What's On?
Lower down this page you will find a personal selection of future events in and around Milton Keynes, there will always be more to do than you can find time for - you'll just have to stay for longer!
World's Biggest Coffee Morning Success
Thanks to everyone who supported us at Number 68 and helped rasied more than two hundred pounds for Macmillan Cancer Support. Aside from the bacon sarnies, the chocolate brownies were very popular!
David played piano on request, the sounds of the 70's seemed to go down well but when he accepted the challenge to sit on the floor, facing away from the piano and play it was an interesting performance. Not one to repeat for purists and they do say "never say never" so if someone else wants to make a donation then anything is possible!
Donations welcome for Macmillan Cancer Support who improve the lives of people affected by cancer. Cancer affects us all - we can all help. Please help us help Macmillan and let us know if you want to come along.
5* award for Number 68
Number 68 has been assessed as "excellent" and achieved the best possible rating of five stars following an inspection by Milton Keynes Enviromental Health Department. Five stars indicates the highest standard of food hygiene and managment systems resulting in the lowest level of risk to customers;
"Scores on the doors" is a national public information service where you can see the official local authority hygiene ratings for food businesses, indicating how hygienic and well-managed food preparation and storage is. At this time Bed and Breakfast establishments within the MK area are not listed online.
Travel update
The Coachway has relocated from Junction 14 during the construction of a long-overdue new coach passenger terminal. Long distance coach services now go to a temporary location in Campbell Park, off Silbury Boulevard (between Montrose Street and Pilgrim Street).
Weekends, particularly Bank Holidays - please check rail service disruptions caused by engineering work. There are 4 railway stations in Milton Keynes - Wolverton ("Milton Keynes North") is the closest to Number 68; Milton Keynes Central, about 4 miles away, is the largest with inter-city connections and only 10-minutes by car.
What's on Autumn 08
October
13 - 18 Carousel MK Theatre
14 - 18 City of Angels Company MK, Stantonbury
18 Music Makers MK "Music for Pleasure" Choral concert
22 - 25 Carpe Jugulum Chrysalis Theatre, Longueville LLTC
31 - 2/11 Sportsmania3 thecentre:mk
25 Girton College Choir City Church
November
2 Diwali Celebrations Milton Keynes Theatre
18 - 21 Glyndebourne Opera Milton Keynes Theatre
25 - 29 Nutcracker Northern Ballet, Milton Keynes Theatre
29 Stony Stratford Christmas Lights Switch-On
December
5 - Jan Peter Pan Pantomine MK Theatre
6/7 Music Makers MK Night of a thousand stars
13 Whose Turn? Comedy improv @ Madcap, Wolverton
Eating out
Being so close to Stony Stratford means that our guests often take the opportunity to eat and drink locally in one or more of the 20+ choices. The top recommendation of recent months is the Bekash Indian Restaurant in the High Street, there has been nothing but praise for the food and the service. They have been awarded a "Very Good" 4* Food Hygiene rating and if you want a take-away you'll also benefit from a 10% discount - our last was ready to collect at the chosen time and we all enjoyed eating it!
So what's new? The Calcutta Brasserie has raised the bar for lndian cuisine, with a new chef, menu and decor it is in the unqiue setting formerly home to the Moghul Palace.
About 15 minutes walk from Number 68 is Wolverton House, it's a carvery with an unbeatable price of just 3.50 GBP (Monday - Saturday). Together with quite a few guests, we've eaten there several times now and although there can be a queue sometimes during the evening peak, you can pay more than double the money for the same thing in other carvery restaurants. A "Fair" 2* Food Hygiene rating has been issued for Wolverton House.
Hub-bub
Along with her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, we have visited thehub:mk, designed as "the focal point for all who live, work, meet, dine and shop" and MK's newest social venue. Unlike the Queen, we've been a number of times, stayed longer and sampled, on your behalf, just a fraction of the food and drink on offer. When we've visited in the evening, it's clear that the area is attracting a lot diners; Strada on a Friday night was full but luckily we'd booked a table and have returned theor with friends several times now.
A more recent addition is the "Living Room", located next to Jury's Inn and they do have live cool jazz piano music to accompany your meal. Raymond Blanc's brasserie & "Maman Blanc" shop "Brasserie Blanc" gave us an excellent lunch, both in terms of taste and value - they lived up to their stated aim of providing "the very best atmosphere with modern and authentic French cuisine". The current set menu of 3 courses, including wine is less than 18 GBP each in the evening and it's better value still for lunch, just 14 GBP.
When you stay at Number 68 we look forward to hearing about your dining experiences - good, bad or just bland!
You can also choose to eat from one dim t, nandos, zizzi and Gourmet burger kitchen, where, according to a guest who ate there, it was "the best tasting burger" he'd ever had and although he said it was also the most expensive burger he'd eaten, he wanted to go back again as it was also the tastiest!
Also open is a new seafood speciality restaurant - loch fyne; we dined recently at their other local outlet in Woburn (around 20 minutes drive) when three of us ate starters and a main course for just under 80 GBP. You should expect quality but perhaps not quantity when dining there. If yuo want value for money, then this is certainly on offer at lunchtimes with some of the set meals, the Fish'n'chips on a Tuesday was tasty, well presented and not much more than 10 GBP.
The Bon Viveur coffee shop, already well established after a number of years treating those nibbling their way through MK's corporate and social events diary has been up and running for some months now but a new arrival for caffeine addicts has hit the hub - Gloria Jean's Coffees they have 150+ products on sale including hot and cold espresso drinks, cocoas and fresh premium coffee beans.
Cafe Rouge offers the usual but there is a lively latin style tapas eating experience to be found in las iguanas (they even have a tea on sale called Amanda!), Sam & Maxies has had a makeover and is now the ha ha bar and grill. Jury's Inn offers three dining venues - Innfusion, Il Barista and the Inntro bar.
With good food comes the need for good drink and MK is now home to the Concrete Cow Brewery. Check out the latest Concrete Cow brew in Wetherspoons or try one at the Eco Park, where the both the shop and restaurant, Waterside, have it on sale.
For details of local news and events in Milton Keynes click the links! Try MK Web for all things MK or here for the MK Citizen newspaper. News from the BBC local region is available here and the BBC weather forecast here.
