The Crown is found in the little town of Tettenhall in South Staffordshire. We took a trip over to this lovely corner of the countryside last Bank Holiday Monday to try out their new summer menu.
The Crown is actually part of the ‘Premium Country Pubs’ Group, which is an offshoot of Mitchell & Butler. If you look carefully, a lot of pubs are Mitchell & Butler, but the Premiun Country Dining Group is their ‘higher end.’ There are quite a few near to me in the Midlands including a couple I have reviewed on here, The Cock Inn for one.
I’d visited The Crown once before about 18months ago with a friend who lives in Shropshire but not since. When we arrived about 1230 the pub was relatively quiet with only a few tables in, but soon filled up and was positively heaving about an hour later. Our service throughout was very pleasant and efficient. Food arrived in a timely fashion, and was hot! Something you may take for granted but all too often is not quite the case!
Whilst looking at the menu some nibbles were brought to the table – parsnip crisps. These were incredibly moreish – just as out waitress promised. We then tucked into a plate of bread and olives. The bread was of good quality and the tangy flavoured butter served with it went very well.
There were some Chefs specials as well as the normal menu, but this time we stuck to the regular A La Carte. The drinks menu is extensive and includes both classic and non alcoholic cocktails as well as more unusual soft drinks and the standard beers and wines. Lee was pleased to see some interesting bottled beers and chose a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale while I chose a refreshing Elderflower Fizz. Later on I had a Bottlegreen Cox Sparkling Apple – a drink and a brand which I’m loving at the moment.
For my starter I chose the Crayfish & Crab pot bound in Devon crab mayonnaise & chives with toasted suprema bocata bread. This was one of the pricier starters at £7.95 so I was glad to see quite a few crayfish tails in it. I felt it could have done with a bit more seasoning, but with the addition of lemon juice form the accompanying wedge it was a very pleasant eat.
Lee chose a Bury black pudding potato cake with a poached free range egg and spinach & whisky hollandaise. He thought the potato cake itself was very flavoursome with good chunks of the black pudding. Unfortunately the poached egg was solid not runny and he couldn’t taste the whiskey coming through in the hollandaise sauce. Another good plate but lacking those little details that would have made it great.
Main courses were very successful. A perfectly executed medium rare Casterbridge 28 day aged rib-eye steak with twice-cooked chunky chips,crispy onions and wild rocket for Lee, he ordered some peppercorn sauce to go with this which he declared a triumph also. I had the Sticky Crispy Duck Salad tossed in plum, hoisin & sweet chilli sauce, mooli, cucumber & carrot ribbons and sesame seeds. I’ve eaten variations on this dish a few times now and it’s a go to for me on their menus. I like the freshness of them and the Asian flavours are something I love.
For dessert I chose a Salted Caramel Chocolate Pot with Creme Fraiche and Butter Biscuits. The chocolate was rich and velvety and quite bitter, so the sweet buttery biscuits worked well although I couldn’t taste the caramel very strongly. Lee had a Tarte Au Pommes with Vanilla Ice Cream, Vanilla and Apple Coulis. He really enjoyed this – thin, crispy, sweet and unctuous.
Overall we had a lovely lunch at The Crown. The venue itself is cosy and the food of good quality overall for a gastropub. Look out for the Crown if your in the area or check out Premium Country Pub near you.