Optima Magazine

London Road • Great Missenden • HP16 0DG • 01494 862200

Reviewed by Alan Cox

I just knew that, with its car park packed on a Monday - historically the ‘graveyard night’ for restaurants – The Nags Head was thriving. Having first reviewed this ‘foodie heaven’ eighteen months ago, not long after it re-opened, in fact, I was delighted to see that it has gone from strength to strength, gaining many awards and accolades, including a much coveted AA rosette for its excellence in cuisine.

The atmosphere inside this delightful 15th century pub-cum-restaurant, was just as warm, welcoming and relaxed as I recalled. Having been impressed on my last visit with both the food and service, I was rather hoping that they might trip up this time and give me something negative to say. No such luck… and trust me, I’m not that easy to please either!

Stunning, fabulous, exquisite, mouth-watering, superb, dramatic, artistic… the list of adjectives to describe the food here is endless.
Go ahead and pick any of them to describe my starter of Green Lipped Mussells, served with garlic butter, crispy chorizo and a béarnaise sauce. And another for my wife’s choice of Chicken Liver and Serrano Ham Ballotine on Milk Bread with a Honey Dressing and Grilled Almond Salad. I wish I had taken a picture. It looked amazing. Both dishes were exemplary.

As mentioned, the restaurant was really quite busy, and from snippets of conversation and comments from adjoining tables we weren’t alone in our praise.

The assortment of chairs and tables adds to the individuality and homely ambience of the place. I can’t even recall if there was any background music playing or not. It didn’t matter. It takes more than a few dulcet piped tones to create the right mood. Damn, full marks again.

I continued with Best End of Lamb (three succulent cutlets, cooked pink) on top of a Shredded Slowly-cooked Leg of Lamb with Peas & a mint, red wine & shallot sauce. The combination of this ‘two way’ lamb was beautifully judged, presented in a floating sea of dark rich sauce. With side dishes of Dauphinoise potatoes and creamed spinach, I was in culinary heaven.

From the ‘specials menu’ my wife selected Braised Veal Fillet with Silver Onions and Braised carrots in a Wild Mushroom and Sherry Jus, with truffle oil mash. The tastes and textures all worked so well together, highlighting another fine example of a talented chef on top of his game.

And as if that wasn’t enough praise, the Puddings (don’t you just love that word?) are worth the trip to Great Missenden alone. My Lemon Tart served with Pannacota ice cream looked like an entry in the Masterchef Final, and tasted equally as good as it looked. My wife’s Hot Sticky Toffee Pudding served with ice cream was (hooray – a little niggle!) rather too hot, but nevertheless scored full marks on yummy appeal.

Adam Michaels, if you’re feeling rather smug after reading this, then so be it. You have every reason. Your restaurant rocks!

Starters: £4.95 to £13.95
Main courses: £13.95 to £22.95
Desserts: £5.45 to £6.75
House wine: £13.95