WHEN a restaurant at which you are going to dine comes highly recommended by a restaurateur you know you are on to a good thing, especially when it is not his or her own establishment.

I have to admit I had never heard of Roots in Rickmansworth until I was asked to review it. A colleague assured me it was excellent, but it was the following day, when I was being treated to lunch by the owner of another highly rated establishment, that I began to realise I had something very special to look forward to.

I had asked my host if he ever dined out when he got an evening off and, if so, where? I ventured the opinion that, perhaps, he might find eating in someone else's restaurant not such a relaxing experience, taking too much of a professional interest in the surroundings, food and service to really appreciate them.

Yes, he said, he did dine out, but there were only two places locally to which he ever went. One was a rival establishment a few hundred yards away (a true compliment) and the other was Roots. When I told him of the coincidence, he assured me I was in for a treat.

He is a man whose judgement on such matters I trust implicitly, so I went along with high hopes, and I was not disappointed. Far from it: I consider Roots to be a real find, and I can only regret the fact that I had not discovered it before. Now that I have, I shall be back.

Roots is just outside the centre of Rickmansworth, on the Uxbridge Road heading south out of the town. As we approached, on a cold Wednesday night, the warm glow from the window and the sight of the full, snug interior seemed to confirm what we had been told. A midweek evening cannot be any restaurant's best time, especially such an inclement one, but the T-shaped dining room, with a small bar at one end, was packed with diners of all ages in couples, foursomes and larger groups, all obviously thoroughly enjoying themselves.

The menu is not vast, but it is eclectic, with dishes ranging from the reassuringly homely (pork and lamb sausages with winter mash and onion gravy) to the invitingly exotic (lamb shank with Moroccan spices) and including two vegetarian options.

From a well balanced choice of eight starters, I began with the delicious salmon and sweet potato fishcakes in lemon and chive cream, and my dining companion chose the pan-fried asparagus with parmesan and olive oil. Each was excellent.

We moved on, respectively, to confit of duck, with roast parsnips and field mushrooms, with a sumptuously rich sauce and a side order of "fat chips", and pan-roasted, maize-fed poussin with garlic and rosemary potatoes and a side order of fried mange tout. We each devoured with relish the plateful set before us, the surest sign of a meal well cooked.

We were unable to squeeze in desserts, but my companion was very tempted by the sound of the pink braised peaches and cream, and I by the sticky toffee pudding and vanilla custard, from a list of seven choices.

The restaurant is open for Sunday lunch from noon to 2.30pm, and at lunchtimes from Tuesday to Friday offers a two-course menu for a set price of £10 for those who feel like something special but don't have a lot of time to spare. CH

Roots, Uxbridge Road, Rickmansworth

Telephone: 01923 774440

Reproduced from Limited Edition magazine, exclusive guides to living in Hertfordshire, Middlesex and the London Borough of Barnet (01923 216295)

December 19, 2001 15:00