Over the weekend Tom Kerridge’s food festival Pub in the Park was held at Higginson Park in Marlow.

The weekend saw the likes of Ronan Keating, Lightning Seeds and Craig David perform at the event.

As well as a stellar music line-up there was a host of restaurants showcasing their menus at the festival which focuses on offering a variety of high-end food.

The Bucks Free Press was at the event and tried some of the food on offer.

We tried food from Tom Kerridge’s The Hand and Flowers, Atul Kochhar’s Restaurants and The Mariner’s by Paul Ainsworth.

All the food cost £6 per plate and provided a bitesize insight into what you could expect at each of the restaurants.

Here’s the verdict:

The Hand and Flowers, Tom Kerridge

Tom Kerridge has recently defended the price of his menu at The Hand and Flowers and this stall offered locals to try food from the gastropub.

The gastropub headed up by the Marlow Chef has earned two Michelin stars, the only pub in the UK to do so.

We went for the BBQ Glazed Brisket with succotash and chimichurri and the Crispy Hog Fritter which was a malted pig cheek with celeriac remoulade and a date brown sauce.

It would be fair to say that the hog fritter stole the show here with all the ingredients going perfectly together leaving you wanting more.

The brisket was cooked perfectly with the meat falling apart, however, the plate would have benefitted from being part of a meal instead of a small-sized portion.

Bucks Free Press:

Atul Kochhar’s Restaurants

The only complaint about our experience at Atul Kochhar's Restaurants was that we didn't get more.

Atul's Tandoori Fried chicken, a crisp fried chicken with chilli, gram flour, ginger, garlic and spices, and mint mayonnaise did not disappoint.

The mint mayonnaise was the perfect addition to the chicken that was fried flawlessly with bags of flavour.

Atul Kochhar started his career in Dehli and in 1994 he was at the forefront of Indian fine-dining cuisine in the UK, opening the Tamarind restaurant in 1994 and achieving a Michelin Star in 2001, making him one of the first Indian chefs to receive the accolade.

Since then he has opened a number of restaurants locally with Hawkyns at The Crown, Sindhu at The Compleat Angler in Marlow and his latest restaurant Vaasu which is also in Marlow.

Bucks Free Press:

The Mariner’s by Paul Ainsworth

Paul and Emma Ainsworth relaunched The Mariners Public House in Rock in Cornwall back in the Spring of 2019. 

The menu focuses on British classics while championing the best of local produce. 

We tried out the Fairground Dog, a Philip Warren's old Cornish sausage in a bun with crisp onions, pickled green jalapenos and nacho cheese.

The spicy nacho hotdog was a fun twist on an old classic and would definitely be one try-out.

Also on the menu was Crisp Freid Squid with Cornish seaweed and smoked paprika, Marie Rose sauce, parsley and lemon and lime.

Fried squid is something I'd always go for and it was up there with the best.

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Did you go to Pub in the Park? What did you think of the food? Let us know in the comments