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Chat about:
Disappointment of the week with Real Ale Ray
on the Pub Forum
Image posted by Bucking Fastard
Submitted on Friday, 9th September 2011
With picture contributions to 1482 other pubs
View all this pub's pictures (8 more images)
Detail Pages
Barley Mow, Milton Keynes
Cosgrove
Postal town: Milton Keynes
MK19 7JD
Served areas
Reviews of Barley Mow (Average Rating: 6½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about Barley Mow
ORIGINAL REVIEW September 2011.
An Everard's tied house,with a modern entrance lobby but with an interesting interior which complements the traditional stone exterior.
If you head straight ahead from the entrance ,you come to the dining section which opens out to quite a large area.There are french windows leading to an extensive garden with many benches and fruit trees leading to a small canal frontage but no mooring for visiting boaters.
However if you turn right on entering ,you come to the more interesting part of the pub with a few seats and a stone floor around an inglenook fire which is sadly no longer in operation ,but having it's own bar counter.There is a charming one table alcove in this section and a games room behind with Northamptonshire Skittles,pool,table football,darts and a space invaders table top machine.So the pub appeals to a wide range of customers and the landlady was friendly and chatty.
The ale quality was very good and I enjoyed my Sunchaser and Tiger,although I didn't sample the pub grub.It is worth checking out the bar in the dining area as this contains all the handpumps dispensing the real ale which included Bateman's XXXB as the guest .
I will definitely return for the fine beer and ambiance.It is worth taking a stroll to view the nearby horse tunnel passing underneath the canal.
UPDATE
After quite a dip,The Barley Mow is back on form.The garden and mooring have been tidied up,the inside has had a fresh lick of paint and an upgrade.The vast outside space may have helped during Covid and it's now popular again with diners but drinkers will be pleased with a choice of 4 Everards namely on my return Tiger,Original,Beacon Hill and a seasonal Going for Gold (NBSS 4).
On 15th August 2022
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2727 recommendations about 2727 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Thuck Phat left this review about Barley Mow
ORIGINAL REVIEW - SEPTEMBER 2011
Little detail to add to Mr Fastard's accurate review below. I found the Barley Mow a very comfortable place to be, helped by both the not overly modernised, traditional building and the friendly welcome from both barman and landlady.
Beer is from the Everards range: Tiger, which was in good nick, Sunchaser and Old Original with Bateman's XXXB on as a guest.
This would be my first stop if in Cosgrove.
UPDATE - MARCH 2012
A Thursday evening visit found the Barley Mow distinctly quiet and feeling slightly run down. There were only 3 other people in what is a fairly large pub, all evening. The welcome was friendly enough and our food orders sorted out efficiently and promptly. The food portions were generous enough and the quality ok without ever troubling the 'good' category.
The air of gentle neglect was reinforced by two of the four operational handpumps having reversed pump clips leaving only Everards Sunchaser and Original. The Original was in good nick but an enquiry as to the whereabouts of Tiger, one of the reversed clips, was met with 'unfortunately we don't have any on'. This did little to add to the sum of knowledge and my guess is that something's gone wrong here which has meant a lot less custom and so fewer beers on. A shame as the place felt busy on my last visit and it's a decent boozer.
Fewer beers available means I've taken it from a 7 to a 6.
On 18th March 2012
- rating: 6
[User has posted 679 recommendations about 678 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blackthorn _ left this review about Barley Mow
An attractive, stone built country pub just a short stroll away from the canal and there are a couple of beers gardens on either side of the pub. Inside, the main bar is a large, mainly open plan affair, although it still manages to feel quite cosy with it’s low, beamed ceiling. It has a traditional appearance with red patterned carpet on the floor, plenty of wooden tables and chairs, a couple of fabric covered benches around the perimeter, plenty of country pictures on the wall, lots of bottles dotted around on various ledges and window sills and even a grandfather clock. There is a small fireplace with a stone chimney breast and this had a fire blazing away, although it looked to be of the gas variety rather than anything more authentic.
A smaller bar to the right has a flagstone floor, and an impressive large stone fireplace taking up pretty much the whole of one wall, although I’m not sure if this is still in use. There is another bar counter here, although this has a much smaller range of drinks and was unmanned on a recent visit. Off of this room is a very tiny snug, with just one table and four chairs completely filling the available space.
There was a decent selection of food chalked up on a board with probably fifteen or twenty choices, as well as a small specials board with a couple more. On the whole it’s a cut above your usual pub grub with most of the dishes being around the £9 - £10 mark, but it’s not too gastro-pubby. That said, there was still a burger, chicken Jalfrezi or ham, egg & chips if that’s more your thing. My smoked haddock kedigree was a decent enough dish and a very generous portion, although personally I found it somewhat lacking in flavour.
Barman seemed friendly enough and there were a few locals gathered at the bar. One rather rotund gentleman though was unable to speak at anything like a reasonable volume and had an opinion on everything. I soon got fed up of this even though I was sat at the other end of the pub. However, he’s probably in there every night and this was my first visit, so I’m not really in a position to complain.
Beers on tap were predominantly from the Everard’s stable with their Original, Tiger and Sunchaser. There was also Wadworth’s 6X. The solitary cider was Strongbow, unfortunately.
On 18th January 2012
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1947 recommendations about 1860 pubs]
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- Official pages of the Barley Mow - www.everards.co.uk
- Facebook - The Barley Mow
- CAMRA WhatPub :: Barley Mow - whatpub.com
Pub Details
Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.
- Darts : Yes last updated 09 September 2011 by hondo .
- Pool Table : Yes last updated 09 September 2011 by hondo .
- Real Ale : Yes last updated 09 September 2011 by Alan Hurdle
