Butchers Arms, Bicester

An attractive pub just off the main Buckingham to Bicester road, it looks in many ways the quintessential country inn with an ivy covered frontage, a few picnic benches out the front, a couple of enormous beer barrels either side of the doorway and even an old red telephone kiosk. Inside, the main bar is an L-shaped room, and this continues in a similar vein with a few black beams on the low ceiling and a selection of horse brasses, old black and white pictures of the pub, a couple of large clocks, miniature vases and copper pots and pans dotted around. To the left is a dart board and to the right a small stone fire-place which the landlord was keeping topped up with a supply of logs. Flooring is carpet and the lower half of the walls are clad in light wood panelling whilst there is cream paintwork up above. To the rear is a separate restaurant area, and décor wise this looked to be fairly similar with the exception that the floor was wood strip. Menu wise, a chalkboard next to the bar offered a decent selection of “pub grub” dishes, with options such as Chilli Con Carne, Pie of the Day, Sausage & Mash, Steak, Burger, etc., and these were mostly priced just under a tenner. My Curry of the Day (vaguely described as Chicken by the third member of staff I spoke to after she had enquired of the kitchen) was a decent enough dish and a generous portion, although more reminiscent of the Chinese takeaway style than anything authentically Indian. Whether pudding are offered or not I’m not sure, they weren’t listed on the board and nobody asked if I wanted one. Beers on tap were Adnam’s Broadside, Doom Bar and Brakespear Bitter whilst the ciders were Stowford Press and Hogan’s Passion Picker which makes a pleasant change from the usual dross around these parts. Overall I quite liked this pub, although my initial impressions were that the landlord was a bit miserable. On reflection, I think perhaps he was just very quiet, and offered a cheery goodbye as I left. Well worth the short detour off the main road to get here.

Official site of the Butchers Arms, contains menu and wine list - www.thebutchersarmsfringford.com

Official site of the Butchers Arms, contains menu and wine list - www.thebutchersarmsfringford.com