The Robin Hood, Olney

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Blackthorn _ left this review about The Robin Hood

A traditional pub somewhat off the beaten track in this very small and attractive village, it cannot get anything in the way of passing trade since the whole village is a dead end. There is a small signpost from the main road, but it must rely very much on locals and others in the know for it’s business. There is a good sized beer garden at the back looking over open fields, as well as a patio area and the staff all seemed friendly and helpful.

It’s a fairly traditional two room layout with a central bar counter serving both rooms. The room to the right is more of a public bar and this included a Northamptonshire skittles game, a selection of trophies on the window sill and some unusual built-in cupboards above the fire-place. I assume perhaps that these may have contained a darts board and score board, but I’ve not seen anything quite like it before.

The bar to the left was more of a lounge bar although there were still a few stools at the bar. The floor was predominantly old red carpet/matting with painted wallpaper on the walls and a large stone fire-place to one side. This housed a wood burning stove as well as the usual horse brasses and a pile of Good Beer Guides. An unusual feature here was what looked to be a small, recessed, stained glass window at the back of the fire-place. What it’s original purpose would have been I’m not sure, unless it was perhaps an outside wall at one time. The décor was completed with a history of the pub on a large scroll and a few black and white photo’s of Robin Hood film shoots. At the back was a conservatory with a red quarry tiles floor and some exposed stone wall which looked quite attractive.

I get the impression that the pub offers food as a bit of a sideline rather than making it the prime focus as so many pubs do these days. The menu offered a reasonable selection of dishes such as Steak & Ale Pie, Ham Egg & Chips or a Chicken Burger and most of these were priced in the £9 - £10 range. There were also a few steak options. I thought the ribs in sticky barbecue & chilli sauce drizzled with honey sounded good. Unfortunately a few minutes after I had ordered, someone from the kitchen came out and told me that they had run out of this. It had actually been a toss up between this and the chicken, ham & leek hot pot pie in a creamy sauce with mustard & sauté potato anyway, so I was happy to change my order to this. “That’s no problem, we can do that” he said. A few minutes later he came back and told me that I had ordered from an old menu and that they have stopped doing that dish (I notice it’s still listed on the menu on their website though). At this point I would usually have walked out, but I must have been a good mood so went for the Scampi & Chips instead. That was fine, but then it’s a pretty consistent dish that’s difficult to get wrong, so it’s not much of a test of a kitchen. They’d made a little more effort with the salad including radish and pepper besides the usual suspects, but if I were being critical I would say that a little more scampi and less chips would have made it even better.

Beers on tap were Greene King IPA and Lion from the Cotswolds. A third pump appeared to have run out. The solitary cider was Hogan’s Pickers Passion which is a new one on me. All in all, despite the hiccup with the food, I quite liked this pub.

On 4^th September 2013 - rating: 7
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