As you get older and marriage and fatherhood is bestowed open you it can get harder to catch up with your mates. Big Matt, Villa Steve and myself had been trying to nail down a date for a night out without much sucess. Villa Steve lives out by Virginia Water and travels a lot with work, Big Matt has a 6 week old baby and I'm conscious that Baby G can be a bit of a tinker when it comes to bedtime. However Big Matt suggested we broaden the meet up to include wives, girlfriends and children and go for a big family weekend lunch. Steve picked the Rose & Crown in Egham so off we we went for a late lunch on Sunday.
Egham is a very pleasant part of the world, you feel you are out of London without being that far away. The "Rose and Crown" itself was not far from the M25 but it is set in it's own grounds and back from the road so it has a nice country feel. It was quietening down when we went in at half two but they found us a nice table with plenty of room for babies and buggies. It was possibly a little quieter than Baby G is used to so he woke up and once fed he was very curious indeed about the surroundings. There was a children's play area outside which kept little George occupied between courses. The staff were very friendly and helpfull, they sorted me out some hot water for baby G's bottle and were happy to give us time to order.
Steve has raved for ages about how good the ribs are at the "Rose and Crown" so naturally I gave them a go. He wasn't exagerating, they were excellent, properly slow braised, the meat just fell off the bone. Better than some of the recent offerings I have had from "Bodeans". The portion was huge with a side of chips. My lovely wife had a very generous serving of scampi and chips which she enjoyed. This wasn't fine dining or gastro but really good pub food. The kitchen obviously had talent. For dessert I had to go Banoffe which was good but I wish I had gone for the homemade bakewell tart to see what else the kitchen could offer up. A lot of pub restaurants are let down by their drinks however not here I washed down lunch with a perfect pint of London Pride.
I was really pleased we tried here for lunch as it was the best country pub I had been to for a long time. I find a lot of places go too gastro and it all gets a bit ellaborate and expensive. The "Rose & Crown" serves good hearty food at a reasonable price in very friendly surroundings. It isn't pretending to be something it isn't. It also catered for children without compromising on the fact it is a pub for grown ups. I can't wait to go back soon, who knows we may even be able to sort out a boys daytime outing here...well you have to dream!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
