The Swan, Milton Keynes

I visited the Swan early on Friday evening with the missus looking for some grub and a pint. We decided to leave the food after a quick glance at the menu revealed that the cheapest main option was £13 for bangers and mash. Beyond the entrance of the Swan is a square island bar that supports two hand pumps that were drawing Sharp’s Doom Bar and Cornish Coaster. The keg options were Sharp’s Cornish Pilsner, Peroni, Guinness and Aspalls Cider. There is some seating around the bar, but the vast majority is in the rear dining area where a group of waiters and waitresses were eagerly awaiting the dinner rush. There are no televisions in here, but there was some low background music from the likes of Dire Straits. Like many of the pubs in this area the Swan has gone down the dining route. In my opinion it has lost the character that one would associate with a public house. I imagine that the food is great, but I think I would give this place a miss when next in the area and I think that the listed upcoming events are quite telling because they are all food based i.e. meet the chef evenings etc. Note: If approaching from the south along Wavendon Road the entrance to the large stone strewn car park is on the bend just before the pub. If you reach the pub you have missed the car park. Thankfully one of the three spaces outside the front of the pub was available during our visit so we didn’t have to find somewhere to do a U turn.

Official site of the Swan, contains menu, wine list and event details - www.swansalford.co.uk

Official site of the Swan, contains menu, wine list and event details - www.swansalford.co.uk