The Hand and Flowers

The space

The Hand and Flowers does not look like what it is. From West Street, it presents as a low, whitewashed Buckinghamshire pub with small-paned windows and hanging baskets - the kind of building that could be anywhere in the home counties. Inside, the rooms are publike too: low ceilings, bare wooden floors, a real bar with draught beer. What gives it away is the precision: everything is exactly right, and nothing is by accident.

Tom Kerridge opened here in 2005, received two Michelin stars, and has refused to change the format despite the awards. It remains a pub in form and function, which is either the greatest confidence trick in British hospitality or the most principled position in it. We lean toward the latter.

What to drink

The bar is a real bar - proper draught lager, a rotating guest ale, a wine list that has been curated with the same seriousness as the food. You can come in for a drink without eating. This is the most under-used option in Marlow: the bar at The Hand and Flowers on a Tuesday lunchtime is one of the pleasanter places to spend an hour in Buckinghamshire.

The verdict

The dining is exceptional and requires booking weeks in advance. The bar does not - and that is the secret. Visit on a quiet afternoon, sit at the bar, drink something good, and understand what a two-Michelin-star pub actually is when it is not performing for a dining room.