Review: Riverhouse Restaurant & Bar

River House Restaurant and Bar

(WINDSOR, BERHSHIRE)

Star Rating: Food : 4.5 Stars Service : 4 Stars

Hygiene Rating: 4

Date of visit: 11 May 2013

I was on the lookout for a restaurant in Windsor along the river as an in between stop for us to get together with our family from Basingstoke. Found this on the web and was a bit dubious as the reviews on Tripadvisor where not brilliant. But due to the fact that there was parking right at the restaurant, as my Mum-Law just had a knee replacement and could not walk far, thought we would give it a try. Very pleased we did, as I must totally disagree with most of the latest reviews. On arrival we were shown straight to our table, and our drinks order was taken straight away. We selected a bottle of Houghton The Bandit Shiraz-Tempranillo (Western Australia) @ £23.95 a bottle, as this just seemed perfect because as you know my surname is Houghton.  One thing I must note is that one of our waitresses should perhaps think twice when choosing what underwear to wear under a white shirt, dark pink is not a good idea, and it did bring down the tone of the place a bit.

We selected from their evening menu even though we were there for lunch, to start with we ordered one Fresh flavoured bread to share @ £6.50, specially baked exclusively for them served with roasted garlic, balsamic and olive oil and marinated olives.  This was more then ample for five of us and was a lovely way to start our lunch.

For our main courses I ordered Pan fried corn fed chicken breast @ £11.95, with potato rosti and wilted spinach finished with white wine cream sauce. The chicken was cooked to perfection and the combination of flavours worked well together.  Although I must state that I am not a big fan of food that is towered up on ones plate, I like to taste each component of my meal seperately.

David on the other hand made the mistake of ordering the  Grilled Sea Bass @ £13.95, served with creamy polenta topped with wild mushrooms and lemongrass sauce. Had he not asked them to just give him the sea bass with a salad and leave off the polenta it might have been worth the £13.95 that they charged him.  Eventually he had to ask for some chips on the side, as there was no way that was going to satisfy his hunger. 

Danielle ordered their Home-made burger @ £10.95, topped with smoked applewood cheese and crispy back bacon with hand cut chips or french fries, watercress salad & fresh coleslaw.  Still to this day I don't know how a restaurant can claim something is home-made, to me it can only be called that if you actually cook it in your home, there is no way they would go home and cook the burger and then bring it to the restaurant once cooked. Sorry my little rant, just does my head in when you read some descriptions on a menu.

Our other two dinner guests both ordered Braised lamb shoulder @ £12.95, with chive mash and redcurrant jus (in layman terms sauce). As you will gather I am not a fan of the word jus, we are in England call it a sauce please unless you are a French restaurant.  They said it was lovely and the meat was cooked perfectly.

For afters David and I shared a cheese board @ £6.50, the others had sticky toffee pudding @ £4.95 and a chocolate torte @ £4.95.  These all went down extremely well.

Overall Experience

The setting was perfect, the company even better.  The whole atmosphere was welcoming, even the toilets were lovely and clean.  I would most definitely recommend this restaurant, well worth a first and second visit.  The whole meal for five of us cost £123.75.

http://www.riverhousewindsor.co.uk

Thames - Windsor, SL4 1QN

Tel: 01753 620010

Rating Guide

5 Stars - Perfect

4.5 Stars - Exceptional

4 Stars - Excellent

3.5 Stars - Very good

3 Stars - Good

2.5 Stars - Average

2 Stars - Bad

1.5 Stars - Very bad

1 Star - Dire