Address: Binfield Heath, Oxfordshire, RG9 4JI

Telephone number: 01491575755

Website: http://www.thebottleandglassinn.com/

Date of visit: 7 May 2010

Approximate cost per head:  Nearly all main meals under £10 except sea bass at £12.95 and steak at £17.95

Comments on wine list/beer: Didn’t see a wine list, wines available by the glass, Breakspear £3 a pint

Summary:

I used to come here on a regular basis in the mid 70s when I was a postgrad at Reading University.

In those days, they did scampi and chips and steak and chips – both under a fiver and significantly better than those served at Berni Inns.

Alias, Berni Inn is no more although the next generation of cheap steakhouses- Beefeaters – are still around.

Bottle and Glass’s cuisine has already moved on as they are under new management although the décor and furniture (inside and outside) have stayed nearly the same. There are two bars, the public one has long tables and benches or chairs and there is a sofa in the lounge bar (that’s new!). There are only one set of toilets accessed via the lounge bar.

The menu is a simple one and there is a lunch as well as a supper version. Sandwiches at £4 and all puds also priced at £4. The main courses range from spaghetti bolognese to sausage and mash. I had the fish and chips off the lunch menu priced at £6.60 (£9.50 in the evening).

The fish – a pretty big piece – and chips were excellent. To start with, you get proper french fries not chunky chips. The batter was light and the peas were previously frozen – more and more places are introducing sweetened pea puree or mushy peas. Mushy I like but not the sweetened puree. In fact the Hand and Flowers (Marlow) serves sweetened pea puree with their “famous” fish and chips. You also get pea puree at the St George and Dragon (Wargrave) and The Royal Oak (Paley Street).

It’s certainly worth a visit.

E