Gilbey’s Eton

A revisit after a couple of years showed that , for once, I got it right first time. To be honest my expectations are not high here- but once in a while its the right choice from a convenience perspective- in other words eating here is driven by circumstances rather than an expectation of great cooking. The place looks OK; service is fine, but the food is IMO more complicated than the ability of the people cooking it can support. They do have a couple of dishes that my wife (who eats here a little more than I do) rates highly such as their cottage pie, but it isn't on the menu when I go. Two courses from the set menu, a bottle from the low end of the list (where there's little under £30) a shared side ( no potatoes included with the main) , £5 for 4 half slices of pretty ordinary bread) and coffee cost almost £100. The meal was not awful, but it wasn't worth £100.

We've been eating here since it was the "Eton Wine Bar" in the 1970's and preferred it then. It was sort of place where you went for a decent bottle and some fairly fast and good value food on those nights when cooking a meal after getting back from work just seemed too much. We went a lot. Later it became a conspiracy centre for me whilst planning my departure from my global employer and teaming up with a new consultancy. Now it has no role. Its just another restaurant and a middling one at that. Berkshire has plenty of such restaurants and surprisingly few better than that without being cripplingly expensive. We went today because we were confined to a local lunch instead of our usual trek into London . To be frank there wasn't much on the menu that excited me and ignoring my wife's maxim ( if you can't eat well then eat cheap) I opted for an a la carte meal of ham hock roulade followed by an onglet steak with triple cooked fries. With a one large, one small glass of wine and a coffee the bill for me alone was £50 plus service. My wife, choosing the set lunch had a meal that seemed to find enjoyable if not exciting. For me nothing I ate was terribly tasty. It wasn't unpalatable or bad, just a bit bland and unexciting, and I look for more than that when eating in a restaurant. Even the fries - an infrequent guilty pleasure for me, were dull and didn't taste like fries at all. The wine , from a list that I considered rather expensive, was no different. and indeed the glass of Gigondas I had to start was surpassed by my second- the cheapest on the list. The service was pleasant and timely throughout. No problems there. Go back? well we're local so I won't say never, though I'd be hoping for a new approach or a change of chef when I did. Alternatively maybe I'll persuade my wife to join me at the "Golden Curry" up the road - another establishment that used to carry a very clear role and some interesting memories. I wish Gilbey's was still the Eton Wine Bar: it wouldn't raise my hopes or give a feeling that I was paying a lot for middling fare .