The Crown at Bathford — Restaurant in England

A Disgrace to Its Former Reputation – Avoid at All Costs

Having visited The Crown many times over the years, I was genuinely shocked by the appalling experience on Sunday, 3rd August 2025. What was once a warm, high-quality dining spot under Vanessa’s ownership has clearly fallen into a state of neglect, both in the kitchen and front of house.

The so-called “roast” was a pitiful excuse for a Sunday lunch: a pale, lazily cleaved half roast chicken — no seasoning, no crisp skin, no care — dumped next to a sad handful of soggy, undercooked microwave vegetables swimming in their own watery runoff. No proper sides, no attention to flavour or presentation, and certainly no justification for the inflated price tag. It felt like a meal slapped together in five minutes with supermarket basics, then marked up to restaurant prices without a shred of shame.

Worse still was the staff’s complete indifference. When asked how the food was, we gave honest but polite feedback — only to be met with blank stares and disinterest. Not an apology, not an offer to rectify the issue — just a shrug and a quick retreat. It was clear no one cared, least of all about maintaining the standards that once made this place worth visiting.

I can’t imagine that the former owner, Vanessa, would tolerate this level of sloppiness for even a moment. The soul of The Crown has been gutted, replaced by what feels like a cash-grab with zero concern for quality, hospitality, or reputation.

We won’t be returning, and we will no longer be recommending The Crown to anyone — quite the opposite. There are far better places that understand what a proper Sunday roast should be — and how to treat customers with...

Never met such a rude owner and £5,50 for a pint of lager After being stuck on motorway for 8 hours with nothing to eat we arrived at pub on holiday at 9.30 the lovely young blonde lady behind bar said the kitchen shut but there was a burger van round corner and she would make exception and let us sit outside to eat it. At 10.15 with noone else outside we were eating our burger and this woman came and literally snatched our drinks away and just walked off I told her to bring them back she said you don't eat that here and after a few minutes of her shouting and swearing and putting her face down across table in a threatening manner we got our drinks back when I took the emptys back in I said sorry to the lovely young blonde lady if we had got her in trouble and she said very sorry to us we are here for a week but will certainly not be going back unbelievable behaviour never met anybody so rude...

We had a beefburger and vegetarian burger here last night at £14.50 and £13.50 respectively. We also had some drinks. The beer was good and the drink prices were normal. The burgers themselves were OK but the chips were awful, the worst chips I had ever eaten as I told the waiter. They started life as thin chips and it looked like they had been refried from earlier in the day. They were brown, hard, brittle and not really that edible. We ate the burgers and some chips, but abandoned the rest. I asked for a bill adjustment which they did without question, which was telling. The fact that they served them up, expect around £30 for the two meals, and thought that was OK spoke volumes to me, especially when the burgers were marginally better than McDonald's, and the chip were much worse. McDonald's prices would have been a third of what was asked. We won't...