The Carrington Arms, Newport Pagnell

My wife and I did the full Carrington experience on Friday last week because we drank at the bar, ate in the restaurant and stayed in the accommodation. To be honest the bar is tiny and more of a waiting area than somewhere I would go just for a beer. Alongside Peroni and some craft lagers were three hand pumps that were drawing Pedigree, Brakspear Bitter and Cottage Brewing’s Oarsmen. The rest of the pub is taken over by tables used for dining and an open kitchen with a butcher’s counter. Diners wishing to order the 21 day dry aged Bedfordshire beef that this pub prides itself on are taken to the counter to tell the chef how big they want their steak. The butcher then cuts the steak, ‘it’s just a little bit over sir, is that OK’, and weighs it before writing down the price and offering side orders. My wife and I had a beer each, some bread and pates for a starter, a steak each and five sides between us for just under £50. I found this to be very acceptable for the quality of food and when compared with other prices in the area. Out the back of the pub is a patio area with plastic wicker furniture and beyond is a long lawn with a large chess set that kept getting whipped up by the wind, much to the annoyance to the caretaker type chap I noticed wandering around the grounds. Strangely the accommodation runs up the left hand side of the lawn with front doors opening onto the beer garden. These rooms swing around further to the left where there is a large gravel car park. The room we stayed in was very nice, but after reading rules such as ‘if you soil the bed you have to pay for cleaning’ and ‘the emergency phone number is ########; running out of beer is not an emergency’ we had our doubts on the quality of fellow guests. However our worries were unfounded because we were undisturbed, even when Dave’s Disco turned up in his Fiesta. I like a wander around when I stay anywhere so I wouldn’t stay here again due to it being in the middle of nowhere, but I’m sure that those that enjoy some peace and quiet would appreciate the surroundings and professional staff who were nothing but friendly. I have rated the Carrington as a pub and not a restaurant which is why I have given it a five rather than a seven or eight.

A imposing, red brick pub with a somewhat medieval look from the outside, whilst the inside manages to retain one or two original features despite having had a contemporary makeover at some point. The interior of the pub is smaller than you might expect from the outside and is divided in to two sections. The lounge area to the left is carpeted throughout and the original exposed brick wall remains at one end and includes a large fireplace. There are a few old beams on the ceiling and the original arched wooden doors make an interesting features set in to the roughly plastered front wall alongside the leaded windows. Other than that it has a much more modern feel with a mixture of upright chocolate dining chairs and numerous small armchairs. The pub continues along towards a dining area which is down a couple of steps and has a dark grey tiled floor. The old ceiling beams continue through to here, and regular readers will be pleased to know they are adorned with fairly lights. Adjacent to this is an open kitchen area which includes the pub's "famous meat counter" (their words, not mine). Outside is a good sized beer garden with a patio area and several picnic benches as well as a giant chess board. It appears that they also offer accommodation, and these rooms run alongside the beer garden. The young barmaids were all pleasant, helpful and efficient.. There are two menus offered, a restaurant and bar option. The restaurant version was obviously the pricier of the two and included a number of steak dishes and sharing platters. The bar menu consisted primarily of burgers with a dozen or more choices available as well as a few sandwiches. There were some "pub classics" offered, but these were limited to just two or three choices such as Fish & Chips and Ham, Egg & Chips. I had the former (or Beer Battered Cod Fillet as it was described on the menu) which was a decent and tasty portion of fish along with a small pot of tartar sauce, some chunky had cut chips and mushy peas. It wasn't cheap at £9.50 and the portion size could have been a bit more generous, but I enjoyed it and have no complaints. Beers on tap were Cottage's Malt Tezer and Bateman's Hop Bines Bitter. Ciders were Aspall's Suffolk and Weston's Traditional Scrumpy, which makes a pleasant change from the ubiquitous Strongbow around these parts. All in all this was a decent pub with good food and friendly staff, although perhaps it's not quite "pubby" enough for some.

Official site of The Carrington Arms with menu, wine list and event details - www.thecarringtonarms.co.uk

Official site of The Carrington Arms with menu, wine list and event details - www.thecarringtonarms.co.uk