The story
The Greyhound is a modern British restaurant at 33 Windsor End, Beaconsfield, and in 2026 it holds three AA Rosettes for culinary excellence. The Grade II listed building is a 17th-century former coaching inn, opened as a restaurant in December 2019 by owners Daniel Crump and Margriet Vandezande-Crump.
George Sweeney is head chef. He trained through a Royal Academy of Culinary Arts apprenticeship at The Langham in London, then cooked at the three-rosette Sir Charles Napier in Oxfordshire. His modern British cooking uses seasonal produce from suppliers across the UK, with a hint of nostalgia. The Good Food Guide 2026 records his promotion from senior sous-chef.
The carte changes with the seasons. Recent dishes include Shetland scallop crudo with vanilla, gooseberry and lime, and Berkshire Downs lamb loin with faggot, green asparagus and sauce vierge. A New Forest strawberry soufflé with clotted cream mousse finishes the menu. The tasting menu is £115, with vegetarian and vegan versions at £105 and a matching wine flight at £70. Set lunch is £40 for two courses.
The ground-floor dining room has a semi-circular yellow banquette under wooden beams, and a similar room sits upstairs. A bar pours local real ale, and the terrace opens for al fresco meals between May and September. The owners came from Petrus, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay and Trinity, and the service has a polished, formal edge that regulars praise.
Recognition
Ambience
Details
History
* Former senior sous-chef George Sweeney has been promoted to head chef, replacing Jermaine Harriott.* Set on a handsome street close to Beaconsfield’s main drag, the Greyhound is a highly trained thoroughbred. This 17th-century former coaching inn was refurbished and reopened in 2019 by a couple with extensive hospitality experience at the likes of Restaurant Gordon Ramsay and Trinity. They run a tight ship, with an exceptionally well-drilled team out front. Although there’s a bar with local real ale, fine dining’s the thing, pointed up by expensive wallpaper in the foyer and a smart semi-circular yellow banquette installed beneath wooden beams in the ground-floor restaurant. There's a similarly attired room upstairs, and a terrace for summertime food at the back. A certain formality pervades the place, admired by legions of regulars who appreciate the ‘cosy, classy and comfortable’ ambience and ‘immaculate’ staff. The food attracts praise too. As well as various tasting menus, Jermaine Harriott (promoted from sous-chef) serves up a concise seasonal carte where Norfolk quail with pickled walnuts and redcurrants might precede grilled red mullet with carrot, ginger and avruga caviar. There’s a short list of ‘nibbles’ too, including a pair of exquisitely light (and strikingly black) duck and cherry tarts with nori and gherkin. Even the good-value set lunch comes with a showering of additional tit-bits, from a standard-issue cheese gougère to a creamy yet tangy white tomato gazpacho with thinly sliced pickled courgettes. To follow, a quartered loaf of warm, moist, nutty soda bread with caramelised butter outshone our starter – an underpowered sweetcorn velouté, poured onto a tangle of crunchy sliced fennel, spring onions and Thai basil. No complaints, though, about a main course of Cornish ling, the generous portion of translucently fresh fish aptly paired with a punchy warm ‘tartare butter sauce’ and little cubes of potato. Equally enjoyable was a (much-needed) side dish of sugar-snap peas with mint, lettuce and bacon. With pre-desserts, 'sweets' (including a tangy sea-buckthorn pastille) and chocolates also on the agenda, our intense chocolate tart embedded with chewy raw pistachios simply added to the indulgent finale. A thoughtfully chosen, well-annotated wine list completes the picture.
3 Rosette Award for Culinary Excellence
Location
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