Aylesbury Vale
The Lion

The Lion

70A High St, HP18 0JD, Aylesbury Vale, United Kingdom

Pub • Steak • British • Vegetarian


"Booked for a 70th Birthday last year and was so impressed i booked again for it this year. I write this review based on both visits to be fair to the place as they had some 'issues ' this time. Apparently they had some sort of flood so their pumps were out and only had one ale out of a on-the-bar barrel and fizzy drinks from a bottle. As only one of us was drinking alcohol and was happy with the ale, that was ok, but the other drinks were flat and warm. Previous visit though was 100%, no issues so will assume normally would be ok and we just had bad luck. The food was excellent both visits with the exception of the mushrooms in the mushroom sauce with the chicken supreme, they were really tough and i had to leave them. My only other comment on the food is that the menu hasn 't changed in that year and is maybe a little limited. The service was good. Both times there was just one person out the front, but as it 's a hotel, he was also the receptionist. Both times we visited for a 19:00 table we were the only ones in the restaurant, but the guy frequently had to leave for 10-15 minutes to deal with things in the hotel so we had to wait for ordering more drink. I dread to think how it would have been had more people been in the restaurant. The guy this time was new to the job so was a bit slow, but the previous time there was no waiting despite the man being alone. The whole building is 13th century with bits built on over the last 4-500 years. Yes, there 's a bit of scaffolding holding up a beam in the bar area, but apart from that it 's really amazing how well it 's all lasted. Last year the receptionist gave as a 'guided tour ' and was able to explain exactly what was what and from when. It 's a really interesting place, sadly we had forgotten most of it and this time the guy didn 't know quite so much, but after 4 weeks in the job, he had clearly been taught a lot. Overall, it 's maybe a little over-priced, but i 'll be back next year..."

The Harrow

The Harrow

27 Bishopstone, HP17 8SF, Aylesbury Vale, United Kingdom

Pubs • Full • Steak • British


"My wife and I had the parfait with thyme brioche and kumquat compote. Far and away still the best parfait. My wife then had the Free range chicken breast sumac butternut squash, crushed potatoes, tenderstem broccoli, cep sauce simply amazing. I had the Slow cooked lamb belly anchovy, prunes, celeriac, minted peas, potato rosti, pickled mushrooms, lamb jus. I don't like lamb but on the basis that this chef knows his business I ordered it and it was just fantastic. The celeriac was firmer than it should have been but that's nit picking. I had the cranachan ice cream with chocolate torte from their Burns Night menu. Being Scottish, I have to tell you that I did not taste whisky and the marmalade was finely julienned orange or perhaps kumquat rind. The oat clusters weren't the traditional style you find in cranachan but the raspberries and the overall ice cream was delicious and I applaud the attempt. I'd take issue with the description of chocolate torte but the chocolate sponge was immense; perhaps the finest I've ever eaten, complete with nice chocolate mousse and lemon ? sauce. The banana creme brulee was excellent if you liked banana; vanilla is better but sometimes you have to experiment. Earl Grey tea was excellent. The Harrow is a great local place to visit and has a chef who clearly knows his business but more importantly delivers consistently. My only complaint; it's not within walking distance."