The Crown, Waltham Abbey

A relatively rare 11am opener on a Saturday. Traditional pub, small beer garden, nooks and crannies inside - including some comfy sofas. As the first in, i had to suffer the first pull of the day. The McMullens Country Bitter was nowhere near as bright and good as discovered last month in Broxbourne.

The Crown is a good looking pub in a residential side street quite close to the church, the other town centre pubs being in the pedestrianised shopping streets around the market place. As such, it seems to attract a local following, mostly - at the time of our visit - playing darts. The interior is very comfortable and welcoming, with regular tables and chairs in most of the large area in front of the bar, but I spotted a sofa at the far end near a fire place. On the bar were four hand pumps, with McMullens AK doubled up (which seems to be a habit in this brewery's pubs) plus Country Bitter and Shriev'ale. We gave the AK a miss, and were quite happy with the other two beers, which were in good condition and noticeably livelier than the beers we'd had in the Angel prior to coming here. That and the slightly better atmosphere made this the better of the two pubs on the night, but I'd be happy to revisit either if in the area again.