The best restaurants serving British food in Marlow North and West Wycombe South East

The vibe in here is so stuffy and dated which sort of lets down the entire experience. It very much feels like eating in your grandparents lounge (carpets, no music or atmosphere, date chairs and very packed in). The staff are really young and therefore lacking any real knowledge of the food or helpful interactions with guests. We asked for bread and our waitress said ‘um we only give you the bread once you’ve actually ordered your food’. I don’t think it’s their fault at all but seems like a real lack of training. The cup of mushroom soup served in an espresso cup as an amuse-bouche was truly not great or appetising in any way. Our mains were okay, beef was beautifully cooked and the set lunch menu is a great deal (£25 for two courses) but this place is truly so overrated and needs a huge revamp to not feel like it’s stuck in 1982.

10/10 for service and food this evening at the britannia marlow. Exceptional service from Natalie, making the extra efforts to cater for our requests, continuously with a smile. Food was fresh, hot and delicious. Will definately be back and recommend to others.

My friend took me to the restaurant for a special birthday. I ordered pizza it was amazing not too stodgy and very light but filling. Can’t remember what my friend ordered but she liked it too. The lady that took our order was very attentive her name was Kelly there was another waitress that checked to see if everything was ok. It was a busy night there were two big tables next to us but we didn’t feel intimidated and were well looked after. Thank you for a lovely evening to remember for my birthday x Ps dessert was fantastic

I thought long and hard about posting this, but as a result of an extremely disappointing visit I looked to see if there were any other reviews that mirrored our experience and was taken aback to see that there was! We are not local to the Hand & Flowers, it is over a three hour drive away, but have previously dined twice for special occasions being treated like royalty and had fabulous food. I’d like to say that as a result of our disappointing evening I emailed our thoughts and feedback really to highlight what I think was a series of “training needs”. I wasn’t after a refund or goodwill gesture, I just believe that feedback good or bad should be welcomed. As a result of the email I had a phone call from the Manager who basically talked down to me and blamed our perception of the experience. He had viewed the cctv of the evening and at no time did we look unhappy or make any comments to the staff on the night. After the call ended I was furious at having been scolded by someone who point blank refused to accept any feedback and had completely turned the tables on me and how dare I even make recommendations on customer service. The occasion was the evening of my daughter’s graduation, held in Reading, so a perfect opportunity to visit and celebrate. It was a freezing night, we had big coats and scarfs and upon entering we were asked to make our way into the dining room. We insisted on sitting in the bar area to come to temperature and enjoy a drink before being seated. We asked about the Champagne selection as we were celebrating, but our host had no knowledge of the choices available. We did end up with a nice bottle but after one sip we were asked to enter the dining room. It was only when I tried to hang our coats up that a member of staff looked very surprised and took them from us, delivering tokens to our table a few minutes later. We weren’t comfortable ordering three courses at once, but it was explained that as it is a set price menu all three choices were to be made there and then. The starter's arrived and we were off to a good start. Red wine was ordered, shown to the table and decanted. We had actually been given a different wine to one that we asked for, but it was still a nice bottle. The main courses were underwhelming - the Duck & Cherry pie was dry and the Bon Bon was a deep fried ball of dried out stringy sinew, the Pork was a slab of meat which again was slightly dry and the Fish not much better. The Fillet of Beef was the best meal we had on our table. It wasn’t fine dining but it definitely wasn’t Pub food either. When dessert eventually arrived, it just wasn’t wanted. It was too late and too heavy. We had perhaps a couple of mouthfuls each and called it a day. We asked if a taxi could be arranged and 10 minutes later after paying over £1,100 for dinner for four, we were on our way to the Hotel. When we arrived at our destination, the taxi driver asked for cash payment. Not having that amount of cash, he then asked for a bank transfer, or he could drive us to a cash point to obtain cash! When we declined this, wanting to pay by Apple Pay or card, he then had to ring his dad for advice. His Dad insisted these were the only methods available. The stand off ended when the nice receptionist in our hotel paid with their cash and added the taxi cost to our Hotel bill. Was this really an approved taxi firm used by the Hand & Flowers? According to the Manger when given my dressing down phone call, yes it was and nothing like this has ever happened before!! In summary, don’t bother. This will be the most expensive and the most disappointing visit to a Pub you will ever make. In our opinion it bears the Tom Kerridge stamp in name only. If you were fortunate to enjoy an amazing experience a few years back leave it there. You shouldn’t try to relive the memory. We will never return. If you want an amazing experience try The Elephant in Torquay. They knock the Hand & Flowers into a cocked hat!

My partner and I visited The Coach on Saturday for brunch, breakfast and we don’t have an issue paying premium prices until there are situations like charging us for £1.50 for one slice of sourdough, which is just mean and put a bad taste in our mouths, My partner had a full English and had half a slice of toast with this, if you’re going to charge top prices then this really should be addressed, as it comes across badly. Also if you have an open kitchen and you have guests sitting at the bar perhaps park the vulgar language. I ordered the beef hash which was a tad over salted and served in a bowl, making it difficult to eat other than that all was good with great tasting ingredients.