A delightful lunch at The Hand & Flowers, Marlow-on-Thames

"I have got to eat before my friend's wedding." So it was my mission to track down somewhere nice to eat before the wedding in Marlow. Upon a friend's recommendation, my fellow wedding guests and I got a table at The Hand & Flowers.

Although it looked like an ordinary pub on the outside, when you stepped in it felt more than your olde worlde public house. The tables have side plates, napkins and cutlery laid out. My glass of house merlot (I was gasping for a drink) was smooth and flavourful. The carte was a lot more exciting than the typical pub lunch menu.

I ordered the home cured sardines on chopped capers (see picture above), onions and shallots on a toasted slice of bread. The slow cooked Oxford beef (Oxfordshire being a short distance away) came with bone marrow bread pudding (yum). All very tasty. My friend's parfait of foie gras looked velvety, though his wife's red snapper soup was apparently a bit too salty. We had no time to do pudding (shame) and had coffee instead - they came with freshly baked shortbread and delightful chocolate coated toffee. All was quaffed down in no time.

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