Station Hotel, Milton Keynes

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Blackthorn _ left this review about Station Tavern

A good sized pub which is immediately adjacent to the station, as it’s name suggests, I’ve driven past a number of times and frankly never felt inspired to venture in. Recently though I noticed that it appeared to have undergone something of a refurbishment and had a sign outside advertising food so I decided to give it a try.

The main part of the pub runs from front to back along the right hand side. Flooring here is a mixture of dark wood strip and red patterned carpet, whilst the walls have cream painted wood panelling on the lower part and pale green paintwork above. A feature wall at the back has some very dark patterned wallpaper, and there is also a plasma screen mounted here although this was not in use on my visit. There are a few black and white photographs dotted around of the local area, and many show the station in years gone by. There are also name plates from a few local stations above the bar, although these appeared to be reproductions rather than originals. At the front in the bay window was some more relaxed seating with a number of scatter cushions. A smaller room off to the left looked similar décor wise although perhaps more geared up for dining, whilst there is also a good sized area of covered decking out the back.

Food wise the menu offered a range of pub grub dishes such as chilli con carne, spaghetti Bolognese, ham egg & chips, scampi, etc., as well as a number of burghers, jackets and steaks, and these were mostly priced in the £8 - £10 range. My giant Yorkshire pudding filled with Cumberland sausages, their “amazing” onion gravy, creamy potato and seasonal vegetables was certainly a generous portion with three tasty and spicy sausages. The vegetable selection too was pretty good with cauliflower, broccoli, green beans, peas, carrot and parsnip. If I were being critical I’d say that the Yorkshire pudding was only lukewarm at best, and there was very little potato. In fact I didn’t think I had any to start with. For £8.95 I thought it was perhaps a little expensive, but I’ve no real complaints.

Beer choice was somewhat limited with just Hooky and Doom Bar. The solitary cider was Carling which I’ve only seen bottled previously. Needless to say I didn’t bother trying any. Overall, this was an ok pub, but not anywhere I’d rush back to. It didn’t seem to have much in the way of atmosphere, probably not helped by the fact that there were only two or three other punters in for most of the time I was there, although a few old boys did turn up later.

On 16^th December 2014 - rating: 6
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