The Crown Inn — Restaurant in Milton Keynes

Very disappointing. Popped in on New Year's Day for a quick drink. We were here for the Vintage Car show but were also excited to see it was the pub featured in Withnail and I. We were greeted by a sour barmaid and served drinks in plastic containers (despite us insisting we were staying inside and asked if we could please have a glass instead - partly because we hate drinking out of plastic but mostly we should surely be considering the environment!). We were abruptly told no, despite there being hundreds of glasses behind the bar. We were made to feel unwelcome and unwanted. My mum asked for a tea because it was freezing and was given a paper cup of tea with the bag in and a second with milk in. No sugar, and no spoon to retrieve the bag so she had to pick it out with her fingers. Despite it only being 1pm, they weren't serving any food and the food they had served had been in disposable polystyrene containers. We quickly drank up. It was a shame - it was our first time to Stony Stratford and though I know it was New Year's Day and they were probably not doing their regular service, they must anticipate that for some of us, this is a bad first impression. I used the toilet before I went. In the ladies there were no mirrors at all and no soap. The gents were out of order. There seem to be plenty of other nice pubs in this lovely little town so I would avoid this one if you can. All of this would have been solved if the staff had at least been friendly! They just ignored us and were very unfriendly. In contrast, we went up the road to a Harvester (not expecting much but by this time hungry) and had very friendly staff and a warm welcome. We were even wished a Happy New Year. The Crown should take note...it doesn't cost anything to be nice, especially when you're taking...

Booked a table for 6 people for a celebratory meal with friends on a Saturday evening. The main restaurant area was empty but we were shown to a side room which was cold (radiator turned off) and seated at a round table which could easily seat 10 people. Cosy and warm it was not ( 2 friends kept their coats on for the entire meal). I assumed the other tables in the restaurant were reserved otherwise I would have asked to move but it turned out we were the only diners the entire evening. Looking at the menu we decided to skip starters and for mains there were 2 orders for fish, 2 for chicken and 2 for steak pie. We were told on ordering that although the chicken came with cole slaw there was no cole slaw. I half-jokingly pointed out that there was a Tesco’s store about 200 metres away. The waiter returned to say that there was no fish and only 1 steak pie available. I asked to speak to the manager and was told there was no manager. I asked to speak to whoever was in charge and was told no-one was in charge. We should have left at this point but the hassle of finding another table for 6 at another restaurant on a Saturday night dissuaded us from doing to this. So 3 of us ordered a second choice. To be fair, when the food arrived it was nicely cooked and chef had actually made 2 portions of cole slaw. Except when one of us who had changed from the fish to a burger asked for cole slaw as well she was given an empty bowl and told to take some from the other plates. Not surprisingly we decided to skip desserts and coffee. The bill was £154. I was embarrassed at having taken friends to such a place when here are so many much nicer restaurants in Stony. Next month a pub in Stony is putting on a Fawlty Towers dinner. I think we may have been the dress...

Really tried with this pub as I love the atmosphere (more spacious than most with nice seating arrangements). I went in on a Wednesday for supper and told that the kitchen wasn't open. I asked if this was every Wednesday and the bartender didn't know. I then went in on the Sunday of the same week. A woman was using Facetime on her iPhone at the bar without earphones with the speaker at maximum. I ordered and sat as far from the bar as I could as I had a book. Except in that corner a staff member (assuming, as she went behind the bar twice) was yelling from one corner of the pub to the bar to talk to people. She thought she was particularly funny. I don't recall anyone laughing. The free wi-fi did not work as after obtaining the password a BT page popped up saying that the account was suspended for non-payment. I then went to order food half an hour before the kitchen closed. One bartender handed me a menu and was about to punch in my order for pasta when another arrived and said "no, the chef said roasts only". I asked if there were any other options and they didn't know. The confusion made me dismiss any hope for food. As they poured my a second pint someone came up, who arrived at the pub after me, after me and ordered a burger. I questioned this and was told that this table was allowed to order additional things. This second bartender looked distraught and uncomfortable and I let it go at that, mostly because I sensed I'd not get a straight answer. In a small town with 9 pubs, I wish them all of the success that...