REVIEW: The Pointer, Church Street, Brill, Buckinghamshire

There are some places which just have that star quality and there are others which unfortunately think they have. Sadly it’s the simple truth and with so many restaurants around at the moment, the market has become awash with fine food – or at least food which looks and thinks its good – but doesn’t deliver on flavour. The style over substance experience has happened to me so much recently and finding a meal in the UK within around an hours reach from London has been deceptively difficult this year – until now that is.

The Pointer is a gorgeous, chic country pub in a little village called Brill in Buckinghamshire. Driving through the windy roads of Bucks to find this place had us at first leading nowhere, but suddenly the red bricks and sense of village community spirit appears from nowhere. The pub dates back to the 1700’s – or at least the site does and since then its been many names but in 2011 it was taken over, re-named The Pointer and in 2012 went through a fabulous refurb which has made it into what it is today. I’m not entirely sure I’d refer to The Pointer as a pub, or even gastropub but more Pub with Dining Room. The head chef creating all the stir here is Mini Patel. Mini has been working in the industry for over 14 years now and recently appeared on Great British Menu – this man knows his food inside and out. We started out lunch with some stunning bread. I’m a strong believer that bread should always be amazing – it’s the first thing out to the to the table and first impressions always count. Here it arrived warm in a brown paper bag – filled with a lovely rosemary & salt rolled roll and just as good sliced loaf accompanied by creamy, salty butter and a beef dripping variant which wasn’t too dissimilar to Marmite. Easily some of the best bread I’ve had this year.

One thing I really love about The Pointer is that no matter what they serve on the menu, they still keep it all very local and each dish has a slight sense of rusticness – there’s nothing stuffy or pretentious about the food here. A beautiful charcuterie platter for one consisted of Dorset Ham, London Salsicon, Norfolk Lomo, Chiltern Lamb & Norfolk Fennel Salami – leave it in the heat of the room for a few minutes and they all start sweating a little, becoming soft and juicy. Accompanying the platter was some toasted sourdough, pickles & crispy onions doused in a mustard dressing, celeriac coleslaw and a crisp meaty coquette – the latter of which I liked the least. A fantastic showcase of British produce. Charred Cornish mackerel, tartar, beetroot, horseradish and scorched cucumber was yet another a stunning plate of food – I can’t stress enough how good the fish was. Meaty, juicy, flaky and not at all overpowering – instead surprisingly delicate. I’ve eaten dishes very similar to this in the past, the mixture of flavours isn’t new – but never have I had a plate of them all so well-balanced as this.

But the food just kept getting better – I was just waiting for something to slip up, but it didn’t. I even encountered the best risotto dish I have ever eaten – a bold statement but a very true one. Perfectly cooked risotto rice, drenched in butter, garlic and seasoning. Mounds of juicy mushrooms let out all the flavour they soaked up from the risotto with each bite and fried crispy brie bon bons simply added pure indulgence and another texture to the dish. I very much doubt I’ll have a risotto this good ever again. A classic offering of grilled rump steak with Portobello mushroom, tomato and beef dripping chips was equally as good. My meat was perhaps a little on the medium side of medium-rare though its flavour was full and smokey. The chips were rather excellent too – incredibly crunchy on the outside while pale yellow and fluffy on the inside.

By this point during the meal I was barely able to move, I even had to undo that button to make room for dessert. The desserts here were actually rather simple but the flavours and choice of ingredients were spot on. I’m a huge fan of cardamom so couldn’t resist the cardamom & coffee panna cotta with a side of almond and lemon drizzle cake. Its one of those dishes that pairs perfectly with your mug of warm roasted coffee at the end. Last but most certainly not least was the warm chocolate pudding with rich 70% chocolate, berries and blackcurrant sorbet. The cake was of course cooked just the right side of gooey centre and finished off with a colorfully decorated white chocolate mould on top and fruit jelly snake. In short, the perfect ending to our wonderful and very memorable lunch.

That’s exactly what I want from a restaurant – is for it to be memorable. I remember every dish here in so much detail that even now I’ve convinced myself I can still smell the garlic let off by the steam coming from the risotto and those intense lingering chocolatey notes of the pudding. The Pointer may be located in the middle of nowhere and just shy over an hour from London but for me that’s fine. The Pointer isn’t just a pub with dining rooms in Brill, it’s a serious destination restaurant well worth the travel too from just about anywhere.

8.5