The Crown, Wallingford

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Komakino . left this review about The Crown

UPDATE:
Taken over and made over by Hook Norton; their furthest venture south in the elongated county of Oxfordshire (and ousting Thame's The Falcon as new most-southerly), the licks of paint and contemporisation to what came before were sorely needed. Re-opened in 2020, it took me a while to get over and check this place out and a wedding party curtailed any more than fleeting looks around. The interior layout remains the same albeit spruced up, and entrance remains at the back of the pub. A quarry-tiled area is situated to the right aft of the bar, with tables laid out for dining and the areas to the left have binned off the sporting regalia and are now more Sunday Times Magazine-esque. The patio out back and garden look to be good spots, although the latter was no-go due to the aforementioned nuptial festivities. Five Hook Norton options on the stumps: Hooky Gold, Old Hooky, Flagship, Off the Hook IPA and one other I forgot to note; I guess you'd need to like their beers to drink here regularly. The Off the Hook was decent enough and seeing as this place isn't too far from my nearest recyling centre, it gives me a 'swift half' option after clearing up the garden.

14th July 2021
A "locally" pub of the main road through Benson and under GK's auspices. Horseshoe-shaped bar with pool table in an alcove to the left and dining hidden away via a couple of steps to the right. Three GK variants available - IPA, Abbot Ale and London Glory (didn't bother and a Kronenbourg for £4.10 was about right - South Oxfordshire verges on London prices). Bare-boarded throughout apart from the dining area, a TV showed BBC News on mute to the left-hand wall above a fireplace, accompanied by a fruit machine to its right and dartboard to its left above a pile of hewn logs. The bar itself had dark red studded leather cushioning against its front panels. Some sporting paraphernalia in the pool room to the left including a signed Reading shirt, a photo of Muhammad Ali and more than one photo of the iconic Bobby Moore-on-shoulders-holding-the-Jules-Rimet. It felt like things were going to kick off in any minute, so I didn't hang about for long.

On 2^nd August 2021 - rating: 6
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