Ye Olde Swan
Newport Road, Woughton-on-the-Green, Milton Keynes, MK6 3BS

Tel: 01908 679489

Type: pub / restaurant

For – atmospheric old building, food moved up market, improved service

In the early 70’s, between leaving school and going on to university, I had a summer job working on building the roads around what is now Marlborough Street. The canteen was located near Pear Tree Bridge and every Friday lunchtime a few of us would walk across the green to Ye Olde Swan, an old timber framed building, with low ceiling beams, split level seating, reputed to have been used by Dick Turpin. The area was sparsely populated then and the pub was a quiet, pleasant place for a good pint. I remember hitting my head on the famous “duck or grouse” ceiling beam. Not for the last time.

Through the years returning to and then settling in MK, I have seen the pub in a variety of incarnations, until recently being a long stretch as part of the Chef & Brewer chain. This, in common with all C&B pubs, had an overly large chalk board menu, trying to pretend that they could cook anything. I always enjoyed the ambiance of the pub, could put up with the sometimes mediocre food since there wasn’t too much choice in MK at the time, but eventually stopped eating there due to the appalling service. An hour's wait between starter and main course was not uncommon. I still enjoyed going there for a pint, though.

Now under new ownership, but still under the same recent management, things have changed. The first thing you notice when entering is that the walls and bar have been painted a lighter colour in an effort to modernise and brighten up the atmosphere. My wife liked it; I like old buildings to look old, so prefer the previous colour scheme. Can’t please everyone, I suppose. Furnishings haven’t changed so you get the same slightly rocky tables helping with some continuity. And they’ve padded the “duck or grouse” ceiling beam. Unfortunate. Almost like desecrating a local monument.

The changes to the food are a different matter. Gone is the cheesy , overly long chalk board. In its place is a menu that is reverentially British in content and a good step up market from the chain C&B fare. Dubious meats no longer bought in vacuum packs from South America, replaced with meats from Woburn, well aged Scottish beef, Suffolk free range chickens. A definite step in the right direction, although I would like to see still more effort put into local sourcing.

As examples of their fare, my daughter had Scotch egg to start. May sound dull, but made with wild boar and duck egg, the yolk still nice and soft, it was a very good effort. My wife and son started with scallops, which were really fresh and not over cooked, as is very easily done with scallops. My starter was a take on devilled kidneys, with the kidney still pink in the middle, as it should be. Perhaps a little lacking in heat. My only criticism here would be the use plain bread as a base for the kidneys. I usually serve this with toasted bread.

Our mains were equally good. My son’s steak cooked perfectly medium rare. Cooking steak to the required doneness is not difficult, but few restaurants in the area manage it. This one does. My wife and I had rump of lamb which once again was cooked to perfection, served with the currently trendy fondant potatoes. Each of these dishes where served with a small jug of sauce to go with the meats, red wine and mushroom for the steak and rosemary red wine for the lamb. A stylish touch.

My only complaint about the dessert menu is its lack of seasonality and provenance. Serving strawberries in March is not something I approve of. From Egypt, apparently. Let’s get a bit more seasonal, guys.

A reasonable wine list is offered without the predominance of new world wines found in many local eateries. Unfortunately the list falls into the local habit of treating you like a wine novice, classifying wine according to someone’s vague notion of the wines’ characteristics.

Service is much improved, although that would not be difficult given how dire it used to be. The same management but with a different owner has obviously benefited from being released from the C&B shackles.

There is a downside, however, to the new incarnation. This is now purely a restaurant, with only a token corner reserved for drinkers. That’s a shame since there is a good selection of well kept beers on hand pumps, but the drinking space is not that comfortable an area to enjoy a few pints. There is a large garden area for al fresco eating and drinking, if we have a summer, but those of you who like to sit inside for a few pints will probably need to look elsewhere.

But for a meal, this is an enjoyable place to eat. Ye Olde Swan has always been a very popular destination, even when serving mediocre food. Now that they are serving good quality fare coupled with much improved service, I expect the place to be difficult to get into. So call ahead.