The Queens Head, Leighton Buzzard

A good sized, traditional pub towards one end of the High Street, it consists of a restaurant area at the rear and a bar at the front. Style wise it’s a bit of a mixture of traditional and contemporary, and some parts have clearly been refurbished fairly recently. Staff all seemed friendly and helpful. The main bar at the front is an L-shape room divided in to two halves. The main bar area along the front has red quarry tiles on the floor and a couple of beams on the sagging ceiling. At one end there was a large brick fire-place with a log fire blazing away and a piano in the corner at the other end. Around the corner is a much more contemporary bar which is perhaps more intended for dining. This consists of a wood strip floor, black wooden posts in the walls and a predominantly cream colour scheme with one wall painted in a contrasting maroon. I didn’t investigate the restaurant at the rear, but this too looked to be quite contemporary with a wood floor, some patterned wallpaper, a couple of leather arm chairs and a small bar counter. Food wise the menu was very much meat focused with six of the seven main courses being meat based and offering choices such as Sirloin Steak, Duo of Pork and Rump of Lamb. If you’re vegetarian your choices appeared somewhat limited, with the one remaining main course option being fish. There was however a Cheese & Onion soufflé available from the verbal specials menu. Prices were somewhat above your normal pub grub with most of the mains being somewhere between £10 and £16, although there were a couple more options from a “2 courses for £12.50” menu. I went for the fishcakes which were rather disappointing – potato cakes would have been a far more accurate description. These were from the fixed price menu, so clearly one of the cheaper options, but then I requested just this dish from the set price menu rather than two courses and so was charged £10.95. This was way overpriced. In contrast a zesty lemon brûlée with shortbread biscuits for desert was an excellent dish; just the right combination of lemon and sweetness, with a fresh, crispy topping and soft, crumbly biscuits. On that basis I would be happy to return and try something else, but would definitely order from the a la carte menu next time. Beers on tap were Tring’s Brock, Bombardier, Vale’s Brill and Bateman’s Autumn Fall. The solitary cider was Strongbow, unfortunately.

Official site of The Queens Head - thequeensheadwing.co.uk

Official site of The Queens Head - thequeensheadwing.co.uk

This is a great little village pub selling up to 3 real ales all served up by a most charming , friendly and knowledgeable barmaid , which makes the beer taste even better.If all barmaids were like this the pubs would be packed. we were also in conservation with a local at the bar who was very helpful and informative.Has a seperate dining room for those who want to eat

This is a great little village pub selling up to 3 real ales all served up by a most charming , friendly and knowledgeable barmaid , which makes the beer taste even better.If all barmaids were like this the pubs would be packed. we were also in conservation with a local at the bar who was very helpful and informative.Has a seperate dining room for those who want to eat