Crown — Restaurant in England

I reserved a table for two, for 17:15 at 16:45. There was very little parking available, but I found street parking in time to arrive just before 17:15. There was nobody at the dining room waiting to welcome guests, so I went to the bar and asked a barman, who I could see was rushed off his feet, who could show us to our table. He said the restaurant was fully booked. I showed him the email confirmation of my booking. He said they had no record of that and the only table we could have was in the somewhat irritatingly noisy bar area, next to the slot machine. We had spent ages trying to find somewhere that my coeliac wife could eat, so we were kind of grateful to be offered a seat at all. Before we booked the table we called the pub to check the gluten free menu, because we didn't trust the online allergen filter when it said there were gluten free tarts and crumbles available. The lady very helpfully confirmed what was on the gluten free menu. When we arrived, and were given our table, my wife was given the separate gluten free menu.It would have been really helpful if the website had indicated there was a separate gluten free menu, and if there was a link to it. It would be helpful too if we could order from the table like everyone else, not least because there was 10% off the drinks that way! There was a good selection of gluten free and other food. It was good old fashioned pub grub, not in any way pretentious, and everything we had was delicious.

One other thing to be aware of is that while sat waiting for our food there was a group of people who seemed to be locals from the banter they were having with the bar staff. One of these customers was occasionally vaping at their table. I felt too outnumbered to draw this to the attention of the staff, who also seemed to have enough to deal...

This pub needs a lot of improvement. The cleaning standards are very poor, the condiments on the table are disgusting, the baskets used are rusty so transfers on to the items, congealed sauces with no labels on, dirty menus. The toilets have build up of grime in corners and extremely sticky floors. Our starter was ok, pulled pork nachos but only lukewarm. The main was massive, chicken and rib combo, the wings were very dray and ribs again barely warm. As for the corn I asked for butter and put it on to discover it didn't melt so I picked the corn up to feel it was actually freezing cold, not even been heated, possibly straight out the fridge. We didn't expect much with it being such a standard brewery but we did expect the food to be of some sort of standard. This could be such a lovely locals pub and somehow it has 5* FSA rating. I'd be scared for my career if I was running this place. Some standards even low ones would really boost here. Just higher a cleaner and train the staff well would be helpful. We didn't bother complaining as we heard another couple do it so we just left quietly but we will definitely not be eating here again. The place needs a big push from the manager. The toilet was my husbands friend last night! I just hope that some notice is taken from this feedback and the team get some help...

Despite booking a table for 10 people for a 7-00pm sitting, we were not seated at our table until 8-00pm. Another group of people booked the table after us but booked it for 5-00pm . they apparently arrived 30 minutes late and despite finishing their meal didn't vacate the table until 8-00pm finishing their drinks at the table rather than in the lounge, thereby allowing the staff to set up the table for our sitting. It should have been made clear to the 5-00pm group that the table was pre-booked for 7-00pm and that they should vacate by that time. Due to this very poor service and exceedingly wait to get seated, 2 of our party decided NOT to wait any longer. Due to this overbooking you lost an order for possible starters and desserts and we only ordered our mains, paid the bill and left. The manager offered our meal at 50% off as we had a 30% voucher and offered a free round of drinks with our meal. We paid our bill and left very disappointed. There was NO urgency by the management to expedite the situation and only a last minute apology for the wait was forth coming. Definitely very poor substandard service. We will NOT be using your...