Baron Bigod pie (now a starter). Expect a broadly similar repertoire for lunch and dinner, with minor seasonal adjustments.

Lunch might commence with a delicate little pig’s cheek croquette, fresh from the pan, full of tender meat and served with celeriac rémoulade and rather sweet black-garlic ketchup. To follow, tuna steak was a tad overcooked on our visit, though the accompanying potato salad was abundant and creamy. Luckily, dessert made amends: a rich, dark and dense chocolate and coconut crémeux.

Bread is a highlight here, warm and fresh from the Griffin's new on-site bakery named ‘Ourdough’, but whether the accompanying sweet butter (chipotle and maple) makes a good pairing is questionable. The venue's line-up of drinks (from local real ales to fine wines and cocktails) has been praised, so too the waiting staff – though forgetfulness isn’t unknown.