{"id":1081,"date":"2010-11-26T14:18:50","date_gmt":"2010-11-26T14:18:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.bonvivant.co.uk\/?p=1081"},"modified":"2010-11-26T14:18:50","modified_gmt":"2010-11-26T14:18:50","slug":"restaurant-guide-the-crown-at-bray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/restaurant-guide-the-crown-at-bray\/","title":{"rendered":"The Crown at Bray – Restaurant Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vilma Darling visits The Crown at Bray.<\/p>\n

The village of Bray near Maidenhead (30 miles west of London) is world famous for hosting The Fat Duck<\/a> and The Waterside Inn<\/a>, two of the four three-Michelin-starred restaurants in the UK. Down the road in Littlefield Green, legendary broadcaster Sir Michael Parkinson owns the one-Michelin-star pub, The Royal Oak<\/a>, so this tiny area in Berkshire has seven Michelin stars in total – more than Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and Sheffield combined.<\/p>\n

But this review is not about one of the award winning restaurants, but about a local pub, that is one of the loveliest and unpretentious eating establishments I\u2019ve visited in a long time. The Crown at Bray<\/a> was bought by Heston Blumenthal earlier this year and he promised to preserve its intimate and local feel.<\/p>\n

The celebrity chef owns another pub in the village called The Hinds Head<\/a> and according to the food maestro himself, it has quickly become a culinary destination.<\/p>\n

Culinary destination or not, our cosy lunch at The Crown was delicious. Like proper pub-goers we started our meal with pints of larger and tried not to bang our heads on the low-beamed ceilings when standing up (it is a 16th<\/sup> century inn after all).<\/p>\n

I had potted duck and grilled bread with cornichons (\u00a36.95) to start, which was a little bit too rich for my taste (and waistline) as the bread was heavily buttered. The potted duck was great, but probably should have been shared by at least two people.<\/p>\n

The Brixham mussels in white wine sauce with garlic and parsley (\u00a38.25) had an excellent broth, but could also have been shared with another person.<\/p>\n

I decided to continue the \u2018potted\u2019 theme of my lunch and ordered lemon sole with potted shrimp, cucumber & dill (\u00a317.50) for the main course while my companions unanimously went for baked suet, steak and ale pie with creamed potatoes (\u00a314.50).<\/p>\n

The lemon sole was fresh, juicy and rather large, and I particularly enjoyed the touch of dill, but I couldn\u2019t finish the fish after my feast of potted duck. We didn\u2019t have any desserts though were very tempted by the Eton Mess with bananas, lime and hazelnuts (\u00a35.75).<\/p>\n

Apart from the food, one of the best things about The Crown at Bray was the cosy atmosphere created by the beautiful furniture, open fires and incredibly friendly staff. There\u2019s a fine line between being helpful and annoying, but our beautiful waitresses seemed genuinely lovely and happy.<\/p>\n

We didn\u2019t really feel like leaving The Crown at Bray at all and probably would have stayed there until supper, but we HAD to go for a walk and experience the joys of country living for at least one short weekend.<\/p>\n

Website<\/strong>: www.thecrownatbray.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Address<\/strong>: The Crown, High Street, Bray, Berkshire, SL6 2AH<\/p>\n

You may also enjoy staying at The Olde Bell Hurley<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vilma Darling visits The Crown at Bray. The village of Bray near Maidenhead (30 miles west of London) is world famous for hosting The Fat Duck and The Waterside Inn, … <\/i>Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18224,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[16,295,211,296,275,17,297,298,277],"class_list":["post-1081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-restaurants","tag-articles","tag-bray","tag-heston-blumenthal","tag-restaurant-guide","tag-restaurant-reviews","tag-restaurants","tag-the-crown","tag-the-fat-duck","tag-vilma-darling"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Crown at Bray - Restaurant Review - The Bon Vivant Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We visit The Crown at Bray, Heston Blumenthal's pub in the quaint village of Bray - click to read our review.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/restaurant-guide-the-crown-at-bray\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Crown at Bray - Restaurant Review - The Bon Vivant Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We visit The Crown at Bray, Heston Blumenthal's pub in the quaint village of Bray - click to read our review.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/restaurant-guide-the-crown-at-bray\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Bon Vivant Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-11-26T14:18:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/The-Laundry-Sunday-Roast.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"656\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Emyr Thomas\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Emyr Thomas\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/restaurant-guide-the-crown-at-bray\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/restaurant-guide-the-crown-at-bray\/\",\"name\":\"The Crown at Bray - Restaurant Review - The Bon Vivant Journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/restaurant-guide-the-crown-at-bray\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/restaurant-guide-the-crown-at-bray\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/The-Laundry-Sunday-Roast.jpg?fit=1000%2C656&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-11-26T14:18:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/#\/schema\/person\/a4dbf6b9cf1f7f0c2928c3c840467b21\"},\"description\":\"We visit The Crown at Bray, Heston Blumenthal's pub in the quaint village of Bray - click to read our review.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/restaurant-guide-the-crown-at-bray\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/restaurant-guide-the-crown-at-bray\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/restaurant-guide-the-crown-at-bray\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/The-Laundry-Sunday-Roast.jpg?fit=1000%2C656&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/The-Laundry-Sunday-Roast.jpg?fit=1000%2C656&ssl=1\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":656,\"caption\":\"The Laundry Brixton Sunday Roast\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/restaurant-guide-the-crown-at-bray\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Crown at Bray – Restaurant Review\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/\",\"name\":\"The Bon Vivant Journal\",\"description\":\"A place to note our travels, share our musings, hot new tips and the most recent must-see, do, go-to places to have caught our imagination; the very best of London and further afield. Welcome to the world of Bon Vivant.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/#\/schema\/person\/a4dbf6b9cf1f7f0c2928c3c840467b21\",\"name\":\"Emyr Thomas\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a4e9daf81142bd2731f08f2d6bb214c423ad271c3e1a889edaf8cb7be0d44f5d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a4e9daf81142bd2731f08f2d6bb214c423ad271c3e1a889edaf8cb7be0d44f5d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Emyr Thomas\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/author\/bv_bonvivant\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Crown at Bray - Restaurant Review - The Bon Vivant Journal","description":"We visit The Crown at Bray, Heston Blumenthal's pub in the quaint village of Bray - click to read our review.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/restaurant-guide-the-crown-at-bray\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Crown at Bray - Restaurant Review - The Bon Vivant Journal","og_description":"We visit The Crown at Bray, Heston Blumenthal's pub in the quaint village of Bray - click to read our review.","og_url":"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/restaurant-guide-the-crown-at-bray\/","og_site_name":"The Bon Vivant Journal","article_published_time":"2010-11-26T14:18:50+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":656,"url":"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/The-Laundry-Sunday-Roast.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Emyr Thomas","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Emyr Thomas","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/restaurant-guide-the-crown-at-bray\/","url":"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/restaurant-guide-the-crown-at-bray\/","name":"The Crown at Bray - Restaurant Review - The Bon Vivant Journal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/restaurant-guide-the-crown-at-bray\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/restaurant-guide-the-crown-at-bray\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/The-Laundry-Sunday-Roast.jpg?fit=1000%2C656&ssl=1","datePublished":"2010-11-26T14:18:50+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/#\/schema\/person\/a4dbf6b9cf1f7f0c2928c3c840467b21"},"description":"We visit The Crown at Bray, Heston Blumenthal's pub in the quaint village of Bray - click to read our review.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/restaurant-guide-the-crown-at-bray\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/restaurant-guide-the-crown-at-bray\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/restaurant-guide-the-crown-at-bray\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/The-Laundry-Sunday-Roast.jpg?fit=1000%2C656&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/The-Laundry-Sunday-Roast.jpg?fit=1000%2C656&ssl=1","width":1000,"height":656,"caption":"The Laundry Brixton Sunday Roast"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/restaurant-guide-the-crown-at-bray\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Crown at Bray – Restaurant Review"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/#website","url":"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/","name":"The Bon Vivant Journal","description":"A place to note our travels, share our musings, hot new tips and the most recent must-see, do, go-to places to have caught our imagination; the very best of London and further afield. Welcome to the world of Bon Vivant.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/#\/schema\/person\/a4dbf6b9cf1f7f0c2928c3c840467b21","name":"Emyr Thomas","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a4e9daf81142bd2731f08f2d6bb214c423ad271c3e1a889edaf8cb7be0d44f5d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a4e9daf81142bd2731f08f2d6bb214c423ad271c3e1a889edaf8cb7be0d44f5d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Emyr Thomas"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal"],"url":"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/author\/bv_bonvivant\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/The-Laundry-Sunday-Roast.jpg?fit=1000%2C656&ssl=1","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonvivant.co.uk\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}