Village Crown — Restaurant in Sydney

I am a regular at the Village Crown and it has always been a decent place to get a bite for locals. Unfortunately tonight I have had one of the worst experiences I have ever had, I hope the new team (I assume) takes on feedback because the service I had tonight is not a good sign for the future if this were to continue.

In any case I came in with a friend for a nice dinner. My friend ordered the schnitzel and escargot and I ordered the prawns and beef skewers. Within a few minutes the schnitzel came but we were also given calamari which we did not order, I alerted the waitress and she quickly took it away. A few more minutes had passed and our escargot came, at that time I asked the waitress to verify our orders because I could sense chaos in the kitchen, I was told that she could not tell me our orders (due to an unknown reason) and asked me what I had ordered - I told her we were just waiting on the beef skewers she went to the kitchen and came back and said the kitchen requested that I prove that I made the order of beef skewers (this was another red flag), I showed her my receipt from my email and she went back into the kitchen and came back to tell me it’s being prepared. During this time I had the prawns and escargot which were okay but my friend found his schnitzel to be terrible (on par with the experiences of other recent negative reviews). 10 mins later another plate of schnitzel comes and again we have to mention we did not order this. 5 mins later another plate of schnitzel comes, at this point I think it’s just comical to see the dissaray, disorganisation and chaos this place has descended into. At this point 30mins later I asked if my beef skewers are still coming, I was told it will be here very soon. 10 mins after this and almost 1 hour since I came in a waitress comes up to me to let me know that they are out of beef and if I would like another dish instead, I decline the offer and ask for a refund for the skewers. To be fair they seemed to be genuinely apologetic about the error although I thought it would have been courteous to have let me known much much earlier.

I think what was most disappointing was that there was a sense in the air that a small number of staff who just don’t care about the quality of what was being produced and what was happening, a once great place being brought into disrepute.

I am hoping that this is a one off case and I will be happy to rescind my review if/when the village crown improves. But for now this is my 2cents of my...

Random lunch on a day out with the kids. It was convenient to our day out so gave it a chance but very pleasantly surprised ! Great location on the street face of a local shopping precinct so there was parking inside but we also got an easy park in surrounding street with no restrictions on a Sunday. The decor inside was fresh and inviting. The one thing letting it down was the ripped material on the bench seats but easily overlooked by the remaining decor. The one thing I will give them flawless marks for was the service - all the ladies at the front of house were very attentive, patient and I appreciated how they worked as a team. The kids were starving so declared the chips with their meals to be the best ever - yes they were good but the thing I really noticed was the drink + ice cream automatically came with the kids meals which is definitely a much appreciated addition to a pub meal. My husband had the steak, which he enjoyed and I can attest that it was very tasty. I also give a thumbs up to the sweet potatoes fries. I would also like to comment on the music being played - a good relaxed mix of easy rock of a certain age which just gave the atmosphere an easy going vibe. If I lived in the area I’d def be down here often. It also had a large section of outdoor seating that was very dog friendly. Great little pub. If we’re ever back in the area I wouldn’t hesitate to drop in and try something else...

We visited here with a large group on a busy Friday night in May 2025.

The staff were very friendly and accommodating, allowing for a tab for guests to order as the night went on.

Everyone's food came out in good time considering the number of orders.

My Seafood Pie was quite impressive at first, looking like I wouldn't be able to eat it all. Once you open the lid, the ingredients are quite low down, giving the pie plenty of air between the ingredients and the lid. The consistency and seafood flavours were all wonderful, very enjoyable, and filling in the end with the side mash.

Some quick comments from our 23 guests: "Very nice", "delicious", "was ok", "mine was fantastic", "fish was lovely", "wines tastes good" and "they're great here, I'm a local". Kids also said, "wicked chips" and "mine was good but so hot." (referring to temperature 😅, at least we know it was freshly cooked).

Apologies for the late review and lack of extra photos as I was concentrated on organising and mingling with all the guests in the Village Crown atmosphere, which may I add is a very nice venue to host an intimate casual party suitable for up to 15-20 guests.

Only negative would be the table setup for our guests, which was a bit awkward for people to get up and order with having to shuffle along booth seats.

Overall, a very nice stylish venue with friendly staff and good...