Vilma Darling visits The Crown at Bray.
The village of Bray near Maidenhead (30 miles west of London) is world famous for hosting The Fat Duck and The Waterside Inn, two of the four three-Michelin-starred restaurants in the UK. Down the road in Littlefield Green, legendary broadcaster Sir Michael Parkinson owns the one-Michelin-star pub, The Royal Oak, so this tiny area in Berkshire has seven Michelin stars in total – more than Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and Sheffield combined.
But this review is not about one of the award winning restaurants, but about a local pub, that is one of the loveliest and unpretentious eating establishments I’ve visited in a long time. The Crown at Bray was bought by Heston Blumenthal earlier this year and he promised to preserve its intimate and local feel.
The celebrity chef owns another pub in the village called The Hinds Head and according to the food maestro himself, it has quickly become a culinary destination.
Culinary destination or not, our cosy lunch at The Crown was delicious. Like proper pub-goers we started our meal with pints of larger and tried not to bang our heads on the low-beamed ceilings when standing up (it is a 16th century inn after all).
I had potted duck and grilled bread with cornichons (£6.95) to start, which was a little bit too rich for my taste (and waistline) as the bread was heavily buttered. The potted duck was great, but probably should have been shared by at least two people.
The Brixham mussels in white wine sauce with garlic and parsley (£8.25) had an excellent broth, but could also have been shared with another person.
I decided to continue the ‘potted’ theme of my lunch and ordered lemon sole with potted shrimp, cucumber & dill (£17.50) for the main course while my companions unanimously went for baked suet, steak and ale pie with creamed potatoes (£14.50).
The lemon sole was fresh, juicy and rather large, and I particularly enjoyed the touch of dill, but I couldn’t finish the fish after my feast of potted duck. We didn’t have any desserts though were very tempted by the Eton Mess with bananas, lime and hazelnuts (£5.75).
Apart from the food, one of the best things about The Crown at Bray was the cosy atmosphere created by the beautiful furniture, open fires and incredibly friendly staff. There’s a fine line between being helpful and annoying, but our beautiful waitresses seemed genuinely lovely and happy.
We didn’t really feel like leaving The Crown at Bray at all and probably would have stayed there until supper, but we HAD to go for a walk and experience the joys of country living for at least one short weekend.
Website: www.thecrownatbray.com
Address: The Crown, High Street, Bray, Berkshire, SL6 2AH
You may also enjoy staying at The Olde Bell Hurley.
Vilma Darling, is a very nice addition to this fantastic blog, and it does make me want to go that pub :)) go girl!!!
Appalling.
This pleasant and quaint little pub has been totally striped of charector and charm by the pompous owner and his carefully selected team of arrogant, rude and truly awful staff.
A particular mention must go to the ginger “manager” (A.Carson) who was more interested in messing about with his phone and laughing at his own crude, crass and non-humorous jokes. He was abrasive and waved my wife away when she was going to enquire about the menu and truly seems on the most part a very poorly made choice by Heston to have this absolute waste of space personify his business.
I will strongly advise everyone that i can to give this place a very very wide berth unless the insufferable and obnoxious staffing issue is addressed.
PLEASE DO NOT GIVE THIS PUB YOUR TIME LET ALONE YOUR MONEY
Ian,
While I can’t comment about the service you received, I can whole heartedly agree with this reviewer that I received excellent service when I visited the pub – genuinely friendly, attentive and knowledgeable. Since your experience has obviously left a bitter taste, I would suggest discussing your comment with the management team and giving them a chance to rectify the situation. Hopefully your experience was a one-off.
Emyr
What a massive waste of potential the place is run by a rude and hideously ugly rusty prat – wont be going back.
Vilma, Did heston pay you to write this arse kissing article?
Ive been to the crown several times (hoping that it will improve) and its rubbish! overpriced,terrible value for for money and rubbish service. The Hinds head is even worse! These 2 pubs of hestons along with the fat duck are tourist destinations,very very few people in the area eat there regularly. My advise as a local resident: Dont bother!
Hi John,
it sounds like our experiences at The Crown have been vastly different! I can confirm that Heston had nothing to do with our visit and that we paid for everything ourselves. You are fortunate to have some great restaurants and pubs in your area – and such a beautiful part of the country too.
Many thanks,
Vilma