From a long time country pub with reasonable food frequented by locals from the surrounding villages to a gastro pub to another, redesigned, gastro pub to yet another gastro pub - or is it? It is now clearly branded with Novelli's name and face. In addition a recent visit reveals that the French Horn sells some truly special food that is much more restaurant than pub.
I recently lunched there with my sister and enjoyed one of the better meals of my five week European trip which incidentally included a few restaurants that enjoy Michelin stardom.
The decor change from the last innovation is minimal except that the old public bar is now the only real bar, and is incorporated into the food operation as a snack area or, maybe a better description, a light bite restaurant. The decoration is minimalist and white; Katy thought it was too bland. I certainly feel it will work better when the place is full rather than not so.
If you are used to massive choice the menu is somewhat limited but it was comprehensive enough in the sense that most tastes were covered. The starters included among others: a Soup of the Day, in this case butter squash with coconut foam, steak tartar, smoked salmon and smoked duck ham.
Katy had the smoked salmon and it was beautifully presented and was decent salmon. I had the smoked duck and a boudin noir scotch egg with sauce gribiche. In fact this scotch egg not only dominated the plate visually but was the piece de resistance of the dish. In simple terms it was a small scotch egg with black pudding instead of sausage meat, and the egg was runny. Laid out sparsely on a plate decorated with young leaves and half a dozen little slices of duck it looked excellent, although it was good that I was neither trencherman nor there for the duck!
For mains I opt for fresh halibut with a langoustine risotto and samphire. The risotto was delicious, the fish fresh and moist and the samphire (sometimes referred to as sea asparagus) being small and green topped off the pink and white of the other ingredients beautifully. Katy had calf's liver on a bed of spinach with mash which she rated seriously.
I felt I had to try a dessert and had apple strudel with flaky pastry that almost floated off the plate.
Washed down with a couple of bottle of Macon Lugny this meal set us back a hundred quid. I have paid much more and had much worse. This was serious cooking by a kitchen that knew what it was doing. My criticism would be that some of the male staff, needed cleaning up and maybe a trip to a decent coiffeur! So the French Horn brings some real gastronomic class to the glut of rather ordinary gastro pubs that have sprung up in the environs of Milton K. I just hope the standard is maintained

This is a part of the world I do not know so I dived onto the internet and found Lords: there the consensus seemed to be it was good but not cheap. We found the restaurant in a narrow street in this attractive area in the centre of town. There is a cricket theme however it does not dominate, it just provide a friendly ambience. I looked at the menu outside and was encouraged: it looked interesting!
I was surprised how small Lords was: somehow I thought it would be bigger but instead it had a pleasant bar area and about eight tables. We were welcomed and invited to sit at the bar whilst our table was sorted. I have a feeling that we then talked ourselves into a better table by chatting up the Boss and grabbing the wine list as a source for an aperitif. It may also have been that he realised I was not going to fit on a small table! Whatever the reason we got a good table for four: although we were only two and had booked for that number. The Boss, whose name I neglected to get, was a good-hands-on-caring professional and he looked after us well all night.
We did not stay long at the bar before we were whisked to our table with our bottle of wine. The starter offers were diverse with a ‘tian of crayfish and avocado’ side by side with ‘belly pork with black pudding.’ Hester settled for ‘Shetland King Scallops with sweet potato puree, tarragon butter and orange glaze’ whilst I was tempted by the unusually named ‘three birds of a kind.’ This was an interesting mix of chicken liver parfait, duck rillettes and seared pigeon breast. No complaints as it was interesting and tasty cooking. I was impressed with the idea of wrapping the rillittes in a cabbage leaf.
For mains we opted for ‘lemon and chervil crusted turbot chunks’ and ‘cannon of lamb with black pudding. Cannon of lamb is the fillet and it came nicely pink. I nearly had the local venison also on the menu. Many dishes had products with local identities: with Nidderdale Lamb, Northalaton Chicken, Gressingham duck and Vale of York venison all featuring and giving a good local feel to the menu.
The service was good, the staff pleasant and there was decent pause between courses, a real plus in my book. Of course that should happen without comment but all too often there is either virtually no break, or a prolonged break. As ever - timing is everything.
A really good restaurant run by first-rate people with an interesting-well-cooked menu. Just the place I love to find when travelling and looking for that little je ne said quoi!

For years this was the site of the local radio/TV store as well as in more recent times a bicycle business that arrived next door. Now they have both gone and into this not insignificant space Woburn Zens has appeared. And that was the first impression when we trundled in: this a big open space that would be very bleak if it was empty. Although, to be fair, the night we went it was reasonably busy.
I had taken a brief peak at the menu before going: primarily because below the name on the facia board there is the website URL. The site described the style as 'Fusion oriental with fresh ingredients, European sauces and bold Asian spices.' Living in Bangkok I know a bit about oriental cooking and have been exposed to fusion oriental often enough: I was worried! Yes I have had superb oriental fusion cooking but it is rare and for every good meal I have had countless bad: generally I avoid!
I was slightly surprised to find that most of the staff came from Malaysia but that generally did not detract from their efficiency although there seemed to be nobody in charge, and the service was a trifle disjointed. As already indicated the place was reasonably busy however we were escorted to our table and given menus swiftly enough. A bottle of wine, from a basic but adequate list, was ordered and it arrived promptly.
I was disappointed in the menu as it was essentially a collection of primarily Thai food with a few Chinese dishes thrown in for good measure. I suppose the only fusion dish, if you call it that, was the inclusion of a lamb version of classic Thai dishes such as goeng keow wahn (green curry) with lamb However after that there was not a lot to inspire.
For starters we had crispy aromatic duck which would have been okay, with pancakes, spring onions etc. and plum sauce, if it was not far too dry thus tasteless, certainly not aromatic. We next tried a mix starter course which I think rather summed up the whole experience. It included sesame toast, spring rolls, prawn cakes, spare ribs and satay. Not only were the dishes totally unoriginal but the cooking was not even competent: just bad. As with the duck everything was over cooked. In a final attempt to find something passable we had stir fried lamb with spring onions and ginger accompanied by a dish of fried rice. It was not my idea of fried rice but I suppose it was: I expect discernable bits in fried rice this was sort of egg washed, and, of course, the lamb dish was unimpressive.
If Woburn Zens promoted itself as a basic oriental restaurant serving solids for pub leavers I would not have been so disappointed: because I would never have gone in the first place. Instead there is ploy to con the public into believing this is superior food................................well it ain’t!

If you lived most of the year in a country surrounded by warm seas as I do, you would lust after the exquisite firm, flavoursome seafood that is the hallmark of fish, crustaceans and molluscs from the lovely cold waters that surround this island. A hot climate, and warm seas, may be good for beach lovers and swimmers but it produces limp flavourless seafood. So I was very happy when Hester mentioned that a seafood restaurant had opened in Woburn. With a name like Loch Fyne I expected nothing but the finest seafood grown in those lovely chilly waters!
I knew this restaurant as the Market Place, a restaurant that I always thought promised a lot more than it delivered. The new decor is basic with naked tables and a noisy floor: not a lot had changed in that direction, although I noticed the serving area has been considerably extended by the inclusion of an almost new wing.
A jolly girl appeared with menus and the essential wine list, and after we had settled into a decent bottle of Vognier I could give my full attention to the food offerings. Behind me was a promising looking display of crustacean featuring various different prawns, oysters, crabs and lobsters. The display looked well used in that it was not over full. I sat back happily with a confusion of options from a menu that promised much. In addition there were a few specials on the obligatory blackboard.
For starters I lusted after the shell on prawns, something, many moons ago, I used to sell by the half pint, but in the end let my love of potted shrimps get the better of me. I love those little brown shrimps simply packed together and sealed with butter. This allows the taste of the shrimps to come through. So I was desperately disappointed when these potted shrimps seemed to have a herb and garlic butter topping complete with lumps of garlic. Hester had a plate of those shell on prawns allowing me to nick the odd one, or several, and they were pretty good.
For mains I had the poached Loch Fyne smoked haddock with mash, spinach, peas and whole grain mustard sauce: served in soup bowl! I know this is trendy thing to do but I find it impossible to do anything more than mash all the food together which meant the haddock became entangled with the sauce. I would have preferred a nice plain piece of fish. Hester had pan-fried fillets of bream with olive oil mash and watercress pesto. At least it was on flat plate.
We finished off with some cheese which was cold because it was straight from the fridge, another black mark!
The service except for the initial girl was very ordinary and seemingly disinterested. The napkins were cheap 2 ply white paper ones, although we were told that they had run out of linen ones because of the recent bank holiday. What surprised me is that we were told the linen ones would re-appear on Thursday – two days later – did nobody have a washing machine and iron?
The next day I visited the Loch Fine website and reviewed the long list of restaurants they boast about, however it was not that that caught my eye but the following:
The menu is based largely on fresh seafood - prepared simply but with style – using only the finest and freshest ingredients to allow the delicate flavours of the natural produce to take centre stage.
That was exactly the cooking style I had been looking for! Maybe the guys who write the website should have a word with the people that do the cooking! When they do I will go back: but until then Loch Fyne will be on my avoid list.

Oh, yawn, not another gastro-pub? Well, yes but, no but…this one certainly works and unlike many other, similar restaurants just outside the modern Milton Keynes, isn't expensive (e.g. around £25 per head for two course lunch with a glass of wine and coffee.) The OGM is the first phases of a budding empire called Mercury Management run by Kevin Thornton and Mark Butler, who plan to set up a collection of "food-led destination pubs" in the south Midlands area. Décor is good old touchy-feely bare wood … one entire wall is made of stacked firewood logs ­ and subtle grey/beige tones, somewhat let down by what seems like plastic-upholstered chairs. Never mind. Staff are blue stocking girls from the former Commonwealth countries, very polite and friendly and really seem to care. What a nice change. And the food? Gastropubby of course, but with imaginative touches like a selection of "grazing plates" for us girlies who like to pick at each other's food, plus a choice of small main courses, and a selection of hairy-chested traditional stuff like ham/egg/chips, steak and kidney pie, etc. Reasonable wine list at reasonable prices, well, considering it's a restaurant. Sorry, "food-led destination pub" ­ must get the jargon right.

This review is by very old friend Suze "Food&BoozeBySuze"

This place is considered pretty posh these days and attracts full houses lunchtime and evenings, mostly "Milton Keynies" who want good food in a building and atmosphere that has been around for more than ten minutes, architecturally speaking. Actually The Birch started out in life as the mere Birchmoor Arms, a pub a couple of hundred yards north of Woburn village on the A5130. After a few years as a more than passable Indian restaurant it was re-engineered again, this time as a modern eaterie with touchy-feely natural woods, fabrics, tiled floors and gigantic houseplants. Food is top-end gastro-pub, the wine list is OK if rather restricted. Service is a bit on the happy-clappy side especially if you're used to grovelling waiters; this crowd is largely Antipodean at the moment complete with g'days, enjoys, and "this way to your table, guys." Hot recommendations are the pigeon and the duck ­ my son (14 yrs) regards these as appetising enough to be his birthday treat and I have
to say they are delicious. Specials of the day are good and fresh, too, often including venison culled from the herds in Woburn Park.

This review is by very old friend Suze "Food&BoozeBySuze"

This is a gastro pub with a good sized modern bar area as well as the usual minimalist dining room, but this time with blessedly large and comfortable arm chairs. A nice feature of the dining room is the picture window with a view through to the kitchen, although partly obscured by the pub’s Swan logo.
The menu is not large, but there should be something for all and there were a few nice ideas. I had cassoulet with chirozos as a starter. It came in two sizes, and this was a clever dish with plenty of thick gravy in a good mix of white beans and not too spicy Chirozos. The other starter was Crab and lime soufflé with a real crab taste and pleasant light texture.
For mains we had marlin which was cooked lightly, a fact we were appraised of when we ordered, and calves liver and mashed cooked pink (they asked how). Both were good straight forward dishes, cooked and presented well.
Puds were a vast crème Brule and poached plums and apricot with ice cream. Again no complaints. The meal and atmosphere I thoroughly enjoyed although I was somewhat put off when booking, when an embarrassed staff member tried to explain that we could only have a table for a two hour slot. This seemed a little unnecessary as we booked for 7.45 pm and I hardly expect them to serve another table at 10. In any event it was not that busy on the Tuesday night I visited, making the two-hour cut off even more silly.

The menu is wonderful with all those dishes that nobody seems to want to cook these days, but which were all favourites once back then. This is the place you will find veal Holstein, sole Veronique, beef Wellington etc. And when the main course is over the camp desert waiter will escort you through the excesses of the sweets trolley.
Definitely a place I shall patronize again and again. I went for lunch at one and left at five: need I say more!

All in all an enjoyable lunch with good staff in pleasant surroundings which did a great deal to make up for the massacred lamb.
Website

http://www.bohemekitchen.co.uk/