The Crown in Colchester

Quality, great tasting food for a decent price!

Lovely service by Bella and the roast was amazing!

The dinner was not great, my lamb was OK, but the beef and turkey was very dry and the baked apple must of just been taken out three fridge and put straight on the plate as was FREEZING! The service was extremely slow and it took 40 minutes from ordering our desserts to getting them. And then they were not nice. My daughters ice cream was very melted, my white chocolate bomb had melted ice cream in it but barely any chocolate mousse, it was basically an empty spherical ball of air! I made a complaint and the staff took the desserts off the bill, but this was not really sufficient for our experience. With this experience I would not recommend to anyone else.

Drinks were delicious, my husband ordered a custom cocktail which wasn’t on the menu and it was no problem for them at all, food was absolutely divine, highly recommend the sea bass & lamb shank. Service was excellent, Bella was so attentive, smiling & happy, lovely waitress, made our evening very lovely. 10/10 all round, will definitely be returning!

Very pleasant with varied menu served by helpful and pleasant staff..also very good at being diplomatic as my reservation had been increased as a special surprise. Well done thank you !

Fantastic food, great atmosphere!

My friend and I ate at the Crown on 22nd October lunch time. menu was perfect my friend is a vegan/plant based. Our server was Megan what a lovely young lady nothing was to much trouble. The log fireplace was warm and cosy. Hopefully will be back soon.

The service is really poor and it's an unpleasant atmosphere.

Food was pretty good but the service was outstanding. Thanks especially to Anny for the friendly service.

Do ya REG on the way in🤝 Good food, staff were polite and friendly, wasn't too badly priced either

Poor experience. Used to visit here regularly, always loved their signature burger but after last nights visit we were bitterly disappointed. We turned up at 7.45pm, they were not that busy, ignored us to begin with, eventually served and decided to sit in the bar-area. Alongside my usual burger wife had the steak pie, ordered at the bar and within 3 minutes the server literally ‘dropped off’ the food… Just about managed to stop her scurrying off with a polite request for some condiments, I tried a fry it was stone cold and the rest of our food tepid at best. Explaining this to the server, she offered to get it ‘redone’ disappearing again to the kitchen within a few minutes reappeared with the same food that had been stuck through some kind of heating process…roll was now soggy on the burger and my wife’s pie still had the knife mark in it! We had both been in business meetings all day so decided to just eat and go, no good byes or thank you from the staff. After spending £40 on 2 badly warmed preprepared dishes not happy. you receive better service from a fast food restaurant unacceptable and a formal complaint will be going to the owners. Such a shame because the bar area really has an inviting decor and design.

Honestly one of the friendliest pubs around the area. Very accommodating and welcoming. Perfect for a bite to eat and a drink

Wow wow wow what a great evening here at the Ardleigh Crown! We were there celebrating our mums birthday and we can’t fault the evening at all! Especially due to our server whose name is Bethany! She was absolutely amazing, she was the most loveliest girl and we can all agree we have not had someone like her serve us for a very long time anywhere!, so they definitely have a keeper member on their team! ! The food was also top notch we all enjoyed every bite and everything about the evening was just perfect, none of us have a bad word to say!! We love it here!!🤍

We had to clear the table of the previous persons sitting before we sat down. Once food was ordered it came out in good time and the waitress was polite and cheerful. Food was underwhelming and dry.

I come to the Ardleigh Crown quite often but I came here recently with a friend for some food and a few drinks and we both had such a good experience !! This was mainly all thanks to our lovely waitress Bethany, who was so welcoming and helpful from the minute we were seated! The food was also delicious and the cocktails were very nice :)

Lovely cosy environment and great food as always. Been here many times and always have great service, food and company.

I was there at lunchtime. It was fairly quiet.

Lovely place,food great,good portion Sunday roast.would recommend

There were 6 of us eating. The initial service was great and our main meals came out quick. However, my fish and chips meal was shocking! A tiny piece of dry, overcooked haddock, hardly any fish, mostly batter. Burnt hard, cold chips. I didn't want to complain, as everyone else had their mains and I didn't want to be the one to complain and sit there without food for god knows how long. Two of our party had the lamb roast, most of the lamb was fat, hard cold veggies and their plates were also cold. We the asked to see the dessert menu - no one came to take our order after waiting 30+ minutes. The staff just kept walking past. No one asked how our meal was. No one asked if we wanted more drinks. We were told, however, that the hot drinks machine wasn't working?! So we couldn't even have a coffee. We decided not to order anymore and just asked for the bill in the end - as we got fed up waiting. They could of made more money out of us, as we were prepared to order a dessert each and another round of drinks - but the service was so poor, we simply left. We won't be returning to eat here again, that's for sure. Terrible food and service - the bill wasn't cheap either!

Came in for a meeting on Friday lunchtime, we just had drinks and a couple of sandwiches but brill service and we were left in peace which is just what we needed!

A pleasant and relaxing atmosphere for dinner for two. Commencing with drinks, We ordered two tasty Hunters Chicken main course meals. This was followed by deserts of of Ice Cream and the other of Crumble with custard. All food was of ample quantity and good quality. For a busy Saturday evening, The Crown Team managed well with waitress Jo explaining Menu options and ensuring we were well looked after. Thank you. D & H

Used to come to the Crown quite a lot, but this was over 10years ago. This most definitely not the same. Poor service, tables and plates unclean and worst of all the food was bad. Real shame as I had wanted to show my family this great place I remember and it simply wasn’t that place anymore. I would strongly recommend avoiding.

Very poor hugely disappointing, used to come here a lot around 10 years ago, it is most definitely not the same place it was. Service is very poor, food was shocking, toilet blocked and no soap in bathroom. Just disappointed. Would 100% avoid if you can.

Nice pub with an open log fire. Food and drinks food.

Food was great. Service was excellent. Lovely surroundings. Great value too.

Stopped in for a Sunday roast. Unfortunately the roast potatoes and parsnips were too undercooked to eat and the gravy was an oily jus which didn't go with the dinner. However the staff and desserts made up for it.

Food first class as usual that’s why we come back. Nice ambiance. Was served by Bethany who did a grand job even though she had a cold. Was waited on first class

It was a nice atmosphere, staff were very helpful and friendly. Especially Harry! Only reason for 4 stars is because the portion sizes were quite small but other than that, all good!

Lovely fresh tasty food, and fabulous service from Harry, our very friendly and kind waiter. I had the chicken penang curry which was delicious!

Came for a roast dinner and we were served by Stanley he was amazing and very attentive… food was delicious, i would highly recommend!

Had a lovely evening catching up with friends the food was lovely. Definitely recommend the burger. Lots of choice and reasonably priced. My only slight negative was following the meal we was given the bill without prompt, which made us feel like we had to leave

Very nice atmosphere, to food is of a good standard and the offers are not bad to get with the loyalty card.

Good atmosphere, clean and good food

Excellent pub food great although a bit pricey.Our waitress Bethany was very nice and friendly.

I was very pleased with everything food was amazing and didn’t have to wait that long, the staff and service was perfect really friendly and helpful. Went with my partner and would recommend you give it a visit. Atmosphere is very good as well and a great location if you’re travelling and want to stop for some good food.

Lovely setting. Food was a bit disappointing. Roast potatoes certainly not fluffed and cauliflower cheese was hard and had no sauce.

Update September 2024 Went for lunchtime meal. The place was busy, but the service was attentive. Menu had recently changed to their autumn menu. The quality of the food was very good. Car park has several disabled spaces, and a lot of the restaurant is on the level. There is a step up to further seating, so I recommend you let the restaurant know when booking if you have any access difficulties like a wheelchair user. The disabled toilet / baby change is of a reasonable size and standard. Will certainly visit again!

I had a disappointing experience at The Crown Pub recently. While the food was acceptable, it wasn’t anything to write home about and was served slightly cold. What really ruined the visit, however, was the presence of rats scurrying around the outdoor seating area. We saw at least three different rats running under tables and too close for comfort. Additionally, the staff were unprofessional and unfriendly. When we approached the bar to order, they were moody and seemed disinterested in their jobs. The young staff members gave off a clear impression that they didn’t want to be there, which significantly affected the overall atmosphere. Overall, I wouldn’t recommend The Crown Pub based on this experience. It’s a shame, as it had the potential to be a pleasant spot, but the combination of cold food, unsanitary conditions, and poor service made for a very unsatisfactory visit.

Lovely food lovely staff lovely atmosphere will come again

Fantastic service we love this place food is amazing and sevis 5☆ from Laura and emma

I visited during a lovely quiet warm evening. Service was prompt. I felt the food was over priced for what it was, portion sizes of dessert were very small and far too expensive. Whilst outside in the garden ( dusk ) rats were visible which upset other guests, not myself, there are obvious vermin controls in the garden. Turns out a table of guests were enticing the rats with their food 🙈 would definitely visit again but would order a larger expensive main to fill up on and not bother with a dessert. It has a lovely atmosphere about it, great location for a celebratory meal, despite the rats😂

Had a delicious meal (garlic prawns, aranchini , duo lamb, steak,lemon tart,creme brûlée)in a restaurant with a comfortable atmosphere. Waiting staff were excellent especially Jo . Lovely evening

While the food is consistently great at The Crown, the service was incredibly slow during our visit.

A other great lunch at the Crown. Good food and lovely friendly staff, especially ALICIA, who made us both feel so welcome. Thank you Alicia x

Arrived here with good expectations, nice looking pub from the outside, decent interior. Shame about the food and the service was questionable. Started with a scotch egg that appeared to come straight out the microwave?? It was boiling hot, the egg yolk was rock hard, the pork was not good at all and just looked terrible. The calamari was little pieces of grease, the plate was just a pool of oil. Onto the pork belly roast which we both had, pork was okay, potatoes were a little underdone not crispy in anyway, the stuffing wrapped in bacon was cool idea but looked pretty inedible. Again overly microwaved cauliflower cheese and veggies. The chef couldn't be bothered to pick parsley from the stalks just gave us a tree of the stuff. Our starter plates were left on the table until we finished our mains, we had to get up and seek staff to ask for more gravy, we didn't get a check back or even a question about if we enjoyed anything, got the sense the staff didn't really look like they were happy to be there. Overall, nowhere near worth the money.

The Crown was a great place to meet up with friends for lunch. Food was very good and our waitress Zoe looked after us well.

Staff are always wonderful and the menu is excellent for its price point

Only went for drinks but great atmosphere with a live singer. We sat in the extensive garden whilst the children played with the excellent range of outdoor games provided.

I visited last weekend for a long overdue child free catch up with a friend. We were met by the absolutely lovely Freya who was hospitable and quick taking our orders. The food portions were excellent for the price, to the point I took some of my main home for my husband's dinner and when I asked to take home a dessert for later they were only too happy to oblige. I want to mention Freya again because I can not express how great she was! I haven't been able to have a 1-1 lunch with my friend for over 7 years so to say we had lots to talk about is an understatement, at no point were we interrupted mid conversation it was like she knew when to come over instinctively, she was on top of all the tidying and keeping us topped up on drinks while also looking after a large party on the table next to us. She is a credit to your team along with whom ever cooked my meal! We will definitely be back! Hopefully sooner than 7 years from now!

The best service we’ve had for a long time! Thank you Bethany!

I visited last weekend for a long overdue child free catch up with a with a friend. We were met by the absolutely lovely Freya who was hospitable and quick taking our orders. The food portions were excellent for the price, to the point I took some of my main home for my husband's dinner and when I asked to take home a dessert for later they were only too happy to oblige. I want to mention Freya again because I can not express how great she was! I haven't been able to have a 1-1 lunch with my friend for over 7 years so to say we had lots to talk about is in understatement, at no point were we interrupted mid conversation it was like she knew when to come over instinctively, she was on top of all the tidying and keeping us topped up on drinks while also looking after a large party on the table next to us. She is a credit to your team along with whom ever cooked my meal! We will definitely be back! Hopefully sooner than 7 years from now!

Great staff, food was very good and decently priced. Excellent, friendly service. Good atmosphere too. Plenty of parking and a beer garden to.

Love the Crown. Always good food and the bar area is dog friendly. 🐾

Had a lovely meal. Pub was lovely. A lovely atmosphere and very clean. The food was amazing and our waitress Jo was so helpful and friendly. Highly recommend a visit.

Great little pub, food was delicious, I had the lasagne which was really good and tasted home made, wasn’t dry like a lot of places serve it. Hubby had fish n chips which was good as well, perhaps a tad overcooked but still good. Others had pizza and the gammon which was also nice. Service a little slow but it wasn’t bad .

Another visit to this excellent establishment. Easy access and no waiting . The food was great and the staff very attentive, especially BETHANY, who gets a special mention for her smile and her service.

We visited The Crown whilst staying nearby, and so glad we did! The food was excellent, and our server, Zoe, was superb. Super friendly, super helpful, even making a special effort to interact with the children. We will definitely visit again when in the area, and would definitely recommend. Thank you for a lovely evening.

Absolutely exceptional on all levels

Lovely meal and great service by Zoe, will come back soon!

Lovely little pub loads of character, loads of parking not to busy when we went on a sun day evening staff very friendly and attentive, food was really good and portions were a good size.

Was served by Zoe, she was very welcoming and friendly toward myself, my partner and our boys.

A lovely spur of the moment meal, the food and atmosphere were great and the service was excellent, thank you for looking after us so well Zoe. We will returning again soon.

Wonderful food and great service! We'll be back sunday for more!

Food was tasty and in good time. Our server, Zoe was very friendly and professional. Thank you

Zoe our server was amazing, such a lovely, friendly and attentive lady. Will definitely come again based on the service food and atmosphere 💕

Zoe was an excellent waitress. Very friendly and attentive. Food was served quickly and was tasty.

Served by the lovely Zoe, great food and service

Great food and service. Zoe was professional, courteous and looked after us during our meal. Thank you

Zoe was a fab server, highly recommend! Food is always great.

The best experience in Colchester! Delicious food, very customer friendly service, excellent ambience! Thank you Zoe for the excellent service!

Food was amazing wonderful service our waitress Alicia was amazing very friendly and kind

Came for a sit down meal couple months ago was served by a lovely waitress who was very attentive and looked after us, think her name may be alicia, she was so sweet and kind and the food was great too will definitely be coming back!!!!

Lovely food, beautiful place and friendly staff, Zoe, will be back again!

Went for lunch to used to be a regular visitor to the crown butayear or so something went terribly wrong food service was under par so we gave it a miss decided yesterday to take a chance and see if it had improved any well very pleasantly suprised the food was 1st class the service was brilliant all the staff were on the ball very attentive ALICI the young lady who looked after us was a credit to the company she was brilliant all in all a great experience looking forward to our next visit we'll done boys and girls

Really nice pub meal and exceptional dessert. Service very good - thank you Alicia. Will return

Excellent food and service from Jo

As usual the Sunday Lunch was outstanding. The service was first rate and the atmosphere was very relaxed. You had plenty of time to enjoy your meal and the whole affair was a pleasure. One of the party is a Vegan and she was catered for superbly. Another of the party is disabled and walks with a walking frame trolley, but it was no problem as we where put at a table with easy access......Well Done The Crown!!! and we'll done to our waitress Bella. Also a big well done to the Chefs there, you cook lovely food.

Lovely meal Zoe was friendly and lovely 💗

Great service from Zoe this afternoon. Lovely food and all the staff were very polite.

Lovely afternoon. Food nice. Good value for money. Took a while to have our order taken but food came up quickly after that

Lovely place Lovely staff Good atmosphere. I didn't eat. The New Zealand Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc used to be supreme but I'm not liking The Ned Sauvignon Blanc anywhere near as much! Shame, because I would have gone out of my way for it previously, regardless of food etc, and it beat any NZ Sauvignon around. Hopefully you'll get it back again.

Bethany gave amazing customer service and was very lovely and friendly! Food was absolutely delicious really recommend the seabass. Will be returning soon!

Had such a lovely meal here, good pub classics and some nice unique options like the duck pizza which was fab! definitely get the honeycomb dome dessert it is the best dessert ive ever had :D our server was the lovely Jo, she has beyond exceptional customer service and made us feel so welcome and not rushed in any way even though we were staying a while and chatting. She is an absolute star and we all had a lovely conversation with her and good banter too :-) thank you so so much Jo and everyone else for a lovely evening :-)

Fantastic & speedy service. Polite staff. It was my father's 80th birthday so we had a cake and the staff helped with the surprise. Thank you so very much.

Food was lovely(had the seared seabass), staff was amazing and helpful, garden seats is a vibe. Drinks and food is reasonably priced and decor is very nice.

Our first time here and it was a great experience. Zoe was exceptionally friendly and attentive. Our meal was good too.

The potatoes were cold and raw in the centre as was the broccoli. Neither were cooked, as a trained chef I know about al dente. But these were blanched at best, we weren't the only ones who said about them. . The fishcakes were nice but it did ruin my birthday meal.

A meal and a pint in this establishment is very warming. Service is on point with lots of smiles. Alex is running a great team, you’d be sorry to miss this place. Huge beer garden, great food and excellent service. Well done. Keep it up 👍🏻

Wonderful atmosphere, great service and magnificent food. Well impressed!!

The ambiance, the service and the food all excellent

Excellent food and service ,everytime been there never let us down definitely recommend there

I received a QR code offering a bottle of prosecco for my birthday and clicked on the image I received to book father's day lunch for 3 only to find when we arrived that the complimentary birthday prosecco was somehow not available on father's day. We were not impressed as Vintage Inns was clearly engaged in false advertising hiding behind the invisible T&C's. The set meal we had was very good, although my wife's lamp rump was tough and fatty.

Our visit to The Crown (on what should have been a very special occasion for my Husband's first Father's Day), was extremely disappointing. We arrived at 2.30pm, starters took a very long time to arrive, our daughters main course came out twice for some reason (we sent the 2nd dish back), by 4.15pm we still hadn't received our main courses and had to chase them. Staff were surprised we had not had our main courses yet, apologised and told us the chef was "stressed in the kitchen". Another table next to us (who arrived after us) were receiving their desserts before we had received our main course. When we chased the main courses we were told it was just the fish waiting to be cooked. When our dinners finally came, the chips were lukewarm and the mushy peas were cold. Aside from the fish itself which was nice, our main course was not enjoyable and ended up being left uneaten. After our initial drinks were brought over after sitting down at the beginning of the meal, we weren't offered any further drinks despite all having glasses empty. We had to ask a member of staff to order more drinks. 25 minutes later these drinks STILL had not arrived so we asked them to cancel them as by this point we were so fed up and desperate to leave. My Husband had to go to the car at one point to drink from his water bottle he was so thirsty. The table next to us were also complaining because their food had been sent out wrong. Another table came over to warn us that their deposit had not been taken off the bill. It was a complete and utter shambles. When the bill came, we were asked if we wanted to take some puddings in a box... clearly, this was not the experience we came out for and am thoroughly disappointed and won't ever be returning. I regret wasting money here and am also very disheartened by the small refund of just the first drinks we had (3 soft drinks & 1 beer). The main courses should have been removed altogether! A shocking visit. Staff also seemed rather flat (our waitress told us she was hungover), our experience just went from bad to worse.

Beautiful pub with a large menu. We came for lunch and everything was super tasty. Also a nice selection of non alcoholic drinks.

Lovely place to eat with good choices and quality food, friendly service from Alicia

Lovely meal. Served by Alicia who was attentive, smiley and lovely.

We went for lunch. We were welcomed in a very friendly way by who we assumed was the Manager. Our food order was taken at the bar although table service is available. Drinks were quickly brought to our table and the food soon after. Our light lunch was delicious and the waiting staff very attentive and pleasant. Every where was spotless, a reflection of the Managers demeanour. Great Lunch, can't wait to go again.

Arrived without booking, but fitted in. Service was polite and courteous as usual. Acceptable wait for food. Quality good

Lovely atmosphere. The Manager ( presumably ). Greeted us warmly, the food was delicious, and served quickly. The staff were very polite and helpful. The toilets were very clean.

excellent awareness of allergies/intolerance. Superb food, friendly but not overbearing staff. would definitely recommend.