I first came upon the Cosy Club on our family holiday to York, and found it so charming and so comfortable looking…cosy if you will. It is the same in the Cosy Club in the Centre:MK, I love the way it is decorated and I enjoyed sitting on the sofa whilst we had a drink. It is also the least chain-like of chain restaurants in my opinion.
Cosy Club (Milton Keynes)
I have visited a few times, and on this occasion we went as a family for brunch. It was busy but not uncomfortably so. Our server was excellent, so bubbly, efficient and kind to my kids.
The kids love pancakes and told me that they were delicious. They ordered pancakes with bacon and maple syrup. The bacon was streaky which can be fatty but in this case it was quite crispy.
I don’t get to eat out quite as often now due to a health condition, so this was a lovely treat. I am very limited in what I can order, but they were very good at discussing my options, and they checked the ingredients various times for me, which was reassuring. My mum ordered the full English breakfast (classic breakfast) and my husband chose the vegetarian breakfast.
My mum did not like her potato hash to start with as it was a little undercooked, but they brought out a new one and she enjoyed it. My husband liked the avocado and pea mint crush on the garden brunch, this is a nice addition to a vegetarian breakfast. The prices are good and they serve breakfast until 12noon. Also, last year I went gluten-free for 5 months and they do an excellent gluten-free breakfast here.
In summary, though you have to pay for parking the decor and the delicious food make it worth it, particular if you plan to do some shopping.
I have to be completely honest and say that during Covid we had a bad experience here, but we decided to give this lovely-looking pub another chance and boy am I glad that we did.
The Carrington Arms (Review)
In fact, I have now been here twice for brunch in the same month, that is how much I enjoyed it. At first sight it looks very impressive, a large pub, with a large, modern conservatory, with ample parking and next to a play park and fields. Inside it is respectfully decorated using the original features of the very old building.
We came here for Mothers’ Day brunch, and though it was busy, they were not overrun, making mistakes and running out of stock like most places do on special days. I was very pleased by the wide variety of gluten-free options; which included a GF full-english breakfast (including toast). Not only that, but it tasted good, even the toasted bap tasted good and I think we all know (those of us with an intolerance or Coeliac disease) how rubbish most gluten-free food tastes. The bread was delicious and did not fall to pieces.
My whole family had a lovely “normal” muggles brunch too (i.e. not gluten free). My kids both had the Biscoff pancakes (I was not jealous!), they provide a kids portion (2 pancakes) which my 6 year old had, and an adults portion (4 pancakes), which my 11 year old enjoyed. In fact, my son said that they were the best pancakes that he has ever had! I was surprised that he thought they were better than The Pancake Parlour, as they would have been my choice for best pancakes in the area, however, I am not able to try these as I am currently on a gluten-free diet, so I will defer to his 11-year old-biscoff-loving-pancake-eating expertise on this one.
My husband had salmon and scrambled eggs, he said that our brunch felt like an experience and as though we were being taken care of. When I returned a few weeks later with a dear friend we had eggs and bacon on toast and a full-English breakfast. Everyone said that they thoroughly enjoyed their meals. My friend said that she was surprised to see Woburn bacon on the menu, as it is quite special; which it indeed was. In fact, the bacon was particularly memorable, absolutely delicious and so perfectly cooked. We also commented on the price, it was a good price for such a delicious breakfast at such a beautiful pub; it was also generous, and I did not feel hungry. The Anchor (for example), an equally beautiful village pub is quite stingy with its portion sizes.
The kids enjoyed playing in the park afterwards (a great way to burn off one of the pancakes), surprisingly the minuscule zip-line was way more fun than either of my kids imagined when they looked upon it. Never judge a book by its cover.
My only small gripe is that during Covid they instituted a booking policy which means that you have to enter your card details before you are able to make a booking, not only that but if you fail to show-up they will charge you £30 per person. I am not the kind of person who would simply not show up (though what if you needed to cancel for an emergency at the last minute?) I always call to cancel if I need to, however, £30 per person is excessive, especially as 2 of the party were children and we did not even spend £30 on them when we went out for dinner, let alone brunch. In fact when I went with my friend our entire bill was £30 total, so the fact that I would be charged £60 for not cancelling is extreme and disproportionate, especially for brunch. This rule came at a time when everyone was excited to go out for meals again once we emerged from the lockdowns during Covid. It is now 2023, it has been a few years, I honestly think they need to remove that card booking from their system now. They should definitely not charge a cancellation fee for brunch/breakfast or reduce the charge per person.
That little moan aside, I loved it and will definitely be returning again. I think the outside will be very nice in the summer, as they have a lovely conservatory and garden (including a giant chess set).
What a lovely cafe in an incongruous location. The centre of Bletchley is not the prettiest of locations, compared to most of Milton Keynes (and I used to live there, so I feel I have the right to say this). However, it is charity shop heaven and still has a good local butchers.
That being said Bletchley does have a couple of gems and the Codebreakers cafe is one of them. The owners opened during lockdown 3.0 (in February 2021); and they are already starting to make a name for themselves in foodie circles. I was curious, so this week I checked them out for breakfast (which they serve all day), though they have an extensive menu.
They have some outdoor seating, but well the view….I won’t say any more. Inside it is beautifully and minimally decorated based on the Enigma/Bletchley Park theme, with old-fashioned lamp-shades and the best seating I think I have ever come across in a cafe. They have beautiful brown leather seats, which not only look the part but they are so comfortable. I have issues with my back and tailbone so I often feel pain after sitting for a long time, but I would have been happy to sit here for hours. The lack of windows on three-sides means on a dull day it could be quite dark; but they do have lights strewn about all over; which really helps.
I chose the full english breakfast and was pleasantly surprised that they allowed me to switch a few items (have I said before that I am fussy?!). I ordered a pot of tea which arrived in a large cup with the saucer and tea bag on top, allowing you to place your own tea bag – that’s a nice touch.
The breakfast was cooked perfectly and the eggs were runny (big tick). The best part was the toast, it was thick and delicious. I love good quality bread.
The ambience was very nice and it was suprisingly not empty as you would expect on a random thursday morning. There were 5 other tables of people, which I guess means that word is getting around.
There were two ladies serving us and they were very friendly and helpful.
They have food and drinks for take-away and they also deliver in the area. They serve lunch and dinner and I’ve heard the coffee is very good (though I don’t personally drink coffee).
I look forward to coming back again, with my kids.
My highlight from Codebreakers is the seating. The seating is sublime.
Useful Information
Parking: Mini carpark opposite the cafe, additional parking behind the cafe.
I have been to French Affaire many times; for dinner (which was nice) and for lunch (delicious) but what was truly memorable from both those visits were the desserts; their desserts/pattiseries are truly scrumptious. Therefore the idea of experiencing a French Affaire afternoon tea was an exciting prospect.
I went along with a close friend; we sat outside because the weather was pleasant and they have a newly expanded seating area which is covered and has heaters (because you know – England!). Speaking of this; when I visited in the winter they provided blankets and seat covers and heaters and it was lovely and cosy.
To begin, I have to make a rather random comment about the cutlery. Even the cutlery is classy – a sort of bronze colour, and the milk pail, so cute. So yes it began well with pretty cutlery, a pot of tea and then we were served a large plate of savouries to share. There were 2 of each item. The spinach and mascarpone tartlet was memorable, I do love me some cheese. However, I wasn’t too focussed on the savouries, because for me it is all about the cakes and scones with an afternoon tea.
And wow what a spectacle the cakes made – in their sort of half a bird cage. They looked so aethetically pleasing. I could not wait to try the plant pot cake. And I was not disappointed, it was a chocolate plant pot with strawberry cheesecake inside – oh my it was delectable. The chocolate and praline cake was my next favourite, then followed by a flavourful pistachio cake. These cakes are surprisingly filling, so I was only able to eat one of the delicious scones and no more cake; I was full to the brim.
They obviously have an artisan who makes these cakes; especially as they have recently opened a little cafe opposite the restaurant serving only their pattiseries and cake delights (plus an awesome looking waffle on a stick with a million toppings), so I will certainly be going back for their cakes and sweet treats again at their cafe L’Atelier.
During lockdown their afternoon teas were available for home delivery; which I think they still offer. However they do have a lovely alfresco area which would be perfect this time of year.
My only niggle with French Affaire is that their service is not as warm as I would like, perhaps it was a language barrier, as the server was French. They were not rude though and it would certainly not put me off from trying their absolutely delicious cakes and pattiseries.
The afternoon tea cost £25 per person. I think this was on the pricey side but the food really was special so it is worth it.
I have been taking Nate to the MK Gymnastics Centre, at Kingston since before he could even crawl. Back then it was just to get out of the house and converse with other mums. For a long time I haven’t even been able to go because, annoyingly, the “Play Gym” is not open at weekends, which means (as a full-time working mum) we haven’t been able to take him. However, they were open over the Christmas break, so we decided to take advantage of being off work and take him there.
Play Gym
The gymnastics centre runs play gym sessions every day in the week, Monday to Friday, check out the timings and prices on their website. This session is where the majority of the centre has play equipment, suitable for babies to perhaps 5 years old. They have toys for young babies to play with and for older children: a bouncy castle, a mini climbing wall, a lovely playhouse, a ball pit, a giant metal airplane that moves (seen that in costco!), several different sizes of slides, see-saws and climbing equipment and then they have a lot of the gymnastics equipment to play on, including low trampolines, bars, balance beams, and several big pits full of foam for the kids to jump or somersault into (lots of fun). They have a changing room where you can leave your shoes and bags, and they provide biscuits and juice, with an area of tables and chairs to eat/drink them.
There are two other play gyms in Milton Keynes that I know of: Arabian Gym in Bletchley and MK Springers in Kiln Farm. I have to say, having been to them all several times, I do prefer Kingston, it is much bigger with more choice, BUT, they are not open on the weekend for the play gym, therefore we are very restricted. The Arabian Gym is my next favourite, they run sessions on a Sunday morning which we have been to many times, they also do a song time at the end of the session with sticks, which Nate loves. Finally there is Kiln Farm, yes it is cheaper and closer to where we live, but they are pretty firm about their timings, you can’t just show up and it appears to be just a one hour session. There is a lot less non-gym equipment here too so Nate got bored quite quickly with Kiln Farm.
We have been swimming several times at Middleton pool so I thought I would review it for other MK mums who are trying to decide where to take there baby swimming.
First of all, in terms of parking there is only one parent and baby spot right out front, sometimes you get lucky, otherwise parking is just behind, a 1 minute walk.
Current adult prices are £3.50 per adult and under 1 year olds are free.
The unisex changing rooms are a tight squeeze, a single adult will have trouble in the individual changing rooms, but in the middle are 3 family changing rooms which are perfect for a family of 3 or 4. The women’s changing room is open plan and has 2 baby change stations.
The lockers are tiny so take the bare minimum and leave the change bag in the car, lockers take a £1 coin.
There is a small communal shower right before you enter the pool, it is not very private.
In the complex there are two pools, a baby pool that is shallow and has steps leading down into it and a bigger pool. The baby pool is often colder than the big pool which is odd. Last visit Nates teeth were chattering in the baby pool but he was very happy in the big pool.
The big pool is pretty shallow, about 1.5 metres at each end but gets deeper in the middle.
We like the pool and it seems to be frequented by most mums and babies in the area, it doesn’t get too busy even on weekends and it’s warm enough for babies.
Feeding the Kat 