Lovely spot by the river

 We're meeting up with D who lives in East Molesley, so we have booked into 1665 at the Mitre at Hampton Court. We had been due to go the previous week, but D had been "pinged" and had to self-isolate. No matter - the weather was better this week. We'd asked for a river view, and expected to be seated inside, but in fact we are taken outside right down to river-level. We'd read it had recently been refurbished, but seated outside we couldn't reach a judgement on that.  The sun is shining, the river is sparkling, geese are swimming around and various kayaks, sculls, launches etc pass by. There's even someone skimming along on a strange James Bond-like hydro-board. It is really a lovely spot. 

I order their South African Sauvignon Blanc at £32, but they have run out. Prices on the wine list escalate rapidly (there's a French SB at £53), so instead we just settle for the house white, an Italian Malvasia at £26. 

D arrives and we chat away. Service is attentive, but we have not decided what we want  until their third attempt to take our order.  There is a good range of choice, especially of starters, D has the roast duck with watermelon and cashew salad, which is a good sized portion. B's yellowfin tuna with pickled ginger and wasabi was more modest, but tasted very meaty. My crab "toastie" was full of flavour, and cumulatively the harissa sauce was quite a zing. 

The selection of main courses was a bit more ordinary, but did include special dishes such as a whole lobster or a rib of beef for 2. B was tempted by the crab and lobster tortellini with lobster bisque, but instead went for the pan-roasted trout with crab. This very red fillet of fish was also quite large - it must have been a monster catch. My chicken Milanese came with a deep yellow runny fried egg and "heritage" tomatoes, with which I'd also ordered truffle and parmesan fries. The meat was still juicy, the batter crisp and dry - and a size such that I struggled to finish it. D had the herb-crusted lamb fillet with "crushed" potatoes - another sizeable dish that she put away without difficulty!

We sit there for ages, enjoying the view and the wine (which is fine, if a little dull). Then D opts for the Chocolate Nemesis - gooey chocolate slice with honeycomb, marscapone ice cream and raspberries.  We did consider the flaming baked Alaska to share, but were really too full to do it justice.

With three bottles and a 500ml carafe the bill came to £250 including 12.5% service. To be fair the service had been very good, attentive and friendly. We'd had over three hours sitting chatting in a lovely sunny spot, eating and drinking well, so that seemed a pretty fair price.