Head down to the Wildwood

Wildwood, 1 West Common Road, Gerrards Cross.

A couple of years ago I needed somewhere to meet up with a friend so I suggested The Packhorse pub in Gerrards Cross. Having never been in but only driven past I thought it looked ok.
However it turned out the be the sort of place I only really wanted to have one drink in before heading off. I found it pretty soulless and my lack of a child to have running around squawking made me feel left out.
So it was with some trepidation that I decided to go along to the newly opened and refurbished Wildwood that has now taken over The Packhorse.
What a difference.
It is fair to say that Wildwood is now more of a restaurant than a traditional pub, but I think what they have done with the decor is fantastic. It is now a bright, modern open plan venue where you would happily meet with friends for a bite to eat, which is exactly what I had planned.
The menu is pretty extensive and included a number of starters and dishes to share. We opted for the whole Camembert which was served with caramelised onion and crunchy bread sticks. There were three of us and this proved more than enough for us all to tuck in to.
It was really goey and there was certainly an art to keeping the cheese on the bread stick, but I really enjoyed it and would recommend it as a starter to share.
For main courses you can choose from a number of different pasta dishes and there are also a wide selections of pizzas to tempt you.
If pizza and pasta aren't your thing then there is also food from the grill including sea bass, cod, chicken and sirloin steak as well as four different salads if you are trying to be healthy!
I chose the Rigatoni Gorgonzola, a creamy sauce with rocket and Italian ham. I can happily report that this was delicious. The portion size was perfect for me. I hate it when you are overwhelmed by a huge pile of food or the opposite when you think it looks a bit of a miserable portion.
My friends chose Rigatoni Pollo Pancetta and Poached haddock raviloi. The Rigatoni Pollo Pancetta was described as very tasty and there was so much she couldn't eat it all so we all had a taster. The poached haddock raviloi didn't receive quite the same response as it was a bit watery in the bowl so when the poached egg was broken it mixed with the water and wasn't quite so pleasant. Minus the water though and it would have been a success and the flavour was actually very good.
We all thoroughly enjoyed our meals at Wildwood, so much so that one of my friends decided to take some family members a few days later. She reported that it was incredibly busy and buzzing and that they all had a fantastic evening.

What we ate:
Whole baby Camembert £8.40
Rigatoni Pollo Pancetta £7.95
Rigatoni Gorgonzola £8.50
Poached haddock raviloi £8.65
2 diet coke £3.90
1 orange juice £2.25
2 coke £3.90

Total £43.55