The Crown Inn — Restaurant in Horsham

Summary: • We booked weeks in advance for a family birthday dinner.

• Despite arriving early, our kids waited nearly 2 hours for food which the waitress took away and binned as soon as she put it on the table for them.

• Other tables were served multiple courses while we were ignored and ultimately never served food.

• A staff member shockingly took away and binned the kids’ meals out of spite.

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We visited The Crown Inn in Storrington on a hot Thursday evening to celebrate my mother’s birthday. We were a party of 8 (6 adults and two children aged 5 and 6) and had booked weeks in advance, requesting a 6:15pm table so the kids wouldn’t be eating too late. The pub opened at 5.30 pm, and we were one of the first groups to arrive.

As soon as we ordered food and drinks, we politely asked that the kids’ meals be brought out as soon as they’re ready. Our drinks and starters came without issue, and the kids enjoyed playing outside in the large garden while we waited. It was a lovely summer evening, and we stayed relaxed and patient, especially knowing that we were a large group.

By the time we’d finished our starters and were halfway through a second round of drinks, no mains had arrived—neither for the kids nor the adults. By now, other tables who arrived well after us were finishing their mains and even enjoying desserts. We were confused but still gave them the benefit of the doubt.

At 7:30pm, over an hour after we ordered, I quietly asked the same member of staff who took our order if he could check what was going on. He was apologetic and said he remembered putting the kids’ meals through “as soon as,” just like we requested. Then, a short-haired blonde lady came over, and things took a turn.

Instead of offering an update or apology, she repeatedly asked - loudly and rudely-“What do you want me to do?!” I explained I just wanted the kids to eat, since it had been well over an hour and they were now the only ones in the whole pub without food. She asked the same question five times in a confrontational tone before storming off, leaving us all stunned-including another staff member behind the bar, who exchanged equally shocked looks with me.

A few minutes later, she returned with the kids’ meals. Just as she put them down, I said, “Well, it’s about time - after 1.5 hours.” That seemed to set her off again. She picked the meals back up, took them into the kitchen, and threw them in the bin. No exaggeration - she binned the food in front of the children because I made a comment about the wait.

She then shouted that she would not be serving any more food to our table and told us to leave.

At that point, I was only thinking of my daughters. I told the staff I didn’t want any trouble - we’d just pay for what we’d had and go. To be fair, they only charged us for drinks, refusing payment for the starters and the kids’ binned meals.

As we were gathering our things to leave, she continued shouting at us across the pub, rushing us out by repeatedly yelling “Just leave! Just leave!!” - over and over. It wasn’t just directed at me; my whole family, including the children, were being ushered out as though we had done something wrong. She kept saying she had “other tables to serve” and made it very clear she wanted us gone immediately. It was loud, aggressive, and completely unnecessary. Other guests turned to look, visibly uncomfortable, and even some staff members appeared embarrassed by her outburst. It was a shocking end to what should’ve been a lovely family birthday dinner- and a moment I’ll never forget for all the wrong reasons.

But the most upsetting part? Watching a grown adult take away and throw out food in front of two little girls just because she was upset. You can take food away from me - I’m not bothered. But doing that to kids, especially after nearly two hours of waiting, is heartless and unacceptable. She should not be working in hospitality.

We were calm, patient, and booked in advance with good intentions. What happened was deeply disappointing and ruined a special evening...

Okay to start the pub is lovely. Girl in service was very nice & dishes arrived very quickly. It could have been awesome BUT to be honest food was just terrible. She asked how food was and wanted to say but really didn’t want her to leave shift on bad note she was going home. Where to start… We arrived 3:30ish (had reservation) so appreciate it was later in the day. Roast was awful, potatoes warm, soft with a reheated old taste. Parsnips too hard to eat, chicken was TINY and dry, no extra gravy (very thin soaked into everything), Yorkshire pudding both over done yet cold and tough and despite paying £15 for biggest plate it wasn’t very much at all. It felt like it sat all day and was heated in microwave hence the very fast service. Even the kids dishes were very small. My wife never complains but even she was dismayed. I thought okay dessert will be the redeemer but NO! The pavlova I left in a mushy mess on plate (my favourite thing ever) as it had a strong metallic taste that over powered and we think it was almond essence or something used to make cream (!?) but thought initially it was alcohol. I joked about it at the time but made me feel sick. It was a bit surreal and other than two friends ploughman’s everything was quite poor. Even daughters dairy free ice cream was icy and melted immediately due to it being a warm day. The lovely girl put some strawberry sauce on it to make it more acceptable but it came back like milk. Dinner was very expensive but totally underwhelming and that’s such a shame as it was a lovely location and building. Sadly we will give it a miss next time. I rated two overall as staff friendly and food arrived very quickly but food was very poor and not sure if we came on a bad...

We had an awful experience here. Pub looked lovely and we wanted a light snack so ordered the nachos to share (£9.50) and a bowl of cheesy chips. When the waitress brought the food, we couldn't believe the size of the portion of nachos for two people to share. The waitress confirmed it was the sharing portion and I informed her I didn't think it was adequate for two. The chips were also greasy and over cooked. When the waiter cleared the plates. He asked us if we'd finished. I told him it didn't take long to eat such a measly portion. I also told him the food was disgusting. The chef then came out and instead of coming over to our table was discussing what was wrong from some distance away. We explained the nachos tortilla was chewy. He disappeared and came back with a plain crunchy tortilla that he snapped in half. We told him with the cheese on top of it made it chewy and difficult to eat. They were also over cooked.I told him that I think he should try his own food. I understand that pubs need to make a profit, however I expect that food should be cooked to a far better standard and be better value than what...