The Vanilla Pod
our comments
Apparently T.S. Eliot once lodged in this building, “and if the food is as indigestible as his ‘poetry’”; I wittily remarked to the wife, with all the literary authority you gain from being the possessor of a 2:1 in English, ‘we’re in for a very rough time.’
Tucked away just off the main drag in pretty little Marlow where smart two-seaters made in Germany outnumber Ford Focuses (Focussii?) by about three to one, The Vanilla Pod has been occupying this cute little building for some years now. It’s a doll’s house of a restaurant refurbished in 2007 and on this sunny Saturday lunchtime it has its back doors open to allow an additional two tables into its postage stamp garden. The air con is running inside wafting welcome cool air over tidy and well-dressed tables and everything sparkles from what is obviously careful cleaning. It’s a good sign, as are smartly dressed waiters and a Maitre d’ who has old school charm and unforced friendliness.
It seems to have old school prices, too. Today for lunch it’s twenty quid for a set menu of three or four choices per course. How do they do it we wonder? Well not by cutting on quality it turns out.
Take my terrine of smoked salmon with bourbon vanilla pickled fennel, for example. Basically a compressed millefueille of smoked salmon slices dotted with dill, it was both firm and yielding and packed full of flavour. The pickled fennel was justified; crunchy, to contrast with the salmon, and sweet too, with just a hint of that vanilla rising inside the mouth and up to the nose on each mouthful. Our other starter, a salad of artichokes, woodland mushrooms, green beans and hazelnut oil, was all over the plate, as if the original dish had exploded just before service, but darting about and picking up the little pieces allowed you to mix flavours for each forkful, the hazelnut oil accentuating the meaty, forest flavoured mushrooms very well.
Our well-priced Spanish Rose, on this very hot day, proved a good choice for the food, its chilly astringency working well with everything including my main of Appleton pork. The pork was slightly overdone I felt, but still very good, and backed up by excellent mash, or creamed potato I suppose we ought to really say. Generous slices of pork too and the confit shallots added a jammy side note that the pork enjoyed as much as I did. Once again presentation was first class, classicism deconstructed and rearranged to good effect.
Pan Fried Guilt (sic) Head Sea Bream with Quinoa and Madeira Jus didn’t explain what the Bream felt so guilty about, but showed again Chef/Owner Michael Macdonald’s sure hand and experience. I like my fish skin crispy and so at first was disappointed that the jus had moistened it, but this turned out to be jus(t) fine. A quality piece of fish whose yielding texture was well-partnered by the quinoa which has a marvellous way of ‘popping’ in the mouth and makes a refreshing change from cous cous or bulgur.
Dessert of a turned out of its dish Tahitian Vanilla Crème Brulee with honeycomb like a smashed Crunchie bar around it and a butterscotch jelly, didn’t let the side down. All this for £20? The banker that was Eliot would have called that more than reasonable. In fact for the standard of the cooking and service it’s a real bank job of a steal. You want to run out the door pulling the stocking off your head, leap into the Mk II Jag and pelt off down the road with The Filth in hot pursuit. Far from being a culinary Wasteland, Marlow has in Vanilla Pod a great value fine-dining destination restaurant for all its lucky locals.
N.H. - July 2008
your comments review this restaurant and win a bottle of champagne
Tables packed much too close together. Needs some background music.
Food was great but will not return.
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Mike
Overall rating 
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 4
Monday, October 29, 2007
Spent the evening of 14th July at The Vanilla Pod and enjoyed excellent food in a very relaxed atmosphere with friendly and attentive staff. We will visit again and again.
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doreen potter - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating 
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Saturday, July 15, 2006
