The Three Horseshoes, nr Marlow Bottom (From Bucks Free Press)

The Three Horseshoes, nr Marlow Bottom

5:01pm Tuesday 2nd December 2003 in Freetime By Sandra Carter

WHAT'S your yardstick for good pub food? For one couple, it's how they handle the challenge of ham, egg and chips.

Mike Williams, our Neighbourhood News correspondent for Marlow Bottom, rang in to tell me he'd found the ultimate.

He says: "My wife and I judge a place by its ham, egg and chips, and our yardstick until recently was a pub near Maidenhead. Now we've discovered The Three Horseshoes near Marlow Bottom is staggeringly good. It's our new yardstick."

You get a couple of free range eggs atop a goodly pile of ham, sourced from the local butcher, and a heap of chips that have been cut in the kitchen, not in a factory.

"The pub was closed for several months early this year," Mike adds, "but it's now taken off with huge success. It's a cut above your average pub food not haute cuisine, but good quality, served decently. Just don't have breakfast if you're going there for lunch."

We called in one midweek evening and found it already busy. Manager Nigel Douglas told me they're queuing at the door before opening time for Sunday lunch, and weekend evenings are packed.

How come?

It seems to be an amalgam of happy factors.

The lease is held by Rebellion Brewery just up the road so their real beers are an attraction, Nigel grew up working in the family's Eton Guest House and has been running eateries ever since, his chef has worked in restaurants all round the world and even the wines are specially chosen as the barman is the son of the owner of Laithwaites (they are good value too at 9.95 a bottle).

So much for credentials, how about the food? It's sourced locally, it's all freshly cooked, it comes in hugely generous portions and there's something for everyone.

"We intended to limit the menu to ten items," Nigel admits, "but when we tried to remove dishes to add something different, customers wouldn't let us things like lamb shank and crispy duck."

They're that good? That's what we'll try then.

After sharing a starter of deep fried brie with cranberry sauce (big enough for a family), in came lamb shank (10.95), just as it should be: falling off the bone with lovely rich gravy.

It came with mash, a dish of beautifully cooked fresh vegetables, and a nice trendy touch: shreds of crispy leek.

My partner's crispy duck with lyonnaise potatoes, vegetables and orange cherry liqueur sauce (12.95) met with equally contented approval.

All around us people were tucking into sizzling fajita or teriyaki, cod and chips (freshly battered in the kitchen with Rebellion beer) and lots more.

The puds are special too.

Baileys crme brulee is apparently a wow, but we fancied black forest puddle: a chocolate sponge baked with berries in the base and a surprise of brandy cream in the centre. Memorable.

The Three Horseshoes 01628 483109