The Enigma Tavern, Milton Keynes

My wife and I visited The Enigma Tavern on Friday afternoon last week when there were a handful of locals at the bar. The air was a tad blue, but this pub was big enough to escape the unnecessary effin and blinding. The interior consists of a raised area to the left that supports some seating and a pool table. There is a dartboard on the rear wall to the left of the bar where standard draught products were available alongside four hand pumps. One of these was unused and another was off leaving Hobgoblin and Help for Heroes as the cask ale options. In the right rear corner is a serving area for the carvery that is available seven days a week for between £3.95 and £4.95 per head, depending on the time of the week. At the front of the pub is a large conservatory that houses extra seating and feels like a dining area. During our visit there was some low background music playing from the jukebox and the plasma screens were off, but I did see live sport advertised courtesy of BT Sport. Acoustic night was advertised for each Thursday evening and Tuesday from 19:30 is poker night. If anyone is thinking of popping along I would phone ahead to make sure your visit does not coincide with the upcoming male stripper evening. There are some picnic tables outside along with a children’s play area, but this is not a good spot for alfresco drinking (check out the satellite view on the pub map!). Regular readers will be glad to know that the exterior of the conservatory has fairy lights that run its length and width. I do not plan to visit here again.

Modern pub built at the side of a shopping centre. One large room with a pool table and Tv showing football. Also hasan eating area in an attached conservatory. Did have 3 real ales on and the golden one I had was good and only £2.90 a pint.A fairly soulless place but a decent pint.

The Enigma Tavern, named after the famous Enigma cipher machine which was famously decoded at nearby Bletchley Park, is a fairly unappealing looking Banks’ pub located in a retail park near to Bletchley bus station. The interior is a large split level, open plan, single room space, with the bar on the upper level at the back of the room. The upper section is carpeted and has a mixture of seating, mainly in the form of wicker chairs and low stools around standard tables. The most interesting features are the two hexagonal coloured mirror glass lights set into the ceiling in the middle of the room. To the left of the bar there is a small raised wooden floor area which is dominated by a very high fireplace. Towards the front of the pub there is a lower level, tiled floor conservatory which is separated from the rest of the pub by an ornate railing and I found this to be quite a nice spot to sit in on a sunny but chilly October afternoon. A TV screen behind the bar was showing Football Focus (and later in the day, Final Score), but this was muted, to allow some 1940's music and a little bit of 80's soft rock to play over the speakers instead. There is a large outdoor patio area which gives excellent views over the adjacent Burger King drive though, should you want to watch such a spectacle. I've walked past this pub a number of times on my way to the nearby Stadium m:k and never once have I thought to see if they have any decent beer on, perhaps because it's location and external appearance (it looks like it could be a Harvester) don't promise much, but the North Bucks CAMRA website recommended it, so I gave it a go and was pleased to find three hand pumps offering Ringwood Ground Hog, Banks’ Mild (£2.80) and Wytchwood Hobgoblin. I tried the first two and found them to be in good shape although the Mild was arguably served a little too cold for my liking. It doesn't offer much in the way of atmosphere and it's not all that to look at, but it does offer decent beer at a reasonable price and it's certainly handy for the station, so I'd say it's worth a look if you find yourself passing by.