A new place to dine

WITH its quaint-looking streets and picturesque riverside views, Marlow was one of the first places I visited when I moved to Buckinghamshire.

After wandering around the shops and getting a feel for the place, I was immediately enamoured.

Yet like most people visiting a town for the first time, I found choosing a restaurant something of a daunting experience.

With so much choice, I visited the places that were the most conspicuous, places where I could peer inside and see what people were eating.

And until a week ago, I continued to frequent these same places.

But now I know there is somewhere unique for me to enjoy a meal in Marlow, somewhere that is more than just a safe option'.

This place is The Market Bar and Dining Room in Marlow's Market Square at the top of the High Street (next to Boots).

"The aim is to do all-day dining," explains co-proprietor Barry Skarin, who owns the restaurant with his business partner Darren Newby.

"We serve breakfast from 9am until 12 noon and then have an all-day menu that is served through until 10pm for seven days a week."

The Market Bar and Dining Room opened in the beginning of April after four months of intensive refurbishment.

Before the revamp The Market was The Crown pub, by all accounts a fairly basic watering hole.

"The hardest thing for us is to get customers to realise that it's not the old Crown," says Barry.

Since acquiring the building late last year, Barry and Darren have turned the elegant two-storey building into the kind of venue it deserves to be.

They ran the pub as it was until New Year's Eve, before closing it down for refurbishment on January 2.

Now, the venue boasts a bar at the front of the building serving all of the usual tipples as well as an impressive cocktail menu.

And beyond the bar (which has a 1am license) lies the dining room, an elegant restaurant decorated in soothing browns and beiges.

Part of the dining area has wooden floors while the other half is carpeted, variations in decor that actually give the restaurant two slightly different moods.

The carpeted area feels more serene while the wooded area is closer to the bar and perhaps more lively.

The menu features salads, pasta, meat and fish dishes, all of which are the kind of trendy meals commonly found in some of London's restaurants.

"We knew what style of food we wanted to do," says Barry. "It had to be something that was accessible and not too pretentious."

The London influence is not that surprising as Barry's long career in the food and beverage industry has included a role as food and beverage director for London hotels St Martin's Lane and The Sanderson.

But despite its London style, the dishes do not necessarily come at a London price. Starters are about £5, main courses average £12 and desserts are £4.50.

I tried the menu's foie gras and chicken liver with toast brioche (£5.50) for starters, which was gorgeous although quite rich, so I probably could have easily shared it with my partner.

For my main course I had the slow roasted pork belly with chive mash and piquillo pepper salad (£13). It was presented extremely creatively, with the mash swirled into a spiral. And it tasted good too.

For dessert I chose Barry's recommendation, lemon tart, which was the most delicious lemon tart I have ever tasted.

The chefs at the restaurant have worked for Barry before at his former eatery, The Plough at Winchmore Hill. And judging by the tender loving care that went into the food's preparation, they are clearly confident in the kitchen. "Everything from ice cream to pasta is home-made," he assured me.

The wine cellar contains more than 100 different kinds of wine, wines that are also served upstairs in The Apartment.

This is a private members' bar that was just a dusty attic before the building was renovated. Now it is a spacious room tastefully furnished with comfy sofas and chairs.

"We wanted to create a relaxed members' bar where they could have great cocktails, table service and DJs playing on Thursday, Friday and Saturday night with a 2am license," says Barry.

"When the magistrate was granting the license he said he thought it was exactly what Marlow needed."

Membership costs £250 a year, including a ten per cent discount in the restaurant at any time.

Barry and his partner are keen to make The Market a part of the Marlow community. They have offered, for example, to store the original works of the town's clock in the restaurant as the old clock is being replaced with an electronic version.

"It's about us getting the respect back," says Barry.

I am certain that once people have sampled what The Market has to offer, it will begin to become as much a part of Marlow as rowing and regattas.