The Hand and Flowers has a fairly new head chef in the form of Sarah Hayward, who previously ran the kitchen of The Coach at Marlow. The restaurant has around 36 covers, with up to eight chefs working in the kitchen. There were a few menu options, with a set three course lunch at £45, a three course “classics” menu at £85 and a “house menu” at £195 for four courses. We opted for the latter.
The wine list was not in a form that I can easily analyse in full, but example labels were Rondavel Hill Chenin Blanc 2025 at £58 for a bottle that you can find in the high street for £17, Bow & Arrow Melon de Bourgogne 2024 at £82 compared to its retail price of £29, and Villa di Capezzana 2023 at £100 for a wine that will set you back £24 in the high street. For those with the means there was Pernod Belicard Puligny Montrachet 2023 at £202 compared to its retail price of £76, and Château Lynch Bages 1983 at £266 for a wine whose current market value is £163.
There was a canape in the form of a cod brandade with smoked paprika mayonnaise. This was pleasant, with the mayonnaise bringing a gentle hint of peppery heat to enliven the cod (14/20). Bread was a good sourdough from a bakery called Pollen Bakery. My first course was duck liver parfait with toasted brioche and orange chutney on the side. The parfait was really lovely, with deep flavour and smooth texture (16/20). Next was a pasta dish, Wensleydale and walnut agnolotti with warm Iberico ham and pickled nettles. This was less successful, the pasta having reasonable texture but the filling being somewhat bland, despite there being ham and cheese. There was not much in the way of sourness from the pickled nettles, and the flavours did not really work that well together, at least for me (14/20). My dining companion had a curiously small sliver of John Dory and a single spear of Wye Valley asparagus. I won’t score this but although it was nicely presented, it was not very generous in size for a main course.
A version of pate en croute was my main course, with chicken and foie gras. At the table a morel sauce was poured over the chicken. There were also baby sweet onions. This worked well, the chicken in itself did not have a lot of flavour, but the sauce was rich and the morels were good (15/20). On the side we had pleasant hispi cabbage and good triple cooked chips (as well they might be at £12.50 for a portion). Chocolate and cherry pit cake with espresso butterscotch and frosted Brazil nut. This had a crisp base, the chocolate suitably rich and the texture good. This came with cherry pit ice cream, with gave enough sharpness to provide balance to the richness (15/20).
Service was good, and the bill came to £224 each with just water to drink, and no coffee. The latter was because they choose to serve Musetti, a cheap industrial coffee, rather than a speciality coffee. Overall, this was a better experience than my previous visits to the Hand and Flowers: Sarah clearly has some ability. However, this is a very high price given that there are scarcely any luxury ingredients: no langoustines or turbots were harmed in the making of this meal, yet the four courses here were pricier that the full tasting menu at, say, The Dysart, where a nine course tasing menu is currently priced at £155. Nonetheless, it remains popular.
Further reviews: 21st Nov 2012
Shareen
The owner would be on tv claiming poverty and arguing that if VAT were reduced to the 5% common in Europe, your bill would have been under £200. But, while I agree with the argument that many hospitality businesses are struggling and at risk, it doesn’t explain why it takes 8 chefs to prepare a meal at the level you describe for so few covers. Many chefs I know would be able to do that on their own, perhaps with an assistant and a competent Kp. These prices, however good the food, just give restaurants a bad name.
Richard Morris
I recognise some of those dishes, or variations on them, from two years ago. It doesn’t seem like you had a two star meal - we certainly didn’t.