Hinds Head Hotel, Bray, Berks

What a weird place Bray must be to live in; a one-horse town containing two world-class restaurants. Between them, The Waterside Inn and The Fat Duck have six Michelin stars, making them two of the three most highly rated restaurants in Britain. And there they are, in this quiet little commuter village near Maidenhead, with its thatched cottages, allotments and almshouses. Pity the poor locals. Not only does the high street get all clogged up with idling limos, waiting to whisk well-fed toffs back to the smoke, but where on earth are they supposed to go if they fancy a simple pie and a pint?

What a weird place Bray must be to live in; a one-horse town containing two world-class restaurants. Between them, The Waterside Inn and The Fat Duck have six Michelin stars, making them two of the three most highly rated restaurants in Britain. And there they are, in this quiet little commuter village near Maidenhead, with its thatched cottages, allotments and almshouses. Pity the poor locals. Not only does the high street get all clogged up with idling limos, waiting to whisk well-fed toffs back to the smoke, but where on earth are they supposed to go if they fancy a simple pie and a pint?

Well help is at hand. The village pub, the 17th-century Hinds Head Hotel, has been taken under the wing of The Fat Duck, whose presiding genius Heston Blumenthal is Britain's most inventive and original chef. Despite his mad scientist image, Blumenthal is a down-to-earth chap, and at the Hinds Head, he has wisely not attempted to replicate the cutting-edge molecular gastronomy for which The Fat Duck is famous.

Instead, he has applied his relentless perfectionism to a traditional British menu. Pea and ham soup; potted shrimps with watercress salad; soused herrings with beetroot; oxtail and kidney pudding; Lancashire hotpot; pork chop with pease pudding. The kind of food, in other words, that you don't often get in restaurants, but always hope to find in a country pub of a Sunday lunchtime. And let me tell you, it's quite possible to pass the steamy windows of The Fat Duck without the slightest tinge of regret when you know there's a steak and kidney pudding waiting for you a few doors down.

It's a gorgeous-looking pub, too, a long, low, wood-panelled room, which gleams in the light of an open fire like a Werther's Original ad. The Sunday papers are heaped up on tables, locals are gossiping at the bar, and the whole place bears as much relation to a typical country pub as a Richard Curtis movie does to everyday life (that's a good thing, by the way). The burnished parquet floor and wood-panelling are all the more impressive after a quick peek at the as-yet-un-refurbished first floor.

Food can be ordered at the bar, with a pint of well-kept Hook Norton bitter, or taken in the slightly posher, waitress-service dining room. Less cosy, but far from formal, its gleaming wooden furniture, buffed silverware and big white plates betray a loving attention to detail. As does the menu, from head chef Dominic Chapman, a hatchee of The Fat Duck. From the oysters used in the Lancashire hotpot (a throwback to a time when they were dirt-cheap and used as a bulking agent), to the bone marrow studded on the rump steak, (served with Blumenthal's famous triple-cooked chips), this is clearly superior stuff.

Rabbit and bacon terrine comes with char-grilled bread and fruity Cumberland sauce; potted shrimps with a heap of smartly dressed watercress. Steak and kidney pudding is the real thing, a proper, wobbly suet crust containing a rich braise of gelatinous oxtail. The Sunday roast changes every week; ours teamed superb Ryeland lamb with roast spuds, creamed leeks and crushed parsnips. The quality of the ingredients is generally first-class - the Hinds Head shares some of its suppliers with The Fat Duck, and it shows.

A couple of the staff have moved over too, and service is generally friendly, if slightly forgetful. The shouts of "Service!" from the kitchen seemed to be acquiring a slightly hysterical quality as lunch progressed, and side-dishes tended to arrive piecemeal or not at all (we didn't get our triple-cooked chips, and try explaining that to a greedy three-year-old, never mind his dad). And while I'm grumbling, the roast potatoes were - whisper it - soggy. Time for Heston to get the white-coated guys with the thermometers over for a visit.

It's hard to find fault, though, with a place that musters a warm welcome for a group arriving for Sunday lunch without a booking at 3.15. Yes, that's 3.15, a time when the food choice in most country pubs is limited to dry-roasted or salted.

A higher-than average incidence of statement spectacles and the odd American voice among the clientele hints that word of the Hinds Head's classy new proprietors is beginning to spread, but there were still plenty of free tables when we visited. That might not last, despite prices which put it at the upper end of the gastropub scale, with starters from £5 to £9, and main courses from £10 to £15.

Other Michelin-garlanded British chefs have gone global, and ended up fronting TV shows, or - worse - burger restaurants, so hats off to Heston for choosing to keep it simple. He obviously believes in following the environmentalists' maxim, "Think global, act local"; and in making the locals very happy.

Hinds Head Hotel, High Street, Bray, Berks (01628 626151)

Food
Ambience
Service

Meal for two, without drinks, about £45

SIDE ORDERS: GREAT PUBS FOR SUNDAY LUNCH

By Caroline Stacey

Coach & Horses

Sunday's roast is usually rib of beef. Like the cottagey pub's tempting alternatives (plaice with buttered spinach, coq au vin, grilled trout), it'll be locally sourced. All Sussex cheeses, ales, and some wines.

Danehill, East Sussex (01825 740369)

The Fleece

How civilised is this? Sunday lunch until 8pm. The roasts (of local beef, lamb or pork) don't last until then, but pies, steaks and Whitby crab, bread and butter pudding and British cheeses do.

Addingham, West Yorks (01943 830491)

Museum Inn

The restaurant's packed to the tastefully painted rafters on a Sunday. Pulling power? The rare roast Longhorn beef, with sticky toffee pudding and clotted cream or apple crumble for afters. All until 3pm.

Farnham, Dorset (01725 516261)

Red Lion Inn

Book into the dining room for the sirloin of beef with Yorkshire pudding or pork with red cabbage. Or take a chance in the bar at this great gastropub in Stilton country where Sunday lunch lingers until 3pm.

Strathern, Leics (01949 860868)