Food - The Crown Inn

After the rise of the gastro-pub phenomenon, it’s hard to find a pub that keeps things simple. ‘No frills’ style. But that’s exactly what you get when you enter the murky, smoky interior of the Crown Inn. Which is another thing on the brink of extinction - smoking in places where food is being served. I’m the sort of part-time smoker who usually pretends to have successfully quit, when actually I’ve just stopped buying cigarettes and now (rather hypocritically) rely on the generosity of others. Today I’m not sure I can face the reminder of last night’s lapses so I scout round the back of the pub where I’m sure I’ve seen a non-smoking dining room. Actually it’s a sort of conservatory, quite charming but a little cold. And empty. Eventually we choose atmosphere over my dubious sensibilities and settle ourselves down in the main bar alongside a bunch of what look like regulars. The menu is straight to the point. ‘Chicken and mushroom pie and chips’, ‘All-day breakfast’ and ‘Scampi and chips’. I go for the latter. It’s a dish I normally associate with Fridays so it being only Thursday it gives me that pleasantly rebellious feeling that I’m starting my weekend early.
The food comes promptly. Good solid stuff, scampi crisp, plenty of chips, peas perhaps a little undone. I feel a pang of guilt though when the sauces come in lots of little packages. They’re a pain to open as much as anything else and the waste element seems to belong to a pre-environmentally-aware age. Maybe a little modernisation wouldn’t be out of the question. Leave the food as it is though. ER