The Talbot, Loughton, Milton Keynes

This looks to be a traditional old country pub from the outside, but has clearly been extended and renovated and doesn’t have quite the cosy charm that you might expect. That said, it’s a decent enough place if slightly lacking in any character. It’s a large pub divided in to several areas. The restaurant section is off to the right (or the front, depending on how you look at it) and I didn’t investigate this. The central area which is where the bar counter is located is a L-shape room with dark stained wooden boards on the floor. The bar counter itself is fairly small, and the fact that there were three punters sat up there on stools made it difficult to get there to be served. At the back of this room is an area with dark wood panelling on the walls covered in black and white photos, reminiscent of a old hotel drawing room. Off to the right is a more open plan area, with tartan carpet on the floors as well as tartan wallpaper on the back wall. There is a large fire place stacked full with logs that I suspect will never be burnt, and above this a plasma that was showing Sky Sports. Fortunately the sound was down, and instead there was background music to listen to. Whilst not obviously being a pub that focuses on sport, there was nonetheless a fixtures list on each table, and this indicated that a couple of football matches would be shown on most days. There was a certain amount of exposed brick work in evidence, and the seating was a mixture of tables and chairs, leather sofas and arm chairs. Going on the sign outside, the pub bills itself as a “Restaurant, Pub and Carvery” and consequently the food offering included a large carvery counter. The rest of the menu was traditional pub fayre with most of the mains being around the £8 mark, and my Chicken Tikka Masala seemed a decent enough dish, although perhaps a little over-priced for the quality and quantity provided. Barmaid seemed friendly enough. The only beers on tap were Old Speckled Hen and London Pride. There was a third pump on the bar but this appeared to be unused. The solitary cider was Strongbow, unfortunately.