The Alford Arms

"A lovely spot in Bucks. This is very popular especially at weekends so booking advisable. We didn't and were still given a choice of tables which they reserve for walk ins. There is parking off road but when busy this fills up and the road is used. The outside garden is luxurious with sheepskin to sit on and while on the road, this is very quiet and next to the village green. Inside tables are reasonably distanced, very clean wood and it is bright. Having met a local who extolled its virtues for food (admittedly with no nearby competition) , we were a tad disappointed at the end of a delightful walk. The food is certainly more than OK and there is a real effort to make it interesting but... Our Welsh Rarebit had little cheese flavour so became dull. The fried bream was much better, juicy fish with excellent tabule - shame it was still heaped from the form rather than under the fish. One vegetable only. The vegetarian curry was unimpressive, basically warm beans with a pile of yogurt on the side. The idea was there but not in execution! The shared desert of apple tart was "french" style with Ice cream. It looked bought but tasted fine. However at £7.75 for a small slice, a bit much. Wine by the glass was huge as it should be at £9. Service was slow to start, perhaps they were busy although I counted at least 6 front of house so they should cope easily. But once off, the pace was ideal and they made up for the slow start by being very jolly and friendly - exactly as a local pub should be. We would go back, less for the food perhaps but certainly for the location and ambiance. "