The Crown at Old Basing in Basingstoke and Deane

So, we booked a table at The Crown in Old Basing for my Mothers 80 something birthday. Wow! Anyhow, parking was a bit of a trial when some customers already drinking out the front decided to comment on our parking. Anyway, in we went only to be seated on a table near the toilets, the room stank of urine. We asked if we could sit elsewhere and the deputy manager (who looked a right mess with the copious amounts of tattoos and metal in his face) said that's where we decided to put you. Anyway, we looked around and found a table, but owing to the back chat we received we decided to walk out and find a much more pleasant place to eat - The Bolton Arms, a very nice place!! My advice - if you want rudeness from the existing customers and a disgusting smelling room, a deputy manager who looks a mess then The Crown is for you, otherwise STAY AWAY FROM THERE!! DISGUSTING PLACE, SMELL AND SERVICE!

This place is definitely not The Crown of Old Basing. We reserved in advance, were given a table in an area near the men's loos that stank of urine - nice. We asked to have another table, unsurprisingly there were plenty to choose from, and the owner said aggressively and with attitude 'yeah go where you want'. When one of us commented on his unpleasantness he said 'don't make it about me, I don't have to like you do I'. I've never come across such an excellent standard of customer service before! Needless to say, we left and went to another pub in Old Basing, The Bolton Arms, lovely, I can't recommend it highly enough, it is the exact opposite of The Crown!

A lovely quiet little pub in one of the most picturesque villages I've ever visited. A cosy atmosphere inside and a spacious beer garden out the back. Dog friendly with fresh water bowls supplied should you want to stop in with your pooch on a hot summer's walk. The staff were friendly and helpful, you'll be made to feel welcome here.

Diet coke and bacardi lemonade £8.50 p to dear

Quite expensive for what you get. Garden could do with some attention. Staff very friendly and service ok. Other places reasonably close msy be a better option.

Friendly welcome, great food, had roast dinner Sticky Toffee Pudding,

Beautiful place after a long dog walk cosy and friendly

Don’t recommend, bad quality drink and very unpleasant service

Most welcoming and friendly people and a joy to viisit

I used to frequent the Crown 47 years ago, and it certainly brought back memories. Still a great place to eat and drink.

I had 2 alcohol free beers, went there by car ☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️ Played darts in a great atmosphere, thank you!

Great local pub, food is delicious, and just the right portion size. They also opened outside of their usual hours for us in January for my mum's wake. Again, the buffet was great, the staff were respectful, and Ian and Nikki were really helpful particularly regarding my wheelchair bound uncle. I just need to get up there for one of their live music nights!

Great Sunday lunch and great value

Just had a drink on a Sunday evening at this community village Pub Nice enough welcome but underwhelming in terms of appearance and cleanliness 2 weeks later and out of the blue get a parking ticket charge for £100 Laughable - Sunday evening with 2 cars in the car park and a business thinks it’s right to penalise customers for not seeing signage and at a minimum should communicate it when entering the establishment or have ability to ‘read’ new customers when they haven’t been in before No real empathy from the ‘manager’ of the leased pub when I rang - and no surprise it’s a old Enterprise inns pub ensuring the lease holder is as unscrupulous as the pub company who owns the building to a family who invest very little to its upkeep Don’t bother going here - the tone and standard of service starts with the friendly car park policy which apparently is the only option open to the manager to run his business & live his life Pathetic

Don't visit here unless you want a nasty shock to go with your pint!

Visited the crown with the family , chose the roast chicken roast , it was a very good choice , everything was cooked to how I liked it . The service was very good ,

Beautiful pub in the heart of old basing, very friendly staff who offer great prices for both food and drinks.

This is now my favourite place to come for a Sunday roast, it's delicious and plenty of it for only £12, best roast in a pub in my opinion ad I've tried plenty. Ian the landlord is aways polite and very hard working, so I'm not sure where the negative comments come from in other reviews. He has really turned the pub around and it is always busy when we go. Thanks Ian & your hard working staff ...roast dinner, no carrots loads of gravy new regular Gina lol

Ian was a great host and the staff were awesome. We had a very good dinner and a couple pints. The local pub atmosphere was just what we were looking for. Very family friendly and a couple of cute dogs even enjoyed the evening. Ian even ordered us up a cab. Highly recommend the stop.

I love this pub. Not trying to be anything it’s not - it’s a village pub. Staff are great, ales are never anything other than perfect. Ian and Nikii are really welcoming and the pub grub menu is terrific. Loads of events, proper village hub. Tuesday night quiz is a right laugh too. Highly recommended.

Fantastic country pub, friendly staff and clientele , great atmosphere, attentive staff and great food. Caters for private events and has various sports televised.

Love our local. Always a great friendly atmosphere. Ian and Nicole make you feel so welcome. Food delicious and reasonably priced. Ian always happy to chat to the locals.

My wife and I have just moved to the area and in pursuit of a new local pub we have finally found the perfect venue!!! Not only are the staff so kind and attentive but make you feel warm and welcome instantly. Proper old school pub with football, pool and darts available! Food was homemade and fantastic we highly recommend. Historic building and beautiful area. Will certainly be back often. Thank you to Ian, Nicole and his wonderful staff for such a great experience

Well what can I say about this little pub…. Having lived in the village we normally went out out but this last New Years Eve we decided to stay local and celebrate with family at The Crown. I can’t believe we haven’t done this sooner. We had the most amazing time, the atmosphere was electric! The staff were amazing and the food was awesome! For a local village pub we couldn’t have wanted to celebrate anywhere else! It was homely, friendly and you felt like family the moment you walked in the door. I can’t wait to go back to our local again for some food and drinks. Their Sunday roasts are amazing and they cater for all dietary needs. Thankyou for making our New Years celebration perfect. See you all again real soon xx

Been here a few times times over the last couple of years. It's not nice. On my most recent visit, the toilets were vile, the walls were unclean with cobwebs, the bar was sticky, and it took the person behind the bar a few minutes to notice me as they were too glued to their phone sat on a chair!! I am too worried to try the food here but the menu looks quite nice. it is a shame as it has potential

Great pub ran by Ian and his friendly team. If you're looking for a traditional pub with Music, pool, darts decent beverages, nice garden and great pub grub then the Crown is definitely worth a visit.

Just popped in for a beer while out on a dog walk nice pint of ale and friendly service 👍

Excellent pub ran by the Excellent Ian and his team. Staff are incredibly friendly and the service is first class. This is a beautiful rustic pub that holds all the charm and character that suits its location. Beautiful well maintained 3 tier garden level to the rear and a heated patio on the front. Great choice of beers it's no wonder this place holds awards! Thanks team, Ledders!!

Menu offered smaller children’s meal at cheaper price. Asked if I could have it as restricted diet currently and waiter stated ok. Chef served me the ‘smaller’ meal which was tasty. However - The landlord charged me for large portion and stated that the smaller one should not have been offered ? The waiter had confirmed it was ok, it clearly offered it on the menus but landlord still charged for large ! His customer care was non existent and will 100% not enter the premises again (Second visit and issues both times) plus will suggest to family, friends and others to do the same ! Customer care and rights completely ignored !

Stunning food and great customer service

Ian and Nicole have made this pub the best it’s ever been , best atmosphere, great music , everyone is friendly , special offers, and they make you feel welcome no matter who you are

A friendly local. Limited menu.

I would love to be able to have this pub as my local, we only went to have a quick pint before we went for a walk around the Basingstoke Common nearby. Loads of dog, we were welcomed by locals, had nice chats with people and the barman was quick and gave us some local advice on good walking routes.

1st visit, will be back. Bar peep very attentive and likeable, customers polite and welcoming but the highlight was Arnold. What a little dude he is. Will score 4 for now as wanted food but will certainly pop back again.

We stopped here for our lunch date. The pub is a bit out dated and can do with a revamp but the food and service was fantastic, highly recommended. We will be visiting again

We called in here for lunch and a pint. Friendly welcome. Nice pint of Pride. We had minute steak baguettes which came with chips. All quickly served...hot and tasty. Will definitely return.

My daughter, partner and I stopped for one drink on our way home. Friendly and quick service. Great outdoor seating and dog friendly.

Spent an afternoon here with family visiting my Dad, Nicky was great behind the bar, Food tasty. Look forward to my next visit

A quiet village pub. Secluded garden to the rear and benches at the front which catch the evening summer sun.

I've been going to The Crown on & off for over 20 years and have witnessed multiple changes of management and service offerings in that time - including various attempts at turning this establishment into a restuarant and/or a gastropub. In my humble opinion Ian & Niiki should be congratulated for turning the pub back to what it always should have been - a Village Pub. Granted that there are no longer any "airs & graces" or pretence in trying to be anything it isn't but the atmosphere is welcoming & friendly thanks to the management & staff in spite of the challenges within the hospitality sector in the current climate.

The pub has been through a lot of hands over the years but Ian and his staff are so welcoming and do a great job. Would highly recommend.

We went for some lunch and the landlord snapped were not open at 11:55 despite opening at 12. We apologised for being early and said we’d wait outside but he was very rude to us. We’d clearly upset him some how and he was so rude we decided to leave.

The pub landlord was very rude and absolutely no customer service whatsoever. Everything seemed to be an inconvenience. Would not recommend.

Cervezas buenas. Pero la comida por lo que pagas, más o menos nomás. Poco. (Si eres chileno es como pagar 5 Lucas por un pan tostado con pebre no picante y una lámina de salame.) ojo, es mejor preguntar bien que es la comida.

Lovely friendly landlady who was trying her best to be welcoming & that was appreciated. The place needs to be done up if it wants to attract more business - decor & food were poor. Perhaps it gets by in providing a good drinking / pool venue in the evening. Not everywhere has to try to be a gastropub but this really is a drinkers only type pub.

Great beer and lovely hosts. Great friendly village pub. Love it. Great bar staff too. Dog friendly. Just go and see for yourself.

Located in the village of Old Basing, a traditional country pub with a selection of reasonably priced beers and food.

Visited on Saturday night, definitely not the place to go for a quiet pint. Other opinions are available, we're all different and most others appeared to be enjoying themselves not being able to hear themselves think. If you like that, and obviously people do, it's great - not my sort of place though, I was born old! Good beer though so probably early on or lunchtime it'd be fine.

Had a lovely Sunday roast very well priced and great service.

Lovely cosy pub. Staff were friendly. The roast was really nice and appreciated own gravy boat on the plate. Also the apple crumble was good too.

No character, customer asleep in one area of the bar. Shame really, used to be such an enjoyable place to come.

We used to come to the crown all the time, was excellent with the best food in old Basing. Then we noticed when it changed hands that the food was a lot worse so we didn’t come back for a while. We decided to come...

My partner and I came here and was found a table quickly we both had a lovely roast lamb dinner each and my partner had 2 pints of Guinness which he said was good, the meal was lovely and plenty of it for £16 a...

Food and staff ok untill I was asked to move my car, 45 after being seated. Dinner was taken to the kitchen to keep warm No reason, no apology, when this was mentioned, no acknowledgement, just asked if we needed more knappkines. Think the locals complained, I have a disabled daughter.Will not be visiting again.

Proper pub. Not a restaurant pretending to be a pub. Good beer choice available, pool and darts, friendly locals. Will visit again.

Decent food, good prices, easy parking, old fashioned local pub.

Very warm welcome from Ian and the team, we have visited several times since the change of management and it just gets better. Meal was perfect, red hot and good portions. We will be back.

Very friendly and welcoming pub. Highly recommend.

Traditional pub.cask ales guest changed weekly.friendly owners

Good honest pub grub, good selection of beers and good atmosphere for a few drinks. New landlords are very welcoming.

Lovely little pub that caters for all, friendly staff, great food and overall an enjoyable experience. Large outdoor area for those summer moments. Great pool table indoors with darts as a added bonus. Always come back!

Lovely little fine, good food brilliant staff, we will be back

Very friendly staff and atmosphere

On our travels hungry, googled to find a pub this one seemed good enough Lovely pub filled with locals and lovely surroundings Food was well erm just adequate really sorry to say they ran out beef and lamb or did by time we had last...

Visited here this afternoon for Sunday roast. Just like to say a previous review mentions my husband's name, but I know he hasn't typed it, because we had a fantastic meal. Full plate of vegetables, gammon, Yorkshire pud, jug of gravey. All hot. Staff were...

We had been wanting to try this one for a while ,glad we did ! Although not an extensive menu,the food we had was delightful and great portions too.The customer service certainly fabulous too Will be back !

Came down for a surprise visit to see the owners, Nic and Ian who are cousin and cousin-in-law, and what a lovely pub! Wonderful atmosphere with very welcoming locals, live soul & blues music which was brilliant. Lovely selection of drinks, especially the gins 😍...

Myself, my two sisters and my cousin came to the crown to visit Nicole & Ian - who are family- we had a great night , fab band were playing, lovely staff members and we were made to few very welcome. Drinks are very reasonably...

Disgusting attitude from management Ian, Owner at The Crown at Old Basing, responded to this review 13 Nov 2022 How many choices of meat do you want? 3 is plenty surely! No we don’t offer starters on Sundays as we are not a restaurant we are a simple village pub. Dessert wise it all depends on how busy we have been before each Sunday as lately we do run out of food very quickly. The coffee machine was unfortunately out of order due to a technical fault but had since been fixed. My staff are always very attentive to all customers and I find your comments very unfair and we always get great feedback regarding the atmosphere. If the pub itself is quiet and no customers in then yes the atmosphere won’t be there so unless you expect us to have music blaring out or the staff to do some dancing for you then I’m not really sure what else we can do. Maybe a high profile restaurant with a nightclub attached to it would be more your style. Thank you for your custom anyway. The above is the most arrogant response I have ever heard to a bad review. Having worked in the hospitality industry for over 20 years I can certainly attest that the customer is not always right but to have a public argument over a reviewing platform does not make good business sense. This establishment does have an extremely limited menu now and does not live up to its predecessor, my advice to the owners;buck up your idea and take constructive criticism and build on your business model.

Decided to try this pub for Sunday lunch due to good reviews. However, we were very disappointed. We actually wondered if we were in the same pub! Food poor quality, only 3 choices, no starters, no desserts and no coffee!! Staff not bothered. No atmosphere....

Food was amazing, the atmosphere was great, the staff were friendly

Amazing food, amazing atmosphere been the best place since leaving Australia to eat, it’s refreshing to see that animals are welcome, the staff there make you feel as though your family they take pride in what they serve you

Great homely feel to the pub, new guys are super friendly and welcoming. I’ve always had a soft spot for the Crown, it’s a cute quaint chocolate box pub, sure to some it needs a refurb inside…but to most the atmosphere beer and food are...

Lovely little pub! We visited after having a long country walk, staff were welcoming and a great choice of food and drinks!

By far the best bar in this town. We had a great time. Food delicious and a great selection of drinks. I think I’ll be making this my regular haunt. Thank you to the staff for a great evening. We loved it!!

Very nice place to take the family and eat. Chef has skills.

Great atmosphere, wonderful food. Landlord and Landlady have really turned the place around. You can see why it has won TripAdvisor Pub of the Year. Highly recommended.

Went to this pub recently for an open mic night and had an amazing time seeing different acts performing. Pints of Guinness were fantastic and the food impeccable. The landlord and bar staff were all very friendly and very helpful when a friend had a...

I came to visit nikii and Ian and Congratulate them on the success on there move to the pub and there doing a fab job . 👌 clean, welcoming , friendly staff, dogs welcome and the Sunday roast was yummy 😋 . I would definitely...

Had a great time at the open mic night on Friday, some awesome local talent on display. The pub was warm and welcoming and the team behind the bar couldn't have been nicer. Can't wait to come back!

Living in the old basing area myself and my partner recently got married and as part of our family tradition the groom would have a pint or 2 down the crown pub before hand. Due to our early wedding the pub wouldn’t normally be open,...

Have popped down The Crown in Old Basing a few times recently and it’s worth visiting if you like a proper village pub, serving old school food favourites. The food itself is tasty, in good sized portions, and reasonable in price - would recommend the...

Went to the crown under a friend's advice and what a place great food great barman(think his name was Ian) food was great atmosphere was great walk in feels like walking into Ur family home ,staff are friendly and welcoming will definitely be going back...

Friendly staff, very attentive, enjoyed 2 meals this month, both really nice 😊 Good vibe. Typical country pub decor. Super dog friendly

The team at The Crown were great hosts for our private function party. They went above and beyond to give us a great experience, answered our many questions before they day and made sure we had everything we needed. Drinks are reasonably priced and the...

Hideous - the whole place needs a makeover , it was musty and stale, the carpets looked like something from the 70’s Food was awful , overpriced and clearly no idea how to cook fish Don’t waste your time or money , much better places...

Really excellent lunch, OK, it's not Cordon Bleu but it is great pub grub and plenty of it, my wife struggled to finish her small plate. Certainly, the best value for money in this part of Hampshire and I must say the veg was 'au...

Went for Sunday lunch with friends and kids. Food was appalling. Had the 'roast beef' , it was smaller than a kids portion. 1 potato cut into 4 and a tiny soggy yorkshire. Dry microwaved beef and some raw cabbage (the only veg offered) with...

Had an OK Sunday lunch...Veggie pie was a bit mushy and Yorkies were small but it all tasted nice..although pie was full of peppers which are not my fav, not their fault though :)

Booked a table for 6. Never been before and wouldn’t come back. It seemed understaffed to the point where we felt we were just getting in the way. We got sat at a table in an empty room with a pool table. No cutlery or...

As soon as we walked in the barman was stressed out with the pub being too busy ( about 10 people ) we sat down, no table service, ordered drinks and they were just left on the bar!! Nachos Tasted like butter and the chicken...

Lovely pub, friendly atmosphere, brilliant service and even a biscuit for the dog 🙂 (plus a garden for the sunshine!) and quiz nights on Monday

Sadly can't say what I would like as the food was not great. Beef chewy. Also did a pre order. Then told sold out of what was ordered. Overal don't think will return.

Had our work party in a totally separate part of this pub last night, FIRST CLASS !! Brilliant bar staff who managed to cope with all our colleagues and a very accommodating Landlord who left us to get on with it (hope we managed to...

Popped in with my daughter. Locals & bar staff very friendly. I had the fish pie which was amazing & she had the pork chop which was also fantastic. Definitely be back.

Popped in for a snack and a couple of pints and had the hummus with flatbread and curried chicken skewers - incredible food and good beer selection. Would recommend The Crown.

The service was very good, and the Sunday roast was excellent, well worth a visit.

absolutely a great pub with awesome new owners and chef. everyone is fun and so lovely! doesn't matter on the occasion, no matter what these guys will be able to make it happen and so special!

New landlord ian has made a great effort to get this pub back where it should be

The place is particular, with billiards attached, friendly manager, honest prices