The White Hart, Towcester

Official site of the White Hart with menu and wine list - www.pubgraftonregis.co.uk

An attractive, thatched Inn on the main A509 a few miles north of Milton Keynes. In many ways it’s more of a restaurant than a proper pub, and in fact the first thing that greets you as you come in through the door from the car park is a big sign advising you that the door in front of you is for the restaurant only and that the lounge is to the right. Once in the lounge, this view is reinforced by the fact that every single table was laid up for food with a full complement of place mats, cutlery and cruet. Having said that, there was however a group of local old boys stood at the bar. It’s a cosy enough sort of place, with carpet throughout, low beamed ceilings with a few black beams, wood panelling on the lower part of the walls and comfy leather, upright chairs in a coffee colour. There was a small brick built fireplace at one end, although these days all that it contained was an electric fire. There were a few pictures dotted around the walls, mostly nature ones but also a boat on the nearby canal. Unusually there was a large cage in one corner housing a parrot. Staff all seemed friendly and helpful. As befits it’s foodie aspirations, there was an extensive menu plus several more choices on a large specials board. The dishes appeared to be a notch above your usual pub grub, along with the prices. Even a Beef & Mushroom Balti wouldn’t have left you much change from £12. That said, my Smoked Haddock and Broccoli Bake was a decent enough dish and a generous portion as well as being one of the cheaper choices at just under a tenner. The pub states on it’s website that it’s a free house but chooses to get it’s beer from Greene King. How odd. Consequently the somewhat uninspiring choice at the bar was just GK IPA and Abbott Ale. The solitary cider was Aspall’s Suffolk.

Official site of the White Hart with menu and wine list - www.pubgraftonregis.co.uk