BUCKINGHAM | DOES CURB APPEAL MEAN IT'S A GREAT PUB?

🍺 PAUL HANKEY'S TOP 5 BARS | BUCKINGHAM | DOES CURB APPEAL = A GREAT PUB? *Five pubs. Five beers. One Buckingham pub crawl. And one BIG realisation about what actually makes a great pub…* Welcome back to *Paul Hankey's TOP 5 BARS!* This time we're in **Buckingham**, exploring some seriously good-looking pubs. From beautiful historic buildings to enormous beer gardens, Buckingham certainly isn't short of **curb appeal**. But can these pubs actually deliver once you walk through the door? 🍺 1. THE NEW INN First up: **The New Inn**. A promising-looking pub and a pint of cloudy **Tring Brewery Side Pocket**. Unfortunately, the welcome wasn't quite as refreshing as the beer. The locals weren't exactly falling over themselves to make room at the bar and, despite my best efforts, the bar staff seemed to be treating me like I was invisible. Not exactly the ideal start! 🍺 2. THE MITRE Next stop was *The Mitre* — one of Buckingham's highest-rated pubs. And you can see why. It's a gorgeous building with bags of **curb appeal**, while inside there's a lovely, cosy room that looks exactly like the sort of place you'd want to settle down with a good pint. Then I spotted the bookshelves. *What a fantastic touch!* Except… 😱 *THE BOOKS ARE WALLPAPER.* I was absolutely gutted. I'd been imagining myself sipping my beer surrounded by shelves of books and enjoying those proper library vibes! Still, the beer was a lovely light blonde summer ale, so I tried to get over the emotional trauma. 🍺 3. THE WOOLPACK The *Woolpack* was next. As it appeared in one of Buckingham's prettiest and most picturesque parts of town, expectations were high. There's no denying the pub looks the part. But when it came to the beer selection, nothing really grabbed me. So I went for the safe option: 🍺 *NEWCASTLE BROWN ALE* And this one is dedicated to **Brian Hankey**, whose preferred order was always: *"Off the shelf, please."* The Woolpack also boasts a **huge and seriously attractive beer garden**. Inside, the quiz team were deep in concentration, while a very cute little Jack Russell was clearly desperate to escape and enjoy that garden! 🍺 4. THE WHALE Then came **The Whale**. And there was nobody there. Literally. Just me… and the barman. But sometimes that's exactly when you discover something special. The barman was fantastic company — friendly, chatty and welcoming. And suddenly I realised that despite all the beautiful buildings, beer gardens and fancy ratings I'd seen so far… *This was my favourite pub yet.* 🍺 5. THE GRAND JUNCTION Final stop: **The Grand Junction**. I spotted *Vale Brewery's Gravitas* on the handpump and knew immediately what I was having. 🍺 *GRAVITAS* And it was an **excellent pint**. But once again, it wasn't just the beer that impressed me. The lady behind the bar was incredibly friendly, welcoming and genuinely pleased to have me there. And that's when I had my Buckingham pub-crawl epiphany: ❤️ IT'S THE PEOPLE THAT MAKE THE PUB. Not the scores. Not the décor. Not the curb appeal. Not even the beer. *It's how a pub makes you feel.* You can have the most beautiful building in town and twenty brilliant beers on the bar, but if you don't feel welcome, what's the point? Give me a friendly face, a bit of conversation and the feeling that you're genuinely welcome — and suddenly you've got a great pub. 🍛 BONUS ROUND: RED CHILLI And because five pubs apparently weren't enough, I decided to channel my inner *Gary, Danny, Matt and the rest of the food-reviewing fraternity* and have a crack at a restaurant review. So I headed to **Red Chilli**, Buckingham's premier Indian restaurant. And thankfully, I had no complaints about this one. 🔥 *Delicious food.* A very satisfying way to finish the Buckingham adventure. 🏆 SO… WHICH PUB WON? That's for you to decide! Was it the beautiful **Mitre**? The enormous beer garden at the **Woolpack**? The unexpected friendliness of **The Whale**? The excellent Gravitas and warm welcome at **The Grand Junction**? And most importantly… *WHAT DO YOU THINK MAKES A GREAT PUB?* Is it the beer? The building? The atmosphere? The ratings? Or simply *whether the people make you feel welcome?* 👇 *LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS!* 🍺 *WATCH MORE PAUL HANKEY'S TOP 5 BARS* If you love **great pubs, real ale, beer, travel, pub crawls, British towns, European bars and brutally honest pub reviews**, make sure you subscribe. We're travelling far and wide in search of the TOP 5 BARS 👍 LIKE | 💬 COMMENT | 🍺 SUBSCRIBE | 🔔 HIT THE BELL 🔎 HASHTAGS #PaulHankeysTop5Bars #Top5Bars #Buckingham #Buckinghamshire #BuckinghamPubs #Pubs #BritishPubs #PubCrawl #PubReview #BestPubs #Beer #RealAle #CaskAle #TringBrewery #ValeBrewery #Gravitas #NewcastleBrownAle #CAMRA #TheMitre #TheWoolpack #TheWhale #TheGrandJunction #TheNewInn #RedChilli #IndianFood #FoodReview #UKTravel #England #ExploreEngland