The Cock Inn, Newport Pagnell

I had a couple of beers in the Cock Inn on Friday night last week with the wife. Many of the pubs on the Bedfordshire – Buckinghamshire border are very much food led which is not surprising given the poor public transport links. Thankfully the Cock Inn manages to serve food to diners whilst maintaining a pub like atmosphere. The pub faces a large car park that backs onto a picturesque church and out of the cack of the pub I spied a beer garden. A sign by the entrance advertises a charity quiz night that takes place every 3rd Sunday of the month and an upcoming three course meal with comedians for £35 a head. Also advertised were some meals deals which included the over 50’s £8 two course Monday lunch and dinner deal, Tuesday evenings £10.95 pie and a pint deal and take-away fish and chips for £7.50. Not exceptionally cheap in my opinion, but on a par with other pubs that I visited in the area. To the right of the entrance is a small ‘public’ bar with seating, a dartboard and a plasma screen that was switched off. I didn’t spot any live sport advertised. To the left is the main bar with flagstone floor and inglenook complete with wood burner and brass objects. To the rear is a carpeted extension that was full of diners being served by a waitress. Mains on the specials board were priced around £11. The bar supports three hand pumps that were drawing the Beer Studio’s Citra Chinook, Wells’ Eagle IPA and Youngs’ Special. The keg options were Fosters, Kronenburg, Strongbow and Guinness. I quite liked it in here and found the governor and his staff to be extremely friendly. If I found myself in this area again I would be sure to pop back in for another couple of pints.

A good sized pub in the centre of the village, it consists of a couple of rooms and appears to be a local’s pub that does food rather than a destination dining venue as is the case with so many country pubs these days. Bar staff were friendly and many of the punters seemed to be well known. The main room to the left is quite long and divided in to two halves. The front half has the bar counter on one side and a very large stone fire-place on the other that housed a wood burning stove and the usual assortment of copper pots and pans. The flooring was attractive tiles that looked a little like flagstones. Seating was a little limited with a mixture of small, circular tables in front of the fire, a large table and chairs in the bay window and a few bar stools. To the rear was an area perhaps intended a little more for dining, with conventional tables and chairs and a wood laminate floor. Doors at the back led out on to a patio area with some wooden decking. A smaller room was off to the right which looked broadly similar decor wise, although there were a few more beams on the ceiling as well as a TV and a darts board. The menu was fairly succinct and offered a few “pub grub” options such as breaded chicken or fish & chips, mostly priced somewhere around the £10 mark. On Tuesdays, which was when I visited, they also run a pie night where several pies are available and can be combined with a pint for £9.95. My Chicken & Ham pie was a generous portion with plenty of filling, but the pastry was very hard and the chips were overcooked. Overall it wasn’t bad for the price, but not somewhere where I’d make a special effort to return and try something else. Beers on tap were Courage Directors, Young’s Special and Eagle IPA. The solitary cider was Strongbow, unfortunately.

Cock Inn official site with menu and event details - www.cockinnnorthcrawley.co.uk

Cock Inn official site with menu and event details - www.cockinnnorthcrawley.co.uk