The Plough, Amersham

Once upon a time, back in the day, The Plough in the Buckinghamshire village of Winchmore Hill probably was a stylish village pub, with a comfortable bar & restaurant, open fires, sofas and a relaxed atmosphere. A visit today however finds it functioning primarily as an Italian Pizza restaurant with the majority of the internal space set out as a waitress service restaurant. There is still the large garden area to the front of the restaurant and a smaller flagstone bar section to the left of the main serving area when you enter. There are two real ales provided and I took my very average pint of Ringwood Best (that or Wychwood Brewery Bountiful) and sat in this section, but unfortunately stylish and relaxed were two adjectives that did not spring to mind. This is a bit of a strange space with an eclectic collection of different non matching old furniture and seating that soon had me having horrendous flashbacks to when I moved into my first flat many moons ago and had to beg, steel and borrow any second-hand furniture from friends and rellies to have something to sit on. If this is what is classified as stylish today then thank god that craze has passed me by. To be fair the restaurant section was altogether smarter and more pleasant, so it is clear where the focus of the Plough now lies. Did not eat here so cannot comment on how it functions as a Pizza restaurant, and as usual Trip Advisor will provide a guide to this. But as a village pub experience, let’s just say I won’t be rushing back.