11:54am Thursday 17th December 2009
By Jaine Blackman
WITH - fingers crossed - an imminent house move coming up, my children and I decided to make the most of one of our local pub restaurants while it was still in walking distance.
It was to a certain extent forced upon us, as that morning I’d sold my range cooker. It’s heading off to the west coast of Ireland to cook Christmas lunch for a charming Swindon family who have built a house there and I was so pleased it was going to a good home - you’d have thought it was the family pet!
Anyway, missing my stove (or Stovey, as I liked to call him) we headed for The Crown on Ermin Street.
If you can’t cook your own Sunday lunch, this is where you can get one that someone else has prepared from fresh.
The Crown, an Arkells’ pub with a traditional, comfortable atmosphere and décor, prides itself on its home-cooked meals, right down to the desserts.
It’s reasonable too - £6.95 for one course, £8.95 for two (with children‘s portions at £4.95 and £6.95 respectively).
For the two-course deal you get a main and either a starter or dessert.
My daughter Virginia and I went for a starter and both enjoyed the minestrone soup of the day. As well as the roasts on the specials board, a printed menu offered a range of other dishes including chilli, curry, pasta and vegetarian options, which were also available as part of the deal. While Virginia went for the trio of sausages, with onion gravy on mash, her brother Tom stayed traditional with roast beef and I went for the lamb.
The roasts came with carrots, broccoli, cabbage and a Yorkshire pudding. There were only two roast potatoes apiece (mine were hard on the outside, rather than crispy) but they were supplemented by some decent mash.
It was a nice meal, good but nothing outstanding . . . until Tom’s dessert arrived.
The home-made lemon cheesecake looked so good, I couldn’t resist ordering one myself (I’d have been happy with a taste of his, but try getting a 14-year-old boy to share).
In the end I was glad he didn’t. The thick biscuit base was topped by a light, fluffy lemon cheese mixture which was absolutely delicious and I polished off the lot.
I’m not usually a pudding person but that’s the course I’d chose if I were eating at The Crown again.
It’s probably just as well we’re moving!
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