The Crooked Billet

Not far from Bletchley Park, home to the Enigma codebreakers during the war, the Billet is a 17th-century thatched pub with plenty of charm. It is first and foremost a proper local, although one that takes the business of quality drinking seriously enough to stock a jaw-dropping 200 wines by the glass, as well as hand-pumped ales. The inglenook fireplace isn't merely decorative, but is used for smoking bacon, and an aromatic ambience is likely to greet you on arrival. A menu that wouldn't raise eyebrows in a chic city brasserie is full of appeal, perhaps kicking off with a salad of crab, brown shrimps and avocado, dressed in ginger, poppyseed and lime, and continuing with guinea fowl breast stuffed with spinach and roasted garlic, served with creamed pearl barley, some of that chimney-smoked bacon, leek gratin and roasted salsify, in a rich reduction of port. Lighter lunch dishes may include a well-timed serving of megrim, seasoned with lemon and chives, sparingly lubricated with butter sauce, and accompanied by chunky chips and minted pea purée.