French Horn Hotel

The French Horn is in a beautiful location by the River Thames and provided excellent cuisine and service for a special occasion.

Very good food, service and ambience would happily return and recommend to friends

The French Horn is a superb top-end restaurant in a picturesque location next to a well-known Thames traffic jam.

The first thing that strikes you about this place is how difficult it can be getting across the road from the car park to the main building because of a surprisingly heavy flow of traffic.

Having gone into the creeper-covered building, cordially greeted and sat in the bar, I was presented with table d’hôte and the à la carte menus and some nibbles: olives and home-made cheese straws. I was offered a glass of champagne, but opted for a glass of red wine. The bar area is comfortable and (nicely) old-fashioned. Surprisingly for a summer evening there was a fire and duck spit-roasting in front of it: this apparently is one of the house specials and was strongly recommended by a friend.

On the à la carte menu starters typically range from over £10 to £22, with lobster and caviar much dearer; the main courses range from around £25 to £40.

I went for the table d’hôte menu and chose Pâté de Foie Gras with toasted Brioche for £11.50 followed by Foie de Veau: liver and bacon served with potatoes dauphinois, mange tout and braised fennel for £21. I decided to be good and not have a pudding, but there was a nice selection including cheese or a soufflé for £9.50 and coffee & Petit Fours was £5.50.

Overall I’d highly recommend the French Horn for a special occasion. The food and service are excellent.

The French Horn is also a hotel, with rooms ranging from £125 to £170 per night, but I haven’t stayed.