Yes it was my birthday weekend, so I could break all the rules I wished which included drinking red wine for breakfast but more pertinently, revisit an establishment that I had already reviewed.
It being my birthday I had decided to invite my friends to come for a roast at the 2014 RDAR winner – The Crown, in Playhatch. There has to be a good reason to revisit a venue, under new management for example, or a new chef being in place (The Lyndhurst is back on my to-do list), but in this case I just wanted to go back to my favourite, take as many friends as possible and hope it is still as good as last year.
The Crown is a very popular venue and one I had to book 2 weeks in advance for a sizable group of us. They have two sittings – one at midday and one at 3pm
I packed a very healthy-sized dinner for just £13.00. A carvery choice that included turkey, gammon, lamb, pork and beef – I had the latter three. I don’t think I could have put any more on my plate – and I held the queue up whilst I poured more and more and more gravy on – though this time I didn’t leave a gravy trail like I did the other week at a venue in Northamptonshire (there was no protesting that it was nothing to do with me – the trail led all the way onto my table – it was their fault for serving such small plates).
The choices of vegetables were red cabbage, carrots and broccoli-cheese. I just had the broccoli as it smelt gorgeous, and tasted so too. The cheese was just the right amount, more than a hint and mixed in a creamy fashion with the gravy. The broccoli was a tad on the crunchy side but a very healthy vegetable.
I know I should have had all 3 vegetables for the review but my birthday, my rules.
The roast potatoes were a decent effort. Not really any crispiness on the edges but still soft inside. If anywhere can do really good roast potatoes this year then they may take the crown off…The Crown.
Yeah I know.
The Yorkshire Puddings were excellent. There were some flatter offerings but mine had sturdy edges and soft bottoms like they should – I only went for two. There were little bits of crackling too which were very tasty and not too crunchy.
All of the meats were good. The beef was a little red on the inside, which is perfect. The pork was good. The lamb in particular was very nice. It is always nice to see large lumps of meat and the portion-sizes were generous.
And most importantly, the gravy. It had an excellent consistency (I would make it thicker myself but it probably wouldn’t appeal to the average southerner), it was made with a meat stock and was quite a strong taste. In fact possibly a touch too strong as I did get a little tired of it towards the end of my very large meal.
Sunday was a success. Several people told me it was the best roast they have eaten in a while. Everyone was impressed and it remains my favourite roast dinner.
My rating is an 8.7 which is almost the same as last year.
It remains top of the roast dinner league. However I have a feeling that somewhere will beat it, somewhere will take the crown off The Crown. A ha ha ha ha ha ha.
It wasn’t funny the first time was it?
If you appreciate my reviews, please do like, share and invite your friends to my page. Call it my birthday present, if you wish!
No comments:
Post a Comment