The only free house in England to bear the official Royal Standard of England. Others will call themselves The Royal Standard, but they are not the real deal.
If you come to England do yourselves a favor and do the Sunday roast and go somewhere special. Today we went out for the traditional English Sunday roast and booked a table at the Royal Standard Free House/Pub in Buckinghamshire. Every time I come over we always try and find somewhere new and now I think I have found my favorite spot of all. They are well known for their food and let us just say it was well worth the 50 minute drive as it was absolutely fist class. When you cannot find a fault which is a rarity these days then they are doing things how they should be.
As you can see this place is steeped in history having been around for a reported 900 plus years.
The atmosphere and setting inside lived up to expectations with 3 fire places on the go. I could not really take photographs as the place was jam packed with customers. From what I over heard is they will do 4 sittings today so in other words each table will be turned over 4 times which would mean they will have around 1000 customers today. The food is that good and I will definitely return in the future.
The tory goes by that this Ale house survived the Viking raids because of it's secluded location far enough away from the Thames. In 1663 "The Ship" became The Royal Standard as King Charles recognized the land lords services in helping is father in the war between the Roundheads and Cavaliers. 12 Cavaliers were executed and their heads displayed on spikes as a warning to other cavaliers. There is literally a few pages of various parts of the British history that this pub has witnessed first hand.
Well we were here for the food and I will first show you the menu and s was probably the first time I literally could eat at least 6 different main courses given the chance.
The soup is covered in melted cheese which also insulated it keeping it steaming hot. Croutons can be seen popping out the top of the soup below.
I had the French Onion soup which was simply delicious and the beef stock made a huge difference to the depth of flavors. The home made bread was just as good and I think next time I would order the same again.
My wife had the Avocado Ritz which is basically Avocado and Prawns and I do not like either of those things.
All hidden under the giant Yorkshire pudding.
For the mains I had the Royal Roast (Beef, Lamb and Pork) ad my wife and brother had the Welsh Lamb Roast. The plate was full of vegetables including the must have Yorkshire Pudding and gravy. I don't eat turnip and kale so I traded that for an extra roast potato. Kale is one food I am not allowed to eat as it is vitamin K which helps clot the blood. Funny how what some see as healthy food may not be so healthy after all.
Again there were some tough decisions to be had, but the cherry pie was screaming out saying "eat me" and I had no choice.
I was already full at this point and was not going to have pudding until I saw cherry pie which is a weakness of mine. Throw in some clotted cream ice cream and I am all yours so yes I have no photos of puddings lol. My wife had the treacle sponge and my brother had apple pie. To be honest someone started eating before a photo could be taken and they are still in training mode for blog posts. It actually could have been me, but it is easier to blame one of them lol.
The table were we sat shows the ancient décor around us and our chairs were like church pews. Photography was banned inside.
Throw in some pints of cider (Kicking Goat) and a few other alcoholic beverages and we had a final bill of 170 GBP which included tip. For a SA person on Rand's this would be seen as expensive, but with me who also earns GBP mode the experience was worth every penny. I will be back in 3 or 4 months again to experience the rest of the menu.