Food review: Bill's, Marlow

I’ve often wandered the High Street, craved a spot of lunch and had to think about where I can nip for a quick bite that doesn't involve going to a pub in the middle of the day.

In a town as replete with eateries as Marlow, it sounds ridiculous, but it’s true.

And so Bill’s is a welcome addition to the town centre, with its ‘breakfast til bed’ mantra providing a solid, reasonably priced, attractive and speedy menu perfect for any time of day.

It’s shiny, welcoming facade looks very NYC, with large windows which open fully and lend an alfresco aspect to the otherwise terraced frontage.

Though Bill’s has around 50 restaurants, the chain tries hard to retain a one-off ‘local’ flavour, with handwritten blackboards and individual touches throughout.

It’s the sort of place that looks effortlessly simple and rustic, yet looking closer at the ‘distressed’ paintwork and brushed metal it’s anything but effortless.

But that’s no criticism, as any venue worth its salt gets points for putting a bit of effort into getting the vibe just right.

And it’s a versatile space, too. As you would expect for a place that puts out a breakfast menu including Eggs Benedict and a full English before reinventing itself for a busy lunch service.

But as my girlfriend and I went for dinner, the lights had been dimmed and breakfast a distant memory as it performed its third and final function as a smart evening destination.

The cavernous space works well as a dining room. I had no idea the row of frontages on West Street stretched as far back as they do, meaning Bill’s is a large operation.

There’s even a ‘secret garden’ nestling out the back, which is quiet, sheltered the perfect suntrap for an alfresco weekend breakfast or long, lazy lunch.

For starter, Tori and I shared the ‘Chicken in a Jar’ (£5.95) - a deliciously smooth and rich chicken liver parfait with mini toast.

I’ve had parfaits with chutney before, but never marmalade, and the blob of Bill’s own sticky recipe was an absolute triumph and one I’ll be replicating at home.

We also tried the crab, chilli and Prawn cakes (£5.85), which came as incredibly moreish and surprisingly moist deep fried balls of under-the-sea joy.

The service was lightning quick - the good sort of quick though, that brings you fresh delights when you want them and doesn’t leave you feel you’re being rushed out of the door.

And so our main courses followed swiftly, with the contrast in our choices demonstrating perfectly what Bill’s is all about.

I opted for the special - a slow-cooked chicken leg in a creamy sweetcorn pancetta and potato chowder, with baby spinach and roasted chorizo crumb.

And Tori had a fish finger sandwich.

Both were delightful, despite the apparent gulf in refinement descriptions would suggest, with the student snack of choice coming out more like a gourmet artisan effort - expect to see a fish finer sandwich pop-up in Hackney soon (if there isn’t one already).

An inspired idea which could have been a disaster - but worked a treat with ‘proper’ fingers and chips alongside a zingy tartare sauce and a portion of melt-in-the-mouth kale chips (£1.95).

And my chicken special was refined in its presentation and tasted like it could have come out of a very different (and more expensive) kitchen, such was its richness.

To wash the lot down, a decent array of craft beers is always a plus in my book, with Bill’s very own beer and cider varieties adding another string to this place’s bow.

A true polymath of a diner, each table even has a brown paper bag with a tick box printed on the side, so you can tick the items you might want to buy to take home (see Bill’s Marmalade).

And that’s the beauty of Bill’s. It’s not the most upmarket joint, nor the bargain basement option. Not a nightspot or a breakfast bar, but both.

It’s a jack of all trades, all things to all people, but while that normally leaves a concept spread too thinly, it instead gets into the cracks and fills many of the remaining gaps in Marlow’s culinary line-up.