Bingham Hotel, Restaurant & Bar, Richmond – Review

Fronting the river, approximately 500 metres off the main High Street, you`ll find the rather spectacular Bingham Restaurant & Bar (and Hotel). We`ve been to Richmond Upon Thames for a few restaurant reviews now and have to say that we love the area. Oozing with class, nice bars, great shopping and the River Thames, (which is stunning all year round) we were eager to get back there, especially to review the Bingham, which we`d heard loads about.

On arrival there`s loads of parking, a major bonus when it comes to central Richmond, which has a reputation for being car-unfriendly. As you walk in the front door you immediately get hit with a sense of chic, opulence and class – we felt at home straight away and knew we were in for a treat. A cute terrace with tables lines the walls directly next to the river so on a nice day you`d be able to sit and watch the rowers fly by. The building feels very Georgian and you can imagine a rather wealthy family once living here… the decor is a perfect fusion between classic and contemporary, so if you`re into your interiors then we suggest you pop along and have a drink to get some real inspiration.

We were welcomed with a Royal Mojito cocktail, which was perfectly flavoured and could have quite easily have left us with an appetite for more… but the dining room was calling and so were our stomachs.

The restaurant itself is, again, beautifully decorated and with plenty of opulent character. Some serious thought has gone into the layout, lighting, furnishings and ambience of the place. There aren`t that many restaurants that can make you feel completely at ease from the moment you sit down. There`s no attitude here as you`d expect with many restaurants of this calibre. The staff were incredibly knowledgeable and attentive but without being too much so. It`s almost as if they spend hours practicing `the correct way to treat customers` – well done to the entire service team, impeccable.

Then there was the food… you have an option of the tasting menu or A La Carte. We opted for the latter purely because a couple of the dishes wetted our appetite so much we couldn`t do anything but. We started with the Brill Fillet and Home Cured Duck, fantastic choice if we may say so ourselves. You`ll find that every detail about every dish has been addressed; slightly warm plates, delicate presentation, creativity… it`s all here.

For mains we chose the Label Anglais Chicken and Roast Monkfish. Again, we couldn`t find fault… and we`re not being bribed I promise!

The pricing also seemed incredibly fair and reasonable too. A three course meal will set you back £39, a bargain if you ask me. In fact we were expecting a price tag of around £60 per head for food based on the quality on offer.

So… is there any reason why you shouldn`t get on the phone and make your reservation tonight. We truly can`t think of one, in fact we`re going to go back there sometime very soon, something we don`t normally do with restaurant reviews!