Food review: The Crown at Wergs

There’s one thing they never tell you about having kids, and that’s to always order the salad.

When everyone around you is chowing down on a roast dinner or burger and chips, the salad might seem like a rather depressing choice.

However, ordering the leaves is a must because you will inevitably also eat your child’s food.

“What? You don’t want that indulgently delicious goose fat roast potato?” Mummy will have it. “Rare roast beef going spare?” Yum, yum, yum. Before you know it you’ve eaten your own dinner plus the almost-adult sized portion of food sitting untouched in front of your one-year-old who prefers to throw crayons on the floor than eat.

Suspecting this would be the case, I ordered the salad when we visited The Crown at Wergs one Sunday lunch time, declining a delicious-sounding roast in favour of a plate of leaves.

The elegantly furnished gastro-pub was doing a brisk Sunday trade with couples and families tucking in to tasty-looking food. Service was friendly and, on arrival, we were quickly seated, offered the menu and a highchair was sorted for our daughter.

The menu is vast and features everything from starters and sharing boards to pizzas, pastas, burgers and fish dishes. There was a separate menus of chef’s specials, as well as a generous Sunday roast offering. There’s even a kid’s menu which doesn’t just serve the identikit offerings of fish fingers/chicken nuggets, chips and beans options.

The other half already had his heart set on a roast dinner so was delighted that choices included pork, beef, chicken and fig and dolcelatte nut roast for veggies.

Essence

With a little one in tow, time was of the essence – the window in which she’ll sit happily is pretty small without having to resort to episodes of Peppa Pig on the iPhone – so we were keen to place our orders.

We chose some bread and olives to keep hunger at bay while we awaited our main course dishes. Our daughter, Edie, made light work of the olives while my partner and I enjoyed the toasted bread dipped in quality olive oil and balsamic vinegar. That’s how it goes these days; she eats the expensive stuff while we are left with the crusts of bread. They don’t tell you that in the parenting books either.

With a bit of down time to take in our surroundings before the main courses arrived, we noted the rustic chic interior so typical of this type of pub; light wood, exposed beams, roaring fires and neutral furnishings.

There’s an open-style kitchen where you can see the chef at work. However, I wasn’t particularly keen on being able to see the joints of meat, roast potatoes and other components lined up in silver cooking trays on the pass.

The food arrived and looked superb. The other half chose the pork loin roast while we ordered a mini beef roast dinner for our little girl. I meanwhile, chose the slow-roasted heirloom tomato salad with brown rice, quinoa, edamame beans, baby kale, basil pistou and burrata, topped with griddled halloumi. I was a little disappointed, particularly at its size; it seemed a bit measly for a main course dish, particularly with its £12 price tag. However, I consoled myself with the knowledge that I’d be tucking into my daughter’s giant Yorkshire pud very soon.

The grilled halloumi was a bit cold, it had gone slighty rubbery, and I’d argue that the tomatoes were raw rather than roasted, but that aside the rest of the ingredients were sublime. Stars of the show were the burrata and the basil pistou – a classic French dressing that’s sort of like Ligurian pesto. It had a lovely, chunky texture and had been generously distributed throughout the dish. Scrumptious! On the other side of the table, the pork roast was receiving appreciative noises. He said the crackling was crisp and the roast parsnips and potatoes were delicious. It was served with a generous side dish of vegetables including cauliflower cheese, shredded red cabbage and buttered kale. A cute little copper saucepan offered extra gravy although we both agreed it was a bit on the thin side. He reported that the veggies were good but found them too finely shredded which resulted in a loss of texture.

“You almost couldn’t tell the cauliflower was cauliflower – you might have liked it,” he said, knowing full well that I can’t stand the stuff. He also remarked that he missed having some carrots, his ‘essential’ ingredient of a roast dinner.

Devoured

Meanwhile, our daughter devoured her slices of roast beef but left the rest of the dish untouched, which was no reflection on the chef, something I can certainly vouch for. The Yorkshire pudding was crisp and delicious, and while the roast potatoes weren’t really very crunchy they were still tasty. It really was a good job I’d ordered the salad. There was a fair amount of beef left which I divied up happily with the other half. Your loss, kid.

There was little room for dessert, which was quite fortunate seeing as Edie had had her fill of sitting still. In another world, I’d have opted for The House Sharer, comprising chocolate brownie, baked Sicilian lemon cheesecake, butterscotch and nut crumble bar, strawberries and vanilla ice cream cookie sandwich.

The days of leisurelly lunches are however long gone so we asked for the bill, which came in at just shy of £50 and included a large bottle of sparkling water and a 250ml glass of sauvignon blanc.

Our trip to The Crown at Wergs was an all-round success and, for me, ordering the salad, was by no means the consolation prize.