Food // Heston’s Hinds Head/ Beating the January blues

You lucky people are getting 2 blogposts from me this weekend! Not that I’m just a week behind blogging and am trying to catch up… Anyways… this weekend I finally feel like I can catch up on some life admin thats been put on the back burner. 
There’s definitely a theme to my recent posts… food! If you follow me on insta you’ll know I’m constantly posting stories of the food I’m eating – defo sharing the love! It’s definitely one way to beat those January blues.

Last weekend we popped down to my parents to use the voucher we’d given them for Christmas at the Hinds Head. The Hinds Head is a restaurant in their new village Bray which is part of Heston’s The Fat Duck Group. Its located in the middle of Bray village just across from the Fat Duck but the menu is a fraction of the price! We’d been before and had the most delicious cocktail called the Sweet Shop which they no longer do… I was just a bit gutted! Here’s a pic from the last time we were there… A cocktail with candy floss and sweets is perfection in my books!
It was a super early start for a Saturday to get to my parent’s for 9:30. There were also road works which added an extra half hr onto the journey but we eventually got there! We then popped across to Maidenhead to a cute little coffee shop called Bakedd. The spread they put on is insane… I mean look at these… 😍
Tim and I ended up sharing a ham and cheese twist and Sam (my little brother) had a fresh croissant right out of the oven. I also had a deliciously smooth hot choc. I’ll have a hot choc any day any time (Its something you can have any time of the day… like beans – good at brekkie, perfect at lunch and great at dinner… just a thought 😋)
Our table at The Hinds Head was at 12 and we were using a Time Out voucher for a 5 course meal and a welcome drink. Every now and again Time Out do some sort of voucher for them and we went about 3 years ago with it and really enjoyed it. (See here for current link on offer)
We had our welcome drink upstairs in the Royal Lounge Bar which was recently done up. The decor definitely reflects Heston’s eccentric taste… gun light fittings, boars on walls, Heston on the curtains… It definitely gets you talking! Our welcome drink was the ‘last tango’ which was loveliness of passionfruit, ginger, apple sherbet and champers.
We then were settled downstairs opposite the fire with more drinks. Now I would say its probably not the best for very fussy eaters. We got this for both my mum and dad and tbh he didn’t really enjoy it unfortunately but the rest of us demolished everything.
Tim and I enjoyed a ‘spiced rum’ cocktail while my mum had a ‘gold rush’. They were delish!
The first course was their famous pea and ham soup with a scotch egg. We had this last time and was by far the best bit! You can just pop into the bar for a drink and bar snacks which includes the scotch egg so we will defo be popping back for a drink and scotch egg!
The next course was confit butternut squash which was super tasty. This past year I really have loved cooking and eating butternut squash so this was a nice treat…
We then had earl grey tea-smoked salmon. My dad isn’t a salmon guy so they gave him mushroom parfait. You definitely need to like mushrooms for that dish as its super strong! 
Then it was time for the main dish… Beef a la Mode 😍 I mean look at that piece of beef! Its a meat lovers dream 😋
By this point I was stuffed! But there’s always space for pudding in my books especially this Treacle Tart! Who’s with me?! 
Because it was also my mum’s birthday they brought out our petit fours with this cute little message 😍 It’s the little touches that make a place that extra special…
Luckily we didn’t have far to go home so fell in front of the sofa and watched The Greatest Showman… definitely my fav movie from last year. I can’t believe it came out Christmas 2017!
Later in the evening we had a stroll to the other side of the village and had a drink at the Crown… another of Heston’s empire! This is just a nice small pub and is super cute! We settled down with a hot gin and watched the world go by for an hour.
If you’re a lover of your food defo check out Bray and The Hinds Head. The Fat Duck is just way too expensive for us atm so The Hinds Head is the perfect compromise… tasty food by Heston at a reasonable price. One day we’ll go but until then we’re perfectly happy with our options 👍
Right now I actually need to move from the sofa and out from under this blanket and make some breakfast… thinking bacon sandwiches to set us up for the day! 
Anyone else been to one of Heston’s places? What did you think?
Any lovers of scotch eggs out there?
Until next time,
Cathers x
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