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Disappointment of the week with Real Ale Ray
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Detail Pages
The Watts Arms, Milton Keynes
Hanslope
Postal town: Milton Keynes
MK19 7LG
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 5½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Watts Arms
A large roadside Charles Wells pub with quite a well-maintained modern interior, comprising two high-ceilinged rooms with a more laddish sports bar element to the rear (pool table, big screen sports, fruit machines) compared to the more sedate carpeted front room and a dining area off to the right (basic pub grub offered). There’s a big field of a garden to the rear which looked rather under-utilized and could be a real draw with a bit of effort. Four ales available (Oakham JHB, Eagle IPA, Young's Ordinary and Great Oakley Blonde). My Oakham was a good drop and the Great Oakley was fine. Wi-fi available. An unusual feature of the pub was ice creams straight out of the freezer for £1.50 a go. Winner of the local CAMRA pub of the year award for 2012, which I found a little surprising to be honest. Pretty quiet on our Saturday afternoon visit, exaggerating the wide open space of the interior, though the flowers in the front room were a nice touch. The steampunk light fittings above the bar were eye-catching, if not to everyone’s taste.
I didn’t particularly like the pub that much as it seemed rather spartan and devoid of cosiness but the range and quality of beer was enough to keep me going.
On 10th August 2012
- rating: 6
[User has posted 5072 recommendations about 5055 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blackthorn _ left this review about The Watts Arms
A decent enough looking Wells pub in the centre of the village, it is apparently named after an Edward Watts who was the local squire and murdered by one of his employees back in 1912. The pub sign displays his family’s coat of arms according to an old poem marking the event displayed in the pub.
Inside it’s divided in to two rooms with a long bar to the left with mostly wooden boards on the floor, although there is a small carpeted area at the front. It’s split in to two by a central, free standing chimney breast, although the fire was not in use. Behind this is a pool table and a large projector screen. Paintwork is a mixture of cream, maroon and mustard and there are various tables and chairs around along with a solitary leather button armchair on the left.
To the right is a much smaller carpeted room which is presumably more intended for dining as there are menu’s and condiment sets on all the tables, but it’s a fairly informal affair. It felt slightly cosier in here with a mixture of green and maroon paintwork although the commentary from the football on the projection screen in the next bar was a little intrusive. The fire-place was also obscured by blackboards displaying the wine list which was a shame. The menu was a basic pub grub affair, with dishes such as Ham, Egg & Chips, Scampi & Chips, Lasagne, Sausage & Mash, etc., with most of the mains being around the £7 - £8 mark. The menu also mentioned a daily specials board, but there was no sign of this and there was also a separate Jacket Potato menu with a number of choices available at just under a fiver. My Hunter’s Chicken was quite disappointing with stringy chicken, micro-waved cheese, soggy chips and an unnecessary pile of lettuce. At £7.95 it was well overpriced, and had I not eaten here I would have awarded the pub a higher mark.
Beers on tap were Young’s Bitter, Wadworth’s Swordfish, Oakham Citra and Wells Eagle IPA. The solitary cider was Strongbow, unfortunately.
On 23rd February 2012
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1947 recommendations about 1860 pubs]