The Crown at Ampney Brook — Restaurant in Cotswold District

I had high hopes for my partner’s 30th birthday celebration on November 4th, but unfortunately, our experience left much to be desired. Despite making a reservation for 15 guests and expecting a joyful celebration, the evening was marred by poor service and disappointing food.

Our main concern was the manager’s handling of interactions with our group. She spoke to the birthday guest in a rude and condescending manner, creating an uncomfortable atmosphere that affected everyone. The celebration was a surprise, so our guest of honor had no prior context, which made the situation even more disheartening. It felt as though other "VIP" guests were prioritized over us, diminishing our special occasion.

Later, I approached the manager to express my disappointment and request an apology for the birthday guest. Instead, she was dismissive and unapologetic. She also responded inappropriately to a disappointed child by saying, "it is what it is," which felt unprofessional.

Additionally, the way the manager enforced a “no nuts” policy was harsh and unnecessary. We were only informed of this policy after our cake was displayed, which was surprising, as there was no mention of it on the website or in prior communications. After checking, we confirmed that the cake itself did not contain nuts, making this approach feel excessive.

Regarding the food, while some guests enjoyed their meals, I found my own quite disappointing. The chicken was bland and dry, and my dessert was overcooked. Later that night, I also experienced severe stomach cramps, adding to my dissatisfaction.

Following the event, I emailed to share my concerns in hopes of constructive feedback. Email tracking confirmed the message was opened, but days passed without a response. It’s disheartening to see that my feedback wasn’t considered worth a reply.

We had been considering the venue for future occasions, including potentially as a wedding venue, but this experience has made us rethink our choice. For anyone planning a special event, I would recommend looking elsewhere for a more positive and professional experience.

Edit & Response:

Dear Kieron,

I would like to clarify a couple of points. First, while I understand that your establishment is nut-free, this information was not clearly communicated to us before the booking. Furthermore, I can confirm that the cake we brought did not contain any nuts. It seems that the “nut-free” policy is applied at your discretion, which caused some confusion for us.

Regarding the private dining option, we were not offered this at any point during our booking. I was also unaware that the light-up numbers were arranged by someone else in the party – this was not coordinated by me. While I did not report issues at the time, I did detail my concerns in the email I sent following the event, which, as of now, has not been responded to. It wasn’t until after I felt unwell that I decided to address these concerns more formally.

Additionally, I’ve since heard from other members of the party that the service was poor from the moment they arrived – there were instances of the bar being unmanned and waiters walking off mid-order, which only added to the disappointment of the evening.

I appreciate your offer of a complimentary meal, but I would rather see my concerns addressed properly, as the lack of response to my initial email has left me feeling that my experience was not taken seriously.

Thank you for your time and attention to...

First time visiting The Crown at Ampney Brook, drawn in by the location and the style based on the images from the web site. The looks and feel was amazing, unfortunately things started to unravel quickly.

There was a wedding on, which we suspected when we really struggled to park, but got parked eventually. Experience tells me we should have just left, but the pictures from inside looked fantastic.

We decided to go and have lunch, accepting that the service was going to be impacted. We sat down with the menus we’d been handed and there was some nice sounding found on offer. We waited and waited to give our order, we finally ordered food and then had to ask the waiter to take our drink order as they didn’t bother. We then waited and waited and waited. Eventually some water turned up. We sat chatting and had drank most of the bottle of water when our drinks turned up. After another long wait and several trips to the bathroom, our food turned up.

I had ordered Venison cottage pie and my wife had order Chicken Club sandwich. The cottage pie was tasty to be fair, but had hardly any potato on top, which was disappointing, it also came with charred cabbage, which was really nice and added to the dish. The chicken club sandwich came on brioche bread, which completely took over the taste of the sandwich. This too was disappointing.

Eventually our plates were cleared and eventually we we asked if we wanted pudding. We had by this pointed accepted that our lunch outting was going to take much longer than expected, we were in for the long haul.

Our puddings of Chaux for my wife and sticky toffee pudding finally turned up….and they were fantastic, worth a wait but not as long as we’d had to wait.

If the pudding hadn’t of been so good, I would have given 1 star overall, especially given the cost plus there was a 12.5% service charge added, which TBH, I hadn’t noticed until after we’d left

I would suggest, if you are going to visit The Crown, go when there’s no wedding on and the car park is empty. My suggestion to The Crown (if they read this), don’t accept table reservations, as you can’t cope with the...

We had a table booked for eight of us as part of a stay away. The hotel next door (which this restaurant is part of) looked lovely and that was reflected in the cosy outdoor seating area.

The waitress who came to our table was very friendly and got things off to a good start. I did not have wine that evening but went for a local ale instead.

Starters were a bit of a mixed bag across the table: my duck liver parfait was satisfyingly rich, though not nearly enough brioche was served with it. Luckily the friend opposite me had opted for the 'ancient grain' sourdough (very generous portion) and she was happy to share. The scallops starter, priced at £12.95, was neatly presented, yet the paucity of the actual scallops on the plate was embarrassing.

The general feeling was that the mains were, for the most part, poor value. The 'ultimate' chicken and ham pie was a hit, but my fish pie was dry; they had either run out of the 'lobster and Cornish crab cream sauce' or it had been baked to oblivion in the oven. There was a good amount of fish in the pie but it didn't help that the waiters took over 10 minutes to bring the condiments and other accompaniments for our mains; I had to stop eating halfway through and had to ask again for this.

The pork belly is priced at £21.50 and, based on the actual amount of meat on my friend's plate, could well have been a starter. Waiters got side orders mixed up and we ended up with several servings of chips and a salad turned up right at the end of the meal.

The total per head came to around £50 a head, for two courses, drinks, and service; for that kind of price, I would expect better than meagre portions (with a few exceptions) and waiters who, although friendly, need a refresher course in a few basics. The restaurant was at less than half capacity and there was really no excuse for getting orders wrong or delays for simple requests.

It wasn't awful but I wouldn't go back or recommend. For now, I'd only ever mention The Crown again as example of a nicely located yet...