Once inside this lovely old pub we completely forgot the damp and drizzle of the dull January weather, being immediately drawn to a leather sofa with masses of plump cushions right next to the just tended real wood fire that was burning brightly and a toasty warm welcome after our bracing walk along the River Lea.
The Crown is one of the Vintage Inn collection from the mighty Mitchells & Butlers brand that also includes All Bar One, Toby Carvery and Harvester to name but a few. Plenty of choice on the menu, sadly no fish available last Saturday so the other half didn’t get his fix of cod fish finger sandwich and instead we both opted for the chargrilled steak sandwich with fried onions and horseradish mayonnaise, served with chips and washed down with a rather lovely glass of cider.
Dogs are allowed in the bar areas but not the restaurant so Herbie promptly made himself at home on the sofa by the fire, sitting on his Brittany Ferries blanket of course to spare others that followed the inconvenience of hairs or worse still dried mud picked up on the riverbank.
Our food arrived promptly, was hot, well presented and tasted just right. Service was quite good, our table wasn’t cleared and we weren’t offered desserts or coffee – we could easily have been persuaded to lounge around a while longer and enjoy the rather intriguing Pudding Tasting Platter, but no mind it was January after all!
A great little find, we’ll definitely be back and hopefully next time we’ll be testing out that Pudding Tasting platter!
high days & holidays 