I don’t venture into Woburn Sands much, but I got drawn to this pub on the weekend after the MK Food Awards tweeted me their lunch, depicting a towering behemoth of a burger! Feeling like I was missing out, I knew I had to have one for myself. The newly branded Weathercock, as far as I know, hasn’t been open more than a few months and now operates as an American diner under the guise of English country pub settings. An interesting combination!
The menu is vast, serving up burgers, sandwiches, grills, breakfasts as well as regional American comfort foods. I spent a long time scanning up and down the list with numerous dishes jumping out at me. But in the end I had to order a burger, after all it was the reason I came! After sitting for a while we were unsure whether we needed to order at the bar, but a short stroll to investigate we had the attention of the waitress, and we were soon sat waiting excitedly for our meals to arrive.
After a while, Mr YumDimSum’s Iowa Skinny came first. A breaded pork fillet served in bread with lettuce, mayo and a side of coleslaw & BBQ sauce so you can customise how you want. He said the pork was perfectly tenderised and it was certainly a generous size: it’s safe to say nothing was skinny about this sandwich!
When my burger arrived, my eyes lit up. It’s an undeniably beautifully presented burger, albeit a very British presentation. The burger is huge. There is no way you can eat this one with your hands, it’s hand down (pun intended) a knife & fork job!
Okay, let’s start with the positives. The cheese & bacon was extremely generous and wilted over the rest of the burger to create a delicious cheesy bacon blanket. The meal also came with lashings of BBQ sauce, coleslaw and a giant pickle all of which added big American flavours. The BBQ sauce is sweet and tangy, which compliments melted cheese perfectly.
The burger patty itself however I was very disappointed with. Once again it wasn’t a shy portion, but it had been extremely well done and subsequently reduced to a tough, tasteless block. A great shame especially given I’d ordered medium. The sweet potato fries were okay, though I did find them a little limp. We had also ordered onion rings, but unfortunately the kitchen forgot them.
The menu sounds exciting and tasty: full of bold and hearty flavours. Sadly, I found the food on our visit very hit and miss along with the slow, inconsistent service which left me frustrated. Reviews for The Weathercock on Trip Advisor are very positive so I guess they’ve found their following. I wish them well but feel they do need to work on their consistency.