The Woolpack, Buckingham

A popular riverside pub just a short stroll from the town centre, this was pretty much full to capacity on a recent mid-week evening visit, although this was no doubt in part due to the pub quiz that was in progress. It’s a good sized pub, essentially an L-shape and in addition to the inside there’s a pleasant covered patio area as well as the garden leading down to the river. The front bar has a parquet wood floor, a number of quite big circular tables and a couple of brick chimney breasts. One of these was free standing breaking up the interior space somewhat, and the other had a wood burning stove. Both had a few old leather arm chairs and a low table clustered around them. The rear room was broadly similar with a strip wood floor, terracotta coloured wood panelling on the lower part of the walls and cream plasterwork up above. There were various pieces of artwork for sale on the walls, and a shelf around the top housed a collection of old whisky bottles. There was also a carvery counter down a couple of steps at the rear, although this was not in use. Unfortunately due to a problem with the kitchen’s extractor fan, the food on offer was somewhat limited (or a “reduced menu” as the barman called it) which was a shame since that was the reason for my visit. Consequently my options consisted of a number of baguettes or a Chicken Ceaser Salad. I went for the latter option which was fine, nothing special, but it did what it said on the tin and it’s difficult to get too excited about a Ceaser Salad. If I were being critical I could say that the amount of parmesan used was negligible and it was perhaps a tad expensive at £7.95. Beer choices were Black Sheep, Tribute and Doom Bar although there were another three pumps on the bar that were not in use so it may be more extensive than this at other times. Cider’s were a somewhat uninspiring Aspall’s Suffolk and Carlsberg’s Somersby.