The House on the
Bridge, Eton
NB: all prices are
given in pounds sterling
Michael Pelham mingles
with the mighty
It
has never been easy to eat well in
Eton (in restaurants, that is) nor
yet in Windsor. One can go further
afield, to the
Roux brothers' Waterside Inn or the Hind's Head at Bray if one
is seeking serious eating, but this may be neither convenient nor within one's
budget for every occasion. On one St Andrew's Day, when, embarrassingly I had
left it too late and every restaurant in the area was fully booked, we settled
for the main restaurant at Heathrow airport, which was surprisingly good and
had the advantage that the place was not full of Etonians
and their parents!
It's even more difficult to find a place to eat before or after a performance,
at the Theatre Royal in Windsor, or the Farrer Theatre at Eton, for instance.
So The House on the Bridge, which for 30 years now has been a restaurant
on a great site overlooking the Thames, is a welcome haven. It opens at 6.00
pm for dinner and last orders are at 11.00 pm (10.30 pm on Sundays). It is
open for lunch from noon until 2.30 pm (3.00pm Sundays) every day of the week
except Boxing Day and the day after!
The view is wonderful, particularly if one has a table by the window or in
the terrace garden. You look onto the Thames, watching the boats go by and
the swans flying and admire the great fortress of Windsor Castle beyond.
The food is reasonably conventional but is good, with well chosen fish and
meat skillfully prepared and cooked. There are a daily set menus:- lunch 17.50
and dinner 26.95 and the Carte is extensive. A typical early summer dinner
menu offered starters of Ogen melon with strawberries, kiwi and muscat wine;
king prawns with mushroom bouchée; or fresh asparagus. Main courses
might include an entrecote steak with whole grain mustard and brandy and cream;
grilled salmon with champagne sauce; or roast duckling (admirably crisp). Desserts
are from the tolley and the English and French cheeses are in fine condition.
There is also a number of interesting vegetarian dishes and an omlette was
nicely baveuse.
From the Carte there are some particularly good first courses, even though
they may not be wildly inventive. The Borstch was good and so were the Oeufs
Benedictine with truffle. Scallops au Gratin with asparagus were outstanding.
Two of us, defying all bans on beef, shared a Chateaubriand: it was beautifully
tender and cooked exactly as ordered.
The wine list is quite extensive; house wines at 12.50 are cheerfully drinkable.
The house champagne is attractive and sells for 26.95. Other wines are mostly
in the 18 to 30 pound price range. There were no great clarets, but some good
Burgundy and a varied list of white wines, including some from England and
the New World.
If you have had a particularly good day at the races at Ascot, you could drink
the Krug '85 at 159.50 and finish the meal with the superb Tokaj Aszu at 53.50
for the 50cl bottle. On the other hand, as I say, the house wine is just fine.
The House on the Bridge, Eton, Windsor, Berkshire SL4 6AA
Tel: 01753 860914
Michael Pelham is proprietor of Pelham Tours, which organises sporting,
gastronomic and other tours in the UK and Europe. He has written restaurant
reviews for many publications, including The Field
