Daily Telegraph - Pint to Pint
“Part cricket pavilion, part railway carriage, part ivy covered cottage, the Mole & Chicken fits very comfortably into its little corner of Buckinghamshire.
It doesn’t just sit on it’s rural ridge-top, it positively occupies it, like a small wooden fortress. From the tables on it’s newly converted back terrace, you can look out over, if not half, at least a quarter of the county. The view inside is pleasing too, at least to those who prefer the cleaner, more feminine-friendly restaurant-pub to the horse brass-decked watering hole of yesteryear. Instead of wonky old wooden tables, there are high, leather-backed designer creations, at which are seated, not grizzled plough-hands, but young children on a birthday treat with their parents (steaks, burgers, fish and chips are on the menu). Instead of tar-blackened tables, there are pale timber eating stations.

Even the bar is made out of one elegant tranche of tree trunk.
Given that every table comes with place setting, the de-boozerfication process is almost complete. All right, you’re allowed to drink and not eat, but the presence of knives and forks reminds you this is not the norm. That said, the range of real ales here would do credit to the most spit-and-sawdust establishment. There’s Timothy Taylors Landlord ( 4.1 per cent abv), Hook Norton Old Hooky(4.6pc), and no fewer than four beers brewed two miles down the road at Vale Brewery, in Brill. These include Vale Brewery Best (copper, 3.7pc), VPA (golden, 4.2pc), Hay Loader (pale malt 4.4pc) and Gravitas (pale but strong, 4.8pc).
At the same time, there are plenty of wines (35), plus an imaginative recession-friendly lunch (two courses, £12.50) and terrific sandwiches: hot chicken, bacon & tomato (£7.95), plus generous roast beef and horseradish (£8.95), both served with chips and salad. In suitably modern, can do manner, these sandwiches were served with minimal fuss and no discernable delay”
Christopher Middleton
Daily Telegraph - Saturday October 10, 2009
 

The Sunday Times - Posh Pub Treats
With £200 to spend and prices falling, a gastronomic weekend enters the realm of genuine, belt loosening abundance – gluttony even. Check out the Mole and Chicken in Midsomer Murders country, on the Oxfordshire-Buckinghamshire borders. This swanky food pub is offering very pleasant double rooms for £95 and a “credit crunch lunch” menu on Saturdays for £12.50 a head, and you can later dine in greater style for about £25 a head before wine. Assuming you open a bottle during both meals, that’s the budget gone, and you’ll have to slouch home plump and penniless after the famously generous English breakfast on Sunday. But three great meals, a couple of country strolls, an afternoon nap and a lie-in for £200 all-in? I’m not sure you can beat that.
The Sunday Times - April 19th 2009
Brian Schofield and Sean Newsom



Alistair Sawdays Special Places 2009
Pubs & Inns of England & Wales
Midsomer Murders was filmed here: it’s in the middle of nowhere, hardish to find and absurdly picturesque. Come on a damp Sunday and settle in for the day; in the summer there’s a decked area with fabulous views, a big barbecue and a children’s play area. Inside, lovely low beams, a vast fire and squishy leather sofas: it’s that sort of bolthole, relaxed pub, with ales on tap and twelve wines by the glass. The restaurant feel takes over in several little rooms with chunky pine tables, 60’s art and gleaming glasses, and we here great reports of the food: woodland mushroom risotto with poached egg and truffle oil; grilled plaice with caper and parley butter, a superb Sunday roast ( thick tender beef, fiery horseradish sauce, creamy celeriac, the best Yorkshire pudding). With food this good it’s worth staying the night and you get peaceful rooms in the adjoining cottage. Named After the colours used in them, they are immaculate, stylish and serene; Strawberry is Victorian, Mustard has a roll top bath in the bedroom, Duck Egg is dreamy. Wow.



Alistair Sawdays Special Places to Stay 2009
British Hotels & Inns
The Mole & Chicken started life in 1831 as a workers’ cottage, became the village store, turned into a pub and is now a restaurant with rooms. It’s gorgeous inside and out, an epitome of Englishness that has drawn admirers; Midsomer Murders came to film. Inside, Steve and Suzanne have brought huge warmth and style to their new pad. Airy timber-framed interiors dominate, a log fire crackles under original beams, a carved owl juts out from the red-brick bar; the staffs are rather lovely too. A couple of leather sofas wait in one corner and three hand pumps are on tap at the bar, but most people come to eat and with good reason: the food is delicious, from the devilled kidneys and grilled lemon sole to the caramelized tarte tatin. Sunday roast is exceptional, you get live jazz once a month, Thursdays is steak night and there’s a garden for summer barbeques. Uncluttered bedrooms in cottages next door are perfect for a couple of nights. Two are small but all have beautiful beds, excellent bathrooms and lots of colour; the family room has a neat terrace.
 

Freehouse 500
The Mole & Chicken is very proud to be listed in The Morning Advertisers first list of the UK’s 500 top independent freehouses. “The UK’s finest single site operators, the licensees who are at the vanguard of quality in the provision of food and drink and from this select group inspiration ripples out to the rest of the sector”
 

The Good Pub Guide 2010
“The attractive raised terrace at this bustling old pub, with views over fine rolling countryside, is an idyllic place for a summer’s lunch or sunset drink.”
“Prepared using carefully sourced ingredients, the menu includes lunchtime snacks such as minute steak and onion bap, dry aged ham, egg and chips and specials such as devilled kidneys, fried herring roes with caper and parsley butter, 28 day dry aged steaks plus a very good value credit crunch menu at 12.50 for two courses.”
 

We are very proud of our TOP DINER RATED position at the Top Table website just click on the logo to see our recent reviews from our customers.

The Oxford Times
“I can scarcely think of a better place for al fresco eating. Tables command a wonderful view over miles of Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire countryside spread beneath the ridge on which this splendid pub stands. But this cheerily rustic establishment, near Long Crendon, has special appeal too in the winter: its antique furnishings, mellow lighting and – above all – huge open fire make for country comfort at its best.”
Christopher Gray
November 2008