The Black Horse, Milton Keynes

A large and attractive old canal side pub, it’s clearly had a contemporary makeover but has nonetheless managed to retain some, although perhaps not all, of it’s olde worlde charm. There are several different areas, both inside and outside. Starting with the outside, there is a patio at the front of the pub, a garden shaded with trees adjacent to this, beyond this again a larger open area (no food service here apparently), a small garden with just a couple of tables right next to the canal, and what I assume is a fairly modern terrace built up level with the top of the pub to make the most of the canal view. Certainly there’s plenty of space, although even so in the nice weather it inevitably attracts the crowds and I only just managed to procure a table as someone was leaving. Inside it’s a bit of a mixture of the old and the new. The main bar at the front has an old flagstone floor which is an attractive feature, a low and slightly sagging beamed ceiling and a mixture of exposed stone walls and khaki green paintwork. A slightly more modern looking fire-place is at one end, various old black and white photo’s adorn the walls, and there were a couple of sofa’s in the window. Off to the left is a relaxed area with a part tiled, part wooden floor with a rug or two, sofa’s and a fire-place with a wood burning stove. This seems a relaxed place to chill out. Beyond this again was an area more geared up for dining and all together more contemporary with straw coloured matting on the floor and a “pile” of log ends attached to one wall to make a bit of a feature. Going right from the main bar, you go up what appears to be a small staircase to the loos, but this then opens out in to another two or three rooms, again with a modern feel to them but retaining a number of old oak beams and supports. This also leads out to the small canal side garden. Service at the bar was a little chaotic as others have mentioned, but they were extremely busy and seemed to be doing their best to cope. Food wise, I chose from the “bar and terrace menu” which I suppose suggests that there is a separate restaurant menu. This offered a decent selection of dishes, not your usual pub staples, and perhaps with a slight bias towards fish which may not suit everyone. Choices included Sticky BBQ ribs, Haddock & chips and Garlic prawns. Most of the mains seemed to be somewhere around the £10 mark, and I thought that my salmon fish cakes with a herb dip and mixed salad was a decent enough dish, and at £7.95 was the cheapest option on the menu. It may not have suited someone with a particularly hearty appetite however. Beers on tap were Doom Bar and Broughton’s Merlin Ale. There was a third pump with the clip turned round. Ciders were both from Aspall’s with their Suffolk and Harrow Sparrow which is a new one on me – I had hoped for something a little more traditional, or at least not as cloyingly sweet as their Suffolk, but to be honest I thought it tasted pretty much the same.

As previously mentioned the Black Horse is a good looking building with a waterside location being an old canal side building now converted into a pub. Internally there is plenty of exposed wooden beams , brickwork and the internal space made up of different areas over multiple levels. And externally there is a lovely decked area overlooking the Grand Union canal. However, this is very much now focussed on food to the extent that it is more restaurant than pub and most of the available ares, including the external decking is laid to tables with waitress service. And unfortunately, it is another one of these gastro food orientated pubs that do not separate the restaurant staff from the wet sales, so consequently if you are just after drinks you have to queue at the bar behind a stream of people ordering or paying for meals whilst the bar staff (usually singular) struggles to work the till. Thus, as it was again this week, it usually takes you over 5 minutes to get a pint. I have only ever eaten a lunchtime sandwich here, but feedback from colleagues that have ventured in for an evening meal have reported that the food is usually good but let down by the service and length of time it takes between courses. What I can comment on is the beer and the bar area has been done over since the previous reviewers and as well as the usual fizz taps the main bar section now supports three handpumps. Unfortunately these have not been anything adventurous on my recent visits and again this week it was the run of the mill OSH, CW Bombadier and Wadsworths 6X, but at least the 6X was a good pint. So this is not really a place I could recommend for just a pint with the exception of perhaps a sunny summers evening when the outside decking by the water is a great place to sit.

Official site of the Black Horse, contains menus - www.theblackhorsegreatlinford.co.uk

Official site of the Black Horse, contains menus - www.theblackhorsegreatlinford.co.uk

This is an old canalside building with low ceilings,exposed beams and the interior is split over multiple levels.On entering, the bar is immediately ahead sporting an array of keg taps but dont despair ,to the left through a doorway is a smaller bar with two handpumps dispensing Adnams Bitter and TT Landlord in the southern style without the tight sparkler but drinkable and reasonable at £2.80.Food dominates here and if dining you will be shown to a table but you can just drink in the two areas by the bars which despite being full of modern furniture does retain a real fire and a convivial atmosphere.From the outside this place looks gastro ,it better once inside and lunchtime bar snacks are reasonably priced.There is an outside decking overlooking the towpath for hot weather dining and drinking.I would return.