A 13th Century thatched pub with log fires hiding in Milton Keynes Village. There is plenty of parking, gardens and a covered sun terrace with an open plan kitchen and herb garden. The restaurant area was quite noisy (on a Saturday evening) so not ideal for an intimate tête-à-tête, but ideal for a bunch of friends.
They have a fairly extensive, if slightly expensive, wine list and use local suppliers to turn out some very good food. For the quality of the food the pricing is good: most starters are £5-9, mains £11-19, and deserts £5-9.
We shared a meat platter of ham, salami, mortadella with olives, onion chutney and fresh olive bread. For the main course braised & roasted shoulder of lamb, kidney dumpling, mash potato and parsnip crisp was excellent: very flavoursome and well cooked; stuffed chicken breast with chorizo and mushroom, Lyonnaise potatoes and red wine jus was also very good, although we were surprised the chorizo and mushroom stuffing was quite pale coloured, and the Lyonnaise potatoes were a little under seasoned. Puddings continued the high standards with a crème brûlée and a mousse with Swiss chocolate and coconut ice cream: both deserts were very good.
This was our first visit. They have some interesting special offers if you sign up to their mailing list, which we did, so I'm sure we'll be back to take advantage of them.
BEWARE the car park has a speed hump by the enterance to the car park from the main road (deliberate or unintentional isn't clear) which WILL ground cars with low ground clearance, so take care: otherwise highly recommended. read more