Restaurant: The Westerly, Reigate

Reigate is a historic market town in Surrey. It is set at the foot of the North Downs about a mile off Junction 7 of the M25. It has retained some of its historical buildings including its castle which sits within the one-way system that encircles the town.

Probably the biggest down-side of Reigate is that the A25 runs right through the middle of the town. In fact the High Street is actually part of the A25.

In common with many other towns it has plenty of chain restaurants such as Pizza Express, Strada, Cafe Rouge, ASK etc. However it also boasts a number of individual restaurants serving above average food. The best of these is undoubtedly The Westerly.

The Westerly is situated just around the corner from the High Street on the London Road. If you were shopping in Reigate you might be tempted to turn back at the end of the High Street as it looks like there's nothing else of interest there but if you follow the one way system around on to the London Road then you will quickly come upon The Westerly.

It calls itself a "Modern Bistro" and I guess this sums it up neatly. It's got an air of casual elegance about it. It's informal and unfussy in a bistro type of way. However, unlike a Paris bistro such as Chez Georges (qv) there is at least some space between the tables.

I've been going to The Westerly since it opened about 18 months ago. It took over the premises previously occupied by another favourite of mine "Sweet Potato". When I first discovered it I was quite pleased that we had found another top restaurant not far from us.

My wife and I mistakenly thought this would become a regular place to visit on our Friday nights out. We always eat out on Friday night as it starts the weekend off on the right note. However I rarely book more than 24 hours in advance as I like to keep my options open to suit my mood.

Bit by bit it became impossible to get into The Westerly at short notice as word spread about how good it was. And then the floodgates opened.

The Westerly won the prestigious accolade of the 2008 Rémy Martin UK Restaurant Excellence Award. This award is given to the restaurant which has shown itself to be the most outstanding rising star of the UK restaurant scene.

The Westerly had not only finished ahead of other similar restaurants around the country but it had also beaten many Michelin-starred places to the title.

I don't know how many covers per week they did before the award but I'll bet that since the award they must have added at least 20% to the number. It is now nigh on impossible to get a weekend table at short notice. Unless you're really lucky like I was recently when I phoned in the hope of a cancellation. And bingo - I got a table.

The food is definitely a modern take on standard bistro fare. This is food that I would normally only expect to find in London or maybe in one or two of the top echelon of gastropubs.

I started with Croquette of Pig’s Head with Sauce Gribiche. My wife had Terrine of Chicken Livers, Cornichons and Onion Chutney. Both dishes hit the spot nicely.

Portions were just the right size for a starter - big enough to take the hunger away but small enough to leave you still yearning for the main course. They were accompanied by a basket of good quality bread. (I don't know if it's home made).

My main was the star of the night - Roast Icelandic Cod, Mash & Salsa Verde. This is a match made in heaven. As Michael Winner would say - "historic".

I'm fussy about my fish. Not only must it be fresh but it must verge on being undercooked. Fish that is overcooked (as most restaurants do it) is just a waste of money. Every fish (including shellfish) gets chewy and dry when it's cooked too much. That's not the way I want my fish.

I want a fish that has been seared on both sides and allowed to heat through until just past raw. This way it stays juicy and succulent and the flesh just falls away when you start eating it. I wish that fish could be ordered like beef i.e medium rare (or blue in the case of tuna!).

Needless to say The Westerly got the cod spot on. A lovely juicy piece of fish on a bed of the most unctious mash imagineable with a perfect salsa verde on top. This is the second time I've had this dish here and each time it has been 10 out of 10. I'm drooling thinking about it now.

My wife had Duck Confit, Garlic Roasties, Watercress and Blood Orange Salad. Again, another masterpice of execution.

From past experience we knew that The Westerly serve brilliant chips - triple-cooked in the Heston Blumenthal way. So we were a bit greedy and ordered a portion.

Now the main meals are meant to stand on their own as they each come with vegetables. In truth we overdid it with the chips. By the time I got through my cod and mash my appetite for chips had dwindled and so we ended up leaving half the bowl untouched. Sinful I know.

I did manage to squeeze in a dessert though. I had a Chocolate Malt Ice Cream and Peanut Butter Cookie. The ice cream was perfectly smooth and delicious. A find end to a fine meal.

Just around the corner from The Westerly is Tony Tobin's restaurant The Dining Room. For a long time this was my favourite restaurant in Surrey. I've literally spent thousands of pounds there entertaining over the years.

However, based on my last two visits, the standard at The Dining Room has fallen so far that I don't bother to go there any more. This is a restaurant living off its chef's TV fame.

Luckily I have The Westerly to go to. It's less pretentious, the food is better and it costs a hell of a lot less. It's a gem. But whatever you do don't tell anybody else about it. I want to be able to get a table there!

Restaurant: Wentworth Grill

After a splendid afternoon's golf on the West Course at Wentworth we stayed on for dinner at the Wentworth Grill.

As an introduction to the Wentworth Grill it is worth saying that this is no ordinary golf club restaurant. The restaurant is run by the Caprice Restaurant Group the owners of Le Caprice, The Ivy and J Sheeky amongst others.

The food was excellent. I began with a starter of Crispy Duck and Watercress Salad and followed this with Roast Hake on a bed of Spiced Arrocina Beans.

My friend ordered a bottle of Pomerol to accompany our meal. This was one of the finest reds I've drunk in quite a while - rich and smooth with a wonderful nose. Delicious! Unfortunately as I was driving I couldn't drink as much of this as I would have liked.

After the starters and mains I was feeling stuffed and I was going to pass up on dessert. However, my friend waxed lyrical about the Wentworth Sticky Toffee Pudding claiming that it was the best sticky toffee pudding on the planet. He banged on about it so much that I thought he must be on a commission for selling it.

Anyway I relented and, to give credit where it's due, he was not wrong. It wasn't at all stodgy as I had feared. It was a very light sponge covered in masses of toffee sauce served with a scoop of velvety smooth ice cream sitting in a brandy basket. Heaven!

This was probably the best meal I've eaten at a golf club in the UK. The Wentworth Grill could easily stand on its own two feet as a top restaurant even if it wasn't attached to the club. I've eaten here three times and each time the food was faultless.

Go there even if you don't play golf. You'll not be disappointed.

Golf Course: Wentworth West Course

The West course at Wentworth is the one that most people know as it has until recently been used for two televised tournaments each year.

Each May the BMW PGA Championship (formerly the Volvo PGA Championship) is played here and in the autumn Wentworth has long played host to the World Matchplay Championship (this is now moving to Valderama).

Whilst I had played here twice before it's been some time since then and my memory of the course was based more on what I see regularly on televison than on a previous round I've played.

It is always exciting to play a course that you've seen the pros play. For a start you are nearly always guaranteed that the condition of the course will be perfect and Wentworth was no exception.

Apart from the first 5 holes, when it was cloudy, the rest of the round was played in beautiful warm sunshine. The fairways were immaculate and the greens were in tip-top condition - fast but not ridiculously so.

We teed off quite late (15:10) but were blessed with a virtually empty course. We never saw anybody behind us and the first time we say anybody in front of us was when we caught a four-ball on the 18th. Even then they were playing their second shot and we didn't have to wait.

How enjoyable is that, having a world-class golf course to yourself?

The course has so many enjoyable holes (2, 4, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 17, 18 to name a few). It's a hillier course than you would think from watching it on TV. There are also a few blind landing areas so you need to watch your club selection to avoid hazards.

I played with a friend who is a member and who told me that it was safe to play a 3-wood off the 7th as the out-of-sight ditch was out of range. I promptly hit a sweet 3-wood into the ditch. Not happy with the advice!

On the 9th he advised me to hit my second shot left of the green. Again I hit a shot right out of the middle of the bat exactly on the line he indicated only to discover when I got up to the green that my ball was in the front bunker (which I couldn't see) on the left.

Definitely not happy with the advice. Needless to say I didn't listen to my friend for the rest of the round!

Most of the holes are tree-lined although the fairways weren't too tight. It's certainly a course that rewards good driving. Unfortunately I was not having my best day with the driver. My iron game was good however. Just as well as I had to play a few tricky recovery shots after going off-line from the tee.

As you would expect from the headquarters of the European PGA, the facilities at Wentworth are second to none in the UK.

Overall it was extremly enjoyable days golf. I was lucky that I was with a member as I only had to pay an £80 green fee. For a course of this quality that is a reasonable fee to pay and I would happily pay that again and again.

However if you turn up as a visitor you are going to have to pay a £280 green fee in the summer (this might explain why the course appeared so empty). I might pay that just to say that I've played Wentworth but that is not a fee I would more than once particularly as there are other fantastic courses nearby for a fraction of that cost e.g. Hankley Common at £70.

I've played all 3 courses at Wentworth on multiple occasions but I'm still not sure which one I like best. They are each excellent courses and have something different to offer.

Individually none of the courses are as good as the Old Course at Sunningdale (just down the road) but if I lived nearby I would love to be a member here and have three great courses to play.