Plough, Leighton Buzzard

An attractive building on the main road through this small village, it looks like the quintessential county pub with a thatched roof, plenty of colourful hanging baskets and a few picnic benches in the front garden. Once inside it didn’t disappoint either and has a cosy ambience with plenty of traditional features. The main bar area is at the front of the pub and is a pleasant L-shaped room with lemon paintwork on the walls, a few beams on the ceiling which are liberally adorned with horse-brasses and large brick fire-places at either end as well as the odd brick pillar or two. The usual generic red patterned carpet was on the floor along with some wooden boards around the bar counter and there were a few pictures and plates dotted around the wall. A restaurant area was at the rear, although I did not investigate this. Food wise, the menu offered a decent selection of “pub grub” dishes as well as a few slightly more interesting options, but certainly nothing too fancy or pretentious, just good honest food. Choices from the regular menu included Ham Egg & Chips, Sausage & Mash, Steak & Ale Pie and a Curry of the Day which on this occasion was Prawn Jalfrezi. These were mostly priced around the £9/£10 mark. I went for the Pulled Pork with a Bread and Apple Pudding from the specials board, and whilst slightly more expensive at £11.95, it was a very good dish indeed with the tasty pork being encased in a fried bread crust, with apple that appeared to have been caramelised. It was one of the best meals I have had for some time. Beers on tap were perhaps a little uninspiring being predominantly from Fullers, with their ESB, HSB and London Pride. The guest on this occasion was Adnams Ghost Ship whilst the cider was Stowford Press which makes a pleasant change from the usual dross around these parts. All in all I thought this was a great pub, with friendly service, good food and a proper pub atmosphere – a crib team turned up just as I was leaving. Well worth a visit.