Shoulder of Mutton in Aylesbury Vale

Sunday Roast was BRILLIANT The best I've had out in a long time. Lovely pub, very busy and great atmosphere

Pretty rubbish really. Booked a table of 10 in advance on a Sunday at 3pm. When we arrived and the table wasn't ready so we sat in the beer garden for a drink beforehand. We went back inside after around 15 mins to check if our table was ready and were told that they had accidentally sat someone else where we should have been seated. They quickly rearranged a couple of tables to seat us and then left us sitting there for 30 minutes until we called someone over to take a drinks order. Another 15 minute wait until we called another server over to take a food order and to chase up our drinks. 1hr 15mins after having been seated our food arrived at which point we chased up the drinks order again. The majority of the food was okay, but a couple of dishes were disappointing and the vegetarian selection was a choice of two items. Staff were inattentive and whilst one server cleared a couple of plates, the remainder of finished plates sat with us for another 30 minutes. We ordered some more drinks (again having to attract the attention of a server), which took another 30 minutes to come. We then had the entertainment of watching a gent who we assume was the team leader/manager berating another customer for having the audacity if sitting at a table just to have drinks when "clearly it's a dining room and that he had had a hard day and didn't need them making it any harder". Eventually we got bored of waiting for someone to come to take a desert order so went to the servers counter and asked them to come and clear the rest of the plates and to take an order. After another 30 minute wait (3 hours after having first sat down), we overheard the manager saying to another staff member that he needed our table and could they chase up our deserts, following which he advised that they wouldn't be long and that as we had been waiting for a few items he would take the deserts off the bill. Deserts arrived and were pretty rubbish. We would probably have complained, but since they were being comped, didn't bother. We then had to ask for the bill, at which point things improved slightly as the manager was kind enough to offer a further discount, but all in all it was a pretty shoddy experience. They weren't that busy, no excuses were offered for the long wait times or lack of attention from the staff, it just seemed like no one was in control of the suitation and no one could really be bothered. Probably won't be returning, which is a shame as we've previously had good experiences here. All said and done, it was just a bit of a lacklustre affair spoiled by poor attention from staff and inadequate management. Would not recommend

Come here often for breakfast, the food is always great however sometimes the service can be a little slow due to low staff

Food was excellent but service was shoddy. Waitresses and waiters were too busy having a chat rather than doing their job to the point that we went to the bar to get our drinks on two occasions after waiting 15 mins each time to order a drink. There were only 4 tables taken too so it really wouldn't have hurt for a member of staff to check in with their customers from time to time.

A lovely pub with a great atmosphere. Served by Juliet. Great food, really welcoming staff and really customer focused setting. Came for a Roast Dinner which was divine and will definitely come back again. Thank you!

Very good value with the two courses for £16.50 offer. The service was excellent. It was quick and the staff were very polite and helpful.

Excellent food very good service

lovely lunch with my wife and friend. great food, friendly service and excellent value. would recommend. weekday £16.50 two course offer fantastic

We went to the Shoulder of Mutton after getting lost on our walk and were cold and hungry. We were very pleased to find a great local pub with friendly, welcoming staff - in particular the barman -and good quality food. Not only that, they were serving food at 3.30 in the afternoon which you won't always find on a Monday. I had a pie which had pastry on the bottom as well as the top and a good selection of included vegetables. My friend's fish and chips was massive. The pub was warm with a log fire and plenty of seating. If we hadn't been wanting to get back to London ahead of rush hour traffic we would have hung around and had dessert as well.

We were served by friendly staff with giant portions having chosen the Sunday roast. All nicely cooked. We were glad we had booked because the place was heaving even at 3pm on a Sunday.

My boyfriend and I tried the beef burger and duck burger. Deliciousness! Our server was Matt and he was very friendly and took good care of us with recommendations on ales. It was full and we didn’t wait long until we got our food

Will be back. Loved the fillet of beef

Lovely food, attentive but not intrusive service and pleasant atmosphere. Recommed: - Malbec Terre Roj, very reasonably priced - Shepherd's Pie - Duo of chicken - Gammon Steak - Cod and chips - 8oz sirloin steak. Asked for medium rare but was more on the medium side. The peppercorn sauce was flavourful and spicey - Lamb shank. Slightly on the sweet side - Garlic bread - Sticky Toffee pudding - Caramel Sundae. Less interesting was the bakewell tart. The portions are a tad tight but enough to just about filing.

Friendly prompt service and lovely roast dinners for all 3 of us. Thank you.

Always great food and great service , Anja is so lovely and goes above and beyond , will be back like always

Friendly staff, even though busy didn't wait long to be served. Good food.

We arrived later on a Monday night and were seated straight away and Matthew came straight to us offering drinks and was very attentive despite being on his own in the restaurant. The kitchen closed earlier than we had realised however we didn't feel at a rushed and still were able to have two lovely courses. Thanks Matthew :)

Very disappointing Burns Night! Despite pre-booking the menu we'd be choosing from, several of the main themed dishes (pheasant and venison) were unavailable on the night. This could have easily been remedied if we'd been asked to pre-order our food, which is usually the case when themed evenings are held. We weren't told that these dishes had sold out until we came to order, which was a shame. We were later given a small discount on our bill, but when you come out specifically for Burns Night on Burns Night itself, it is still disappointing. We were also sat opposite the fire escape, which was being used to access the beer garden, so at the start of the meal, we were subjected to icy blasts of air as people were going in and out. At least we we sat by the fire...and they'd also run out of ice for our drinks! The quality of the food wasn't great. The crab salad I ordered was truly awful. It's probably the worst thing I have ever tasted. It came out on a boiling hot plate, the presentation was terrible, and it tasted horrendous, so I sent it back. As a result, my friend and I ate our starters after everyone else and then the rest of the meal felt very rushed, and we weren't given a lot of time in between courses. My friend actually didn't touch her main course. The haggis course was actually the best part of the meal. The wild boar sausages were pretty average and came out minus the caramelised red onions on top (as shown on your social media pages), but at this point, I couldn't be bothered saying anything. The cranachan dessert was again awful, reminded me of a cheap breakfast granola and not remotely authentic. They also ran out of meringue for another friends Eton Mess...not sure how a kitchen can run out of meringue... surely, they have eggs and sugar??? I think better planning could have avoided all of the above. If you're holding a themed night, get people to preorder their food and take deposits. It's like turning up for a Christmas themed meal to be told there's no turkey or Christmas pudding!

Just arrived at the SofM in Wendover. I tried my luck with no booking and I managed to get a lovely table close to the fireplace (and beside the ‘private’ hatch door!!!). I’m blown away from the lady who works here. Her kindness is real and what an ASSET to the company. I am sorry but I don’t know her name, hair tied in bun (brown) with glasses (wearing black top). Would recommend simply on the back of that staff member! Can’t wait to eat my roast….

Great staff and very helpful! Food was also amazing!

Local and good prices friendly staff

Food was lovely and the restaurant itself was very cosy

Spent the morning here. Great pub with good prices!

Honestly—pretty pub, but majorly disinterested service, medium rare steak was served blue, recooked and re-served rare to the point it wasn’t edible. Smothered Chicken and bacon were cooked to Leather and tasted like nothing—both items tasted the same and the salad that came with it was like a garnish soaked in gross dressing. Honestly—such a sad visit and $$$

Hassan was very attentive and professional as were all staff who brought things to our table. Food was great. Sticky pudding was a favourite.

We booked a table for Christmas day. We arrived and were greeted with prosecco or orange juice. Our meals were preordered and all of our name tags were typed up with our orders. The food was excellent and brought to our table with perfect timing. Staff were smiling and happy the whole time and nothing was too much trouble. The manager was on hand the whole time, helping staff and keeping things on track. Thank you to everyone in the kitchens, front of house and the smiling waitresses.

The food is lovely. But I wish the Chef could get the pork cracking right. Every time we go in, it's always rock hard, lovely staff.

Always a nice experience. We go every year for our Christmas team lunch, friendly staff, nice meals and drinks. Lovely atmosphere. Plenty of parking, just don't forget to register on arrival, it's easy and signs to remind you.

It's a great pub to visit and enjoyed the moment there. Good hospitality within the establishment would recommend to all who visit.

Pleasant reception - helpful waitress - food arrived in good time and was very good.

Talia looked after us extremely well at The Shoulder of Mutton, on 12th December 2024. We thoroughly enjoyed our lunch visit.

Went for lunch with some friends. I had a main course from the festive menu, slow cooked beef cheeks, which was delicious. The meat was very tender and it was served with mash and vegetables in a nice thick gravy. I had the apple pie with custard for pudding. The service was great although it was very busy and we had to wait a fair while for the food. Didn't matter as a group of six ladies we managed to pass the time chatting 😀.

We warmly welcomed by Hope who then look after our table. Very good service, food was lovely

All round good experience with Excellent Food.

Lovely place with nice fireplaces and homely feel

Good service and generous food portions. Atmosphere was ok, busy but not noisy.

Very busy early evening on Saturday but managed to find us a table. It is a standard pub chain, so the food is standard menu and not anything special. However the hospitality and cosiness of the place was excellent

Lovely characterful pub in Wendover. We went on a Sunday afternoon for a roast and it was packed, which tells you the food must be good. In spite of this, the service was generally really good. The only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars was because I had to ask twice for the bill and twice again for the card machine

Lovely and warm welcome. Food selection is great and reasonably priced service was great. A relaxed feel with a wonderful fire on

We had a lovely last minute booking at the pub! What a lovely environment decorated for Xmas and very clean facilities, the bar staff are really friendly welcoming and helpful with idiots like us who couldn’t work out the parking! 😂 our restaurant sever JAKE was non stop fun,he made our evening! The other girls I’m sorry don’t know names, are just as lovely , the food was delicious and our roast turkey incredible,we will definitely be going back 💯 thanks guys great meal and atmosphere 👌👌

Superb service! I was able to bring my booking forward, sat by the fire and a lovely drink. We both had food and it was top tier grub. Lovely atmosphere and the staff are incredibly friendly and helpful!

We had a family meal tonight, celebrating a birthday. Josephine was looking after us and she was excellent and so friendly, ensuring the special allergies we catered for! The food was divine - the festive menu is great! Thank you everyone in Shoulder of mutton for the lovely time!

Very good service, waiting staff were very efficient and happy to pause to answer our questions. Food was delicious, and just the right portion size. You have to remember to type your registration into the tablet by the bar to avoid a car park fine. Will certainly go again.

Lovely pub, very helpful and friendly staff who provide excellent service, food is always great and good value for money, would recommend to anyone

Lovely place and brilliant staff

Food was ok, not enough seasoning and waaaaaaay too much rocket - there was more rocket than steak in the steak sandwich and had to take them out. If it was lettuce - great, but rocket ruined the experience and it was noticeable that the steak wasn't as seasoned enough and relied on the gravy sauce to give it flavour. Atmosphere was nice, dog friendly 🐾

Talia and elouise were amazing kind and caring ❤ and great service ❤

I liked it in here. Food and service were spot on. Will return again.

Good value pub grub with a nice range of beers and wines

We had a fabulous lunch for my birthday on the 1st November. The food was great and service with a cheeky smile by Jake

Highly recommend coming here - food is excellent and great quality, and lovely service from Kayleigh, Juliette and Becca. Definitely worth coming if you’re in the area!

The lady serving drinks was very rude, it was definitely intentional, most probably because of my Middle Eastern look. When she was preparing my sparkling water & coke, I asked her for a slice of lime, she said “I am not done yet”, then the big one when I asked her if they have chips, her reply was “Do you really want me to answer this question? What do you think? You know, we are a pub, we definitely serve chips”, all said in a sarcastic offensive way with a weird stare at me. I didn’t react & after I was back to my table, a friend commented on how rude she was with me & it is good I didn’t react to it. For complete picture; not my first time in this pub, had two visits before, all good, no issues at all, I would have recommended it too, but third visit did go really weird with this staff member they have now.

Decided to randomly stop here for lunch. Glad we did. Great food and atmosphere. Furthermore the service from Josephine was excellent.

As a family, we went for Sunday lunch. I’ll start a positive. Food was good. Now the negatives. Service appalling! My nephew, who is just 18 but failed to bring his ID, had a pint of beer bought by his dad. As he couldn’t provide the ID, she took it away! The law states that even if he’s underage, if he’s with a parent or guardian then he can have an alcoholic drink. The waitress stated that it was a Greene King policy that no alcohol is served to underage drinkers. Fare enough but it was her attitude. My step mum, who is disabled was told to go to the bar to pay the bill. This was by another waitress who was quite hostile in her response! We, as a family, will never go back and will never recommend.

A family meal with my Canadian cousin. Great British pub food. Nice big table for 5 of us. Good friendly service by a lovely young waitress.

Pretty good trio Sunday roast. Consistent across the chain.

Nice pub with loads of nice dogs.

I came in waiting for my train (the station is right next door) and I delayed catching it twice cos it was so nice in The Shoulder of Mutton. Real fire, comfy bench seats, friendly, helpful bar staff, good choice of beer. I recommend XT, v tastey.

Beef description was served pink, what was served in my plate could be used to repair tarmac. Asked if the stuffing has nuts as one of us has a severe nut allergy, advised "I don't think so" but did not check or come back. Had 4 different people serve us, yet no one wants to come and take payment! Waiting around for 20mins at the end of the meal :(

Trio roast was fantastic, tastes like real good home cooked pub food.

Didn't eat on this occasion , just a quiet drink in a calming atmosphere.

Service from Eloise, Blouse and Matt impeccable as always making the evening more a meeting of friends than just a meal out.

Good food, friendly service and nice atmosphere. Remember to sign your car in on the screen if you park onsite.

Came with a friend and had soup and pork belly. We were served by joesephine. All food was delicious and our hostess amazing.

Lovely meal and welcoming staff.

So I’d heard many mixed opinions on this place, read the reviews and we thought we would go and just try it for ourselves as you don’t know unless you try, we went at lunchtime so glad we did absolutely amazing food all 3 meals very tasty, staff were great and service very good just the normal average wait time, would recommend If your thinking of going then do so.

Lovely local pub, nice food and service is reasonable. Have had dinners and a breakfast here and the food is always consistent and the money you pay is good value. The outdoor garden is big and there’s ample parking - just remember to put your number plate in the system as I’ve been caught with a fine when I’ve forgotten.

Food & service was great, the staff were very helpful in assisting one of our party who is disabled. We had a variety of different foods but the pork belly I had was superb!

It's a lovely pub in a great location, staff are so friendly and helpful, however the food doesn't live up to it's promise. I had the Sunday roast and the beef was not pink as described in the menu bit instead grey and overcooked - a shame because the meat as lovely otherwise. The roast potatoes were dry and vegetables consisted of a spoonful of finely chopped mush. I had a Sunday lunch elsewhere recently for a similar price which came with a tureen of vegetables, so this was disappointing. On a plus, the pigs in blankets were delicious!

Had Sunday lunch in this pub many times and it's always very nice. Highly recommend a visit.

Fast, friendly and no drama service especially on a busy Sunday lunchtime. Good size portions of roast dinner even the small plate was generous size and very tasty.

We had a great visit with friends. The staff were very friendly and not over bearing. We all enjoyed our food and great beers.

Had an amazing experience here today food was very nice and fresh and our server/ waitress hope was so lovely , genuine and down to earth leaving us happy from start to end this girl was amazing so kind made the experience 100 times better xx

I do love this pub. They make a cracking breakfast and the service is always top notch. If I had to be picky they always over griddle the bacon but this is my personal opinion and others may prefer it cooked that way. A fab pub in delightful village and I know I will be returning again soon.

Friendly staff, good food. What else can you ask for?

Came in on a Sunday night, had some drinks, it was such a good evening. Keely the bar tender remembered our drinks order every time so thanks to her

Come in here regularly always good service and drinks, thanks to the manager and her team for such a good time

Came in for a drink with some friends and had some food. Was really a good experience over all , had such a good night and thanks to Keely for looking after us!!

Very nice food and surroundings. Friendly and efficient service. Freya and Jasmine were lovely 😊

Warm welcome, delicious food, dog-friendly breakfast. They even serve dog sausages.

Never been treated I'm such a rude way by staff in any pub in my life missed.my train so went in fir a quick drink while I waited for another bought my pint and when I went to order another got told I stink off weed in those exact words and was gonna have my drink taken off me if I didn't go outside and finish it.. there was a faint smell.off weed in the pub but this was not me and the very rude and abrupt server saw this as an opportunity to try and belittle me absolutely disgusting treatment the pub seems nice but the staff are horrible

Lovely pub with a good garden area. Good parking facilities, although you must register your vehicle registration on entering the pub.

Niamh’s service was great, very attentive and had a laugh with us as well. Food not as good as it used to be, and menu limited, but atmosphere was nice and it’s very easy for larger groups.

I don't usually leave a review when I have nothing good to say, but my kids could not let this go unpunished, so here we go... We found this place listed on the Greene King app where we had found a perfect pub in Wales the previous day. We misunderstood this to mean the 2 places are under similar management or have similarities, so didn't think twice coming here and were so happy thinking we have one so close to home! We got to the place at 6:50pm and entered our registration number at the entrance which I'm hoping comes back with no tickets from the reviews I'm seeing here. No one spoke to us when we entered and tried to get some attention from staff so that they could show us somewhere to sit to no luck. We then chose a place for ourselves but a waitress then came along telling us 'we don't just sit ourselves here, this table is not even laid' we held our cool and asked her to lay it for us which she did. Thinking back, we should have left at this point because what followed after was just a 2hr long disaster We spent more than an hr and a half waiting for the food. We contemplated ordering starters but from the menu it looked like these were going to need cooking time too so decided not to. Food finally arrived at 8:17pm, cold. The plates were underwhelming, not worth the price! My youngest picked up the fork next to her and it was dirty! I have never seen this in the UK before! We all agreed we should have done take-away at some fast food place than pay twice the price at this place. So far, it's the worst we have been to and will never come back here again.

We had a lovely meal yesterday. The food was great - steaks were cooked to perfection! Niamh was looking after us and was very welcoming and friendly. Thank you for the lovely evening Niamh and the team! 🙂

I ordered the Prime Sirloin Steak with seasonal salad and chips from the menu. When it arrived there was only a tiny garnish of salad. I mentioned this to the waitress and she agreed that it wasn't very good but didn't offer to rectify it. The steak was badly charred and had quite a lot of fat and gristle on it. My partner ordered the gammon steak with pineapple and these were also badly charred.

Elouise, Eloise and Hassan were very hospitable. We only popped in for a quick meal after our walk and service was very efficient and the pub was clean. Our experience was very enjoyable, would definitely return.

Nice, good outdoor space, dog friendly

Brought our 2 yr old grandson. Sat garden side. Told short of staff. Asked for lunch time menu. Ordered chicken strips for our grandson absolutely disgusting he couldn’t even chew them. Disgusting service. Owners siting back not caring about customers. Absolute crap.

Lovely starter sadly steak tough and part unedible. Did mention to waitress but nothing done about it.

Really well looked after by the young staff. Food was excellent better than the last time we came, really well done team. Returned a couple of years later, looked after by HOLLY. She was great!

Lovely setting, good food and healthy portions - come hungry - you won’t be disappointed !

Food was Chef & Brewer like, ok but no passion, packet & deepfried, microwaved or oven-baked.

Good food. Great value. Very quick service. Excellent hospitality

Thank you Hassan for helping to make our visit last Monday so enjoyable. Your presentation and attentiveness were a credit to you and the Shoulder of Mutton.

Popped in for lunch today - lovely food and excellent service although it took a long time for the food to arrive at the table despite the fact that they weren't exactly busy. If I have a gripe, it is that the whole place would benefit from a deep clean. Dust seems to have overwhelmed the entire building. My husband said that the decor was very 'rustic' which in my book is code for needs some redecoration paying attention to detail. It looks tired and in need of a thorough clean.

Tracey and Angela looked after us like kings great food big portions highly recommended defo come again

Food was amazing! But the main thing that was a let down was the staff… incredibly rude to us and even had the audacity to just plonk our food on the table without evening saying or looking at us.. When we asked for a table she said “ you want a menu or what “ which is incredibly rude. Not sure of her name but she was young and black hair. 2/5 only because of the food was alright. Also didn’t even give us cutlery or anything! Genuinely no words. 🤬🤬

Lively and yummy pub, hearty and classic menu with quality food~

I didn’t eat here but had a few drinks. Lovely pub. Nice staff. Terrible dirty toilets. I just don’t understand why establishments look after front of house but totally ignore toilets. Shame really spoils the overall experience for