The Tudor Pass

Should You Book The Tudor Pass?

If you are comparing country house dining rooms in the Home Counties at the ££££ price point, The Tudor Pass at Great Fosters in Egham is worth serious consideration over easier-to-reach options in London. Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in London will cost you comparable money but requires a central London trip and delivers a more formal, less atmospheric room. The Tudor Pass gives you a Michelin-starred meal inside a genuine Tudor stately home, at prices that start at £95 for a four-course weekday lunch — that is a meaningful entry point for the credential on offer.

The key decision for first-timers right now is timing. Chef Alex Payne, who received strong diner reports through the most recent season, departed in July 2025 for Sorrel. Chef Stefano Di Giosia has moved in from Kol. The current rating from Hardens — which describes the restaurant as delivering "a real five star experience" and notes "absolutely wonderful meals, truly unique in terms of food pairings, presentation and service" , was earned under Payne. Di Giosia's Kol background (a restaurant known for precision and technique) is a positive signal, but this is a transition moment. Book with that context in mind.

The Room: Seven Tables in a Stately Home

The physical space is the strongest argument for choosing The Tudor Pass over a comparable London room. Tapestries, mullioned windows, and a Tudor fireplace set the scene in a building that has operated as a hotel since the 1930s, with origins going back centuries. Seven tables means the room is genuinely intimate , not a large dining room scaled down, but a space that feels private by design. For a first visit, request a table away from the service route if you want maximum quiet, though with only seven covers the room is unlikely to feel busy regardless.

Format adds a layer of theatre that works well here. Dishes are delivered and explained by the kitchen team rather than front-of-house staff, which the restaurant frames as bringing "the excitement and theatre of the pass into the restaurant." For first-timers this is a useful orientation device , each course is contextualised as it arrives. Sauces have been a particular strength of the kitchen: documented reports mention a juniper-infused venison jus as an example of the kitchen's precision in that area.

The Wine Program

Wine list at The Tudor Pass is more substantial than most hotel dining rooms at this price point would justify. The cellar holds 3,500 bottles across 720 selections, with documented strengths in Greece, France, and Italy. Corkage is available at £30 per bottle, which is reasonable given the overall price level. The list's pricing sits at the $$$ tier, meaning a significant proportion of bottles exceed the £80 equivalent mark , budget accordingly if you plan to drink well. The Greek section in particular is worth attention: it is an area where the list offers depth that most ££££ UK dining rooms do not prioritise, and it provides price relief relative to the Burgundy and Barolo sections.

For first-timers on a set menu, the wine pairing is likely the more practical route unless you know the list. The tasting menus are structured as "a natural progression of tastes and tones," which suggests the kitchen thinks sequentially , the wine program should be read the same way. If you are undecided on pairing versus bottle, ask the team to walk you through the current pairing before committing; at this price point, that conversation should be easy to have.

Pricing and Format

The structure is direct. Evening service offers a four-course tasting menu at £125 per person or a Signature selection at £155 per person. Weekday lunches bring a four-course menu down to £95 per person , the clearest entry point if you want to assess the kitchen without the full evening commitment. The restaurant opens Wednesday through Saturday for both lunch (12:30–2:00 PM) and dinner (7:00–9:00 PM), and is closed Sunday through Tuesday. There is no walk-in format that makes practical sense here given the seven-table room; treat this as a reservation-only experience.

At £95 for a weekday lunch, The Tudor Pass sits competitively against hotel dining rooms of comparable credential. Waterside Inn in Bray and Moor Hall in Aughton both operate at higher price points for their tasting menu formats. Hand and Flowers in Marlow offers a more casual entry at the two-star level but a very different format. For the combination of setting, intimacy, and Michelin credential, £95 at lunch represents solid value in this category.

Booking Difficulty and Logistics

Booking is hard. Seven tables at two services per day means the restaurant is running fewer than 15 covers per lunch and dinner. Book four to six weeks out as a minimum for evening slots; weekday lunches are marginally more available but should not be left to the last moment. The restaurant is within Great Fosters hotel on Stroude Road, Egham TW20 9UR , plan transport in advance as this is not a venue you walk to from a train station without forethought. If you are staying at the hotel, coordinate with the front desk rather than attempting to book independently.

Nearby and Related

If The Tudor Pass is fully booked or if you want to compare options in the area before committing, 1215 in Egham and The Bailiwick in Egham are the closest local Modern British alternatives, both at lower price points. For a broader view of what is available locally, see our full Egham restaurants guide, our Egham hotels guide, and our Egham bars guide. If the wine program is your primary interest, our Egham wineries guide and our Egham experiences guide are worth consulting for context on the wider area. For hotel dining rooms of comparable scale and ambition elsewhere in the UK, Gidleigh Park in Chagford, hide and fox in Saltwood, and Midsummer House in Cambridge are the clearest reference points for how this category performs across the country. Internationally, Maison Lameloise in Chagny and Frantzén in Stockholm offer instructive comparisons for the hotel fine dining format at this level, as does L'Enclume in Cartmel and Opheem in Birmingham for where Michelin-starred UK cooking is heading more broadly.

FAQ

• Can I eat at the bar at The Tudor Pass? No. The Tudor Pass is a formal, seven-table dining room within Great Fosters hotel and operates on a tasting menu format only. There is no bar dining or à la carte option available. If you want a more flexible entry point in the area, 1215 in Egham is worth considering.
• What are alternatives to The Tudor Pass in Egham? Within Egham, 1215 and The Bailiwick are the nearest alternatives at lower price points and without the tasting menu commitment. If you are willing to travel, Waterside Inn in Bray and Hand and Flowers in Marlow are realistic day-trip alternatives for serious dining at a similar or higher level. See our full Egham restaurants guide for a broader picture.
• What should I wear to The Tudor Pass? No dress code is formally stated in the available data, but the setting , a Michelin-starred dining room inside a listed Tudor stately home at £125–£155 per person for dinner , makes smart attire the sensible default. Treat it as you would any ££££ hotel fine dining room in the UK: smart casual at minimum, jacket optional but appropriate for the room.
• Can The Tudor Pass accommodate groups? At seven tables across a small intimate room, large group bookings are limited by the room's capacity. Private dining may be possible given the hotel setting, but this would need to be confirmed directly with Great Fosters. For parties of more than four, contact the hotel well in advance; do not assume standard reservation processes will apply.
• Is The Tudor Pass worth the price? At £95 for a weekday lunch, yes , this is a Michelin-starred meal in a genuinely atmospheric room at a price that undercuts most London equivalents once travel costs are factored in. At £155 for the evening Signature menu, the value calculation is tighter and depends on how much the setting contributes to your evening. The current chef transition is the main risk variable; the kitchen's track record under Alex Payne was strong, and Di Giosia's background at Kol is encouraging, but you are booking into a transition period.
• Is the tasting menu worth it at The Tudor Pass? The four-course format at both lunch and dinner is well-suited to the room and to first-time visits. The kitchen's documented strength in sauces and its emphasis on food pairing and presentation make the tasting structure the right format for what they are doing , this is not a venue where à la carte would serve the kitchen's approach better. The Signature menu at £155 adds additional courses and is worth it if the wine pairing is part of your plan; at lunch, the £95 four-course option delivers the same kitchen logic at a more accessible price.