The Beehive | White Waltham (UK)

A shining performance of this authentic gastropub. Serving up beautifully prepared, comforting dishes made with high quality local ingredients!

We revisit The Beehive in White Waltham after our delightful dinner last February (see that review). The red-brick village pub and restaurant, with its modern, country-chic interior, overlooks the cricket pitch of White Waltham in Berkshire (UK). We really need to come back next spring when their is a cricket match on. The terrace of The Beehive is the perfect spot to have a glass of wine while watching the game.

Chef Patron Dominic Chapman and his wife Helena took charge at The Beehive in August 2014. It’s their first own venture after having worked at several venues around Berkshire and in London. Dominic has been Sous Chef at The Fat Duck *** and Head Chef at The Hind’s Head * in Bray and The Royal Oak in Paley Street, earning Michael Parkinson’s pub and restaurant a Michelin star. Just to name a few.

The Beehive is open 7 days a week (except Sunday evening). They offer an à la carte menu, with 6 Pre-Starters / Snacks (at £3.50-£5.50), 7 Starters (at £6.95-£12.95), 7 Mains (at £17.95-£29.95), 5 Sides (£3.95) and 7 Desserts ( at £7.95-£10.50) and a Cheese Platter (£10.95). They also offered some daily specials. Prices are basically the same as last February.

We were there for dinner last week Friday and we both chose three courses from the menu.

The Scotch eggs at The Beehive are excellent, so couldn’t resist. We ordered one each this time and they didn’t disappoint! A soft cooked quails egg, surrounded by beautifully seasoned sausage meat, captured in a light crunchy crust. Delicious!

Freshly baked brown bread with salted butter.

Meaty Dorset snails, nicely cooked in garlic butter. Gorgonzola adding a lovely flavour and saltiness. Grilled sourdough crumbs not only bring texture, but also soak up some of the buttery gorgonzola. Very tasty.

The cod fishcakes were on the Specials and could also ordered as a main. We had it as a starter. The same light crunchy crust as the Scotch eggs. Inside a delicate cod filling with a bit of leek. Loved the leeks confit in the creamy sauce with a touch of mustard, Perfect balance of cod and leek in this comforting dish.

Perfectly cooked rib eye. Excellent quality by the way. Naughty bone marrow on top and in the sauce, but ever so tasty. The sauce was just a bit over-reduced, which made it on the salty side. But a delightful plate.

The partridge was perfectly seasoned. These wafer chips on top should be bagged! The cabbage, carrot and a few beans are just the right garnish. Lovely jus with a hint aniseed of the tarragon, just a bit on the salty side. Lovely dish!

The chips that came with the rib eye can truly be named triple cooked. They do know how to prepare them here. Excellent chips. Like last time!

Perfect towering soufflé, extremely fluffy and with a beautiful banana flavour. Hard to get that banana right, as it can get chemical in taste quickly. But nailed it here. Smooth ice cream with toffee flavour makes it complete. Scrumptious!

Comforting crumble and crisp apple with the right level of sweetness. Very pleasing with the hazelnut and custard. Excellent dessert!

Service was excellent. Alicia Corlett runs the front of house like clockwork, whilst creating that gastropub atmosphere. Very hospitable, efficient and totally in line with what this restaurant needs.

My overall comment on the last review was: “The Beehive defines the true meaning of a gastropub!
Beautiful, packed with flavour, seasonal food in a real English pub. Highly recommendable!” And I could just repeat that. I love how everything is in sync here. The food, the service, the ambiance and not to forget the prices. It just works.

A shining performance of this authentic gastropub. Serving up beautifully prepared comforting dishes, made with high quality local ingredients!

Nice to have a chat and thanks for the tips on some other eating venues we should visit. We will follow up on that! Thanks Dominic (and team) for an excellent Friday evening dinner! You definitely will be seeing more of us!