The Broad Leys, Walton, Aylesbury

A large pub, primarily aimed at diners, in a typical farmhouse rustic style - stone floors, exposed beams and a light sprinkling of tat round the bare walls. The front room is tabled, with a restaurant off to one side, while the main area is a bit more pubby but still focussed on dining. There are large gardens to the rear, also well tabled. Three ales on pump were Marlow Rebellion and Roasted Nuts plus the inescapable Doom Bar - condition fair. Possible ok for eating at but wouldn't be my choice for a drinking session.

A good sized pub set back a little from the main road with attractive gardens both at the side and rear. A number of sculptures and models were an unusual feature in the garden, including a giant gorilla. I thought the sign hanging around his neck might be of some interest, but it merely instructed you not to climb on it. In addition to this a number of speakers were placed around the garden including some disguised as rocks, which provided a bit of background music and this was certainly a popular spot on our recent Saturday evening visit. Service at the bar seemed a bit chaotic and disorganised, but the staff all seemed friendly enough. Internally the pub is an L-shape and divided in to three different areas. It manages to combine a good mix of contemporary and more traditional décor styles, and whilst it has clearly undergone some refurbishment, this has been done quite sympathetically and it still manages to retain several original features. The main bar area is to the side of the pub, and this is perhaps an extension to the original building. The flooring was sanded wooden boards whilst an attractive vaulted roof with exposed timberwork backed on to the brick wall of the front part of the pub. A couple of plasma screens were showing the football. The front part of the pub, whilst retaining a bar counter, seems to be very much reserved for diners and a sign by the entrance forbade anyone who didn’t have a reservation from entering. This was a little more traditional in style, with old flagstones on the floor, a low beamed ceiling and more exposed brickwork including the supporting pillars and an old fireplace, although it looked as though this was no longer in use. Beyond this was the restaurant proper, again broadly similar in terms of décor although with a more contemporary wood strip floor and rough weathered boards on the lower part of the walls. The urinals and the basins in the gents were most unusual in that they were constructed from some sort of translucent white plastic and had coloured lighting within them that regularly changed from blue to purple to red and so on. More the sort of thing I’d expect in a trendy club really, but it was an interesting feature I suppose. The menu offered a decent enough choice of “pub grub” dishes including a number of burgers, steak, ham egg & chips, fish & chips and so on, with most of the main courses being around the £12 mark. My chicken burger with avocado, cheese and bacon and served with chips and a side salad was a pretty decent dish and a generous portion. Beers on tap were Church End’s What the Foxes Hat, Doom Bar and Hancocks HB. The solitary cider meanwhile was Stowford Press. Overall I thought this was a decent enough pub, if perhaps a little food focused, and I would happily call in again if in the area.

Staying in the guest house around the corner I popped in for a pint as the pub along was closed, found it quite quite average and a little mosh mashed, lovely beer garden, but not for me. Good parking if needed. Beer was well kept.