The Ship Ashore, Willen, Milton Keynes

A modern Ember Inns establishment in a small shopping arcade ,and not too far from the Grand Union.The interior is split up into various sections which creates a decent feel,with the large bar ahead of the front door,at the far end a quasi dining area,a quiet section to the left and behind a column with a two sided coal affect gas fire,an area of high tables with two terrestrial flatscreen and World Cup rugby flags on display.Sensibly when no sport was on the screens are mute but this area goes give some boozer vibe and would be good for watching terrestrial sport on the few occasions when it's on.Decent muzak played at a sensible volume. Although food is available and many tables are numbered most punters in most sections were just drinking,and the clean and respectable feel draws in a polite mixed crowd. At the bar just Marstons Reverend James and TT Landlord (decent,NBSS 3) as real ale with lots of double clipping and two real ciders.On a cold night the fire was welcome,there are far worse pubs in MK and it grew on me.

Called in here at the start of our trip to pubs in Buckinghamshire around the Milton Keynes area, and found this Ember Inn a little disappointing in beer choice as the lines were being cleaned at lunchtime Saturday so the ale choice was restricted to Landlord Pedigree and London Pride. Chose he Landlord which was ok. The pub is listed in the 2019 Good Beer Guide.

As Steve has mentioned below, this is a new(ish), purpose built pub in a somewhat uninspiring location next to a Chinese takeaway and a mini-supermarket, so expectations are not too high. Once inside though, it’s clean and up together and perhaps recently refurbished, although it does follow the somewhat formulaic approach favoured by many other chain pubs and consequently has little in the way of individuality or character. It was however quite busy even at 6:00pm on a mid-week evening with a mix of after work drinkers and diners who were perhaps taking advantage of the Thursday “Grill Night” deal. It’s a good sized pub, split in to several different areas, but all flowing from one to another. Although food is clearly quite a major focus here, drinkers are not overlooked and there are areas that looked to be more intended for drinking than dining including an unusual high bench seat next to the bar counter. Flooring is the usual mixture of sanded boards, tiling and carpet whilst the paintwork was predominantly either cream, or burnt orange. A number of fire places were a prominent feature being free standing in the centre of the room and thus gave heat off in two directions. Some had large copper metalwork attached and they appeared to use real logs which is something of a rarity in such establishments. A smaller room off to one side had something of a conservatory feel to it with venetian blinds on the floor to ceiling windows and a couple of bookshelves in the corner. Food wise, the menu offered an extensive choice and there should be something to suit most tastes with the prices for the main courses somewhere around the £8 - £10 mark, although many are also available as a “2 courses for £9.95” deal. My Fish Pie was a decent and tasty dish with a selection of different fish and a cheesy mash topping. The “buttered mixed green vegetables” that came with it though were abysmal – no discernable butter and the vegetables consisted of some soggy cabbage, six small and shrivelled green beans and a handful of peas. This really let the meal down and is something that should be so simple to get right. Beer choice was extensive as tends to be the case with Ember Inns and tasting notes were provided on the tables. On this occasion the range consisted of Greene King IPA, Hop Back Winter Lightning, Ubu Purity, Adnams Explorer, Kirkstall Dissolution IPA, Saddle Black and Red Squirrel’s Scottish Ale. Ciders were somewhat disappointing after such a good range of beers with just Strongbow and Aspall’s Suffolk. Why a pub that seems to take it’s beer so seriously should just offer a couple of cloyingly sweet, bland artificial ciders is somewhat beyond me.