Beefeater The Barn, Milton Keynes

Branded as a Beefeater, the Barn is - as you would expect - a thoroughly food-led establishment with anonymous, light, modern furniture and decor in a variety of seating / dining areas. That said, there is still a fair number of tables around the bar and side room for those just having a drink. Real ale remains available, albeit just Adnams Mosaic (£3.85, but thankfully in good form) from one of four handpumps (and a couple of reversed Doom Bar clips also noted).

In spite of being attached to a Premier Inn and having a large Beefeater Grill sign outside, this actually appears to be a pub with somewhat more character than most of the nearby establishments. The building to the right looks to be the original barn from which the pub takes it’s name, and next to this is a beer garden. Light wood cladding adorns the front of the pub. Inside, the main bar is a good size, and a pleasant enough place in a bland, corporate sort of way. There are some attractive tiles on the floor as you walk in, but elsewhere the colour scheme is the usual pastel gastro-pub shades. There are however one or two black wooden supports around that presumably remain from the original building, and the rear of the bar had a slightly sloping roof. Flooring is mostly carpet, with some light wooden boards at the rear giving a more contemporary feel, along with a black painted wall and some type of fire-place, although this didn’t look to be used. To the left is a restaurant area, complete with a welcome desk to deter any causal drinkers. Again, this looked pleasant enough with high ceilings and a large brick built chimney being a prominent feature. The fire-place below was stacked high with logs, although I suspect these were more decorative than functional. The menu looked to be the standard, mass produced Beefeater fayre with an emphasis on sizzlers. Barman was a friendly chap. Beer taps on the bar were Woodforde’s Wherry, Banks’s Bitter, Hobgoblin and Jenning’s Sneck Lifter, although disappointingly two of these were off. The solitary cider was Strongbow, unfortunately.