This new Richmond restaurant is perfect for lunch on the Thames
A superb new Richmond restaurant makes the Bingham Riverhouse an essential waterside spot for summer, by Adam Bloodworth
This grand old house spilling onto the banks of the Thames has always been a fabulous place to eat, but there are two fresh reasons to go. Firstly there’s a new restaurant by South African chef Vanessa Marx, who introduces genuinely inventive seasonal dishes in a beautiful setting. Oh, and secondly, it’s finally warm outside, so you can book a table on the terrace. Quintessential British living in Richmond. Could anything feel more life-giving? I think not.
SOUNDS NICE, BUT RICHMOND’S A LONG WAY TO GO… It certainly is. But couple a trip to the Bingham with a walk through Richmond Park, a ten minute stroll away, or the Terrace Gardens that are even closer. At their highest point are incredible views across the meandering Thames as it heads west. Also a few minutes’ walk away is the garden centre turned luxe restaurant Petersham Nurseries, as well as Gaucho and a branch of luxe seafood restaurant Scott’s, so you can eat the best of the capital while taking in this quaint London-but-doesn’t-feel-like-it part of town.
WHEN SHOULD I BOOK? On a sunny midweek night around 7pm for sunset. Watch day-trippers march along the river, a stone’s throw from where your plate is, and admire the agility of practising teams of row boats as they swoosh past. Inside the restaurant you’ll overhear the Richmond Set discussing how they really shouldn’t share one dessert be- tween four because they had a panna cotta last month and are still dealing with the guilt. Bookshelves are stacked to the ceiling with Penguin Classics but really the room’s designed for the doors to be opened and for the view of the water to take president.
WHAT SHOULD I EAT? I started with the confit duck salad with maple glazed quince, walnut and radic- chio, with great slabs of tender duck amid a huge mound of seasonal leaves, with the fresh sweetness of the quince doing something unthinkably good to the flavour of the bird. If you’re a salad naysayer, try this one: it’s rabbit food but for the hedonists. (The menu changes regularly, if this dish isn’t on, go for the beetroot cured trout salad instead.) For mains I took my waitress’s recommen- dation and went with the crowd pleaser, wildboar ‘bourguignon’ with pancetta, served with a mushroom barley risotto. If the duck is for hedonists then this is for the people who go to Glastonbury and stay out partying ‘til sunrise: a wildly rich jamboree of tender meat and fragrant risotto in a combination I haven’t seen before. Ingenious stuff, es- pecially when paired with a pinot noir. I pushed around a plate of dark choco- late mousse with olive oil ice cream and felt terrible that I couldn’t finish it. This food is sizeable in just about every way.
DID YOU SAY THERE ARE ROOMS UPSTAIRS? Yep! Some with giant copper bathtubs overlooking the river, which this writer definitely didn’t spend the best part of the following morning in. Okay I admit it: I did. Dear reader: life is hard. Sod the Tube and collapse upstairs for the night after eating. It’d only be fair.
Rooms at the Bingham Riverhouse start from £212; binghamriverhouse.com
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