The Swan, Milton Keynes

A traditional village inn, this pub consists of two rooms with a lounge bar at the front and a public bar at the rear. A small garden is off to one side. The lounge bar has green carpet on the floor and plenty of beams on the ceiling. The wall at one end was painted in a burgundy hue, but other than that the walls were all rough cream plasterwork with a couple of random pictures dotted around. There were two large brick fire-places, one in use and one not. The one in use had a large copper chimney hood and was kept well stoked by the friendly landlady. I rather felt that this bar had something of a dining room feel to it – it’s not that all the tables were laid up for food, because they weren’t. Only one was, and there was only one other punter eating. But somehow it just felt more like a dining room than a cosy lounge. Perhaps it was the fact that there was no bench seating or comfy sofa’s, but rather a selection of tables and chairs in two and fours. The rear bar has a similar theme decor wise, but contained a pool table, darts board and a couple of plasmas, although these were not in use on a recent Tuesday evening visit. The food menu was very much a typical “pub grub” affair, with starters such as nachos and prawn cocktail and mains that included Steak & Ale Pie, Scampi & Chips, Hunter’s Chicken, a burger and a couple of steaks. Priced were in the £8 - £11 range, and whilst my beer battered fish & chips was pleasant enough, I felt perhaps that it’s £8.50 price tag was a little ambitious. Beers on tap were Courage Best and Old Hooky. A third pump was on the bar but not in use. The solitary cider was Scrumpy Jack.