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Crockers Folly, NW8
NW8
NW8 8JR
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 4 of 10) see review guidelines
Quinno _ left this review about Crockers Folly
A splendid 3* CAMRA Heritage interior, the most exuberant parts of which are away in the huge Lebanese restaurant section to the rear, whist there is a somewhat less ornate (but still fairly attractive) bar for toping. Decided to eat so we could enjoy the full experience; whilst not exactly cheap the food was very good. Beer-wise, no cask and the only bottle of interest – Beirut – had to wheedled out of the waiter who assumed I wanted megakeg draught products and only confirmed the existence of the Beirut when prompted; he did seem very pleased when I asked if there was Lebanese beer though but really he should have sold this to an expectant idiot as a USP. It really is a feast for the eyes (see florid descriptions below and/or look at the photos I took) and is well-worth a visit, even if it’s mainly for a bit of grub and a bottle of lager.
On 22nd January 2024
- rating: 6
[User has posted 5072 recommendations about 5055 pubs]
Bucking Fastard left this review about Crockers Folly
The 3* CAMRA rating for a pub of National Importance drew this visit and it's not far from Lords where I had been consuming all day.The situation is unusual ,in a residential area but opposite an entirely brick facade of an electricity sub station.The pub itself is impressive Victorian with large leaded windows all the way around,a fine marble columned front entrance and pleasing upper stories.The interior is also very fine with chandeliers,etched glass,large mirrors and fine detailing seperating seperate rooms.These days most of the exterior doors are kept closed and the entrance is from the apex door onto the notional drinking bar.Beyond this are two very substantial dining rooms with laid tables which makes a fuller exploration of the interior tricky,but it's all of a piece and opulent.
The food is Lebanese and the friendly guv'nor was chatty and said there was bottled lebanese beer besides his very mainstream keg beer options.Most certainly no real ale.We settled outside on a front terrace with upmarket furniture and screened from the road by potted olive trees.
We didn't eat,nor were most punters but it was a very hot ,sultry Saturday evening.However there was a regular stream of Deliveroo riders.
Worth a squint but lacking in any genuine pub atmosphere,marks given for the appearance and not for the beer experience,nor it's pricing.
On 11th September 2023
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2727 recommendations about 2727 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about Crockers Folly
Upmarket bar and (mostly) Lebanese restaurant, formerly the Crown Hotel. The corner 1898 bar has a L-shaped counter with a manager's office accessed under an old clock on the impressive bar-back. The showcase Marble Room to the left is now set aside for dining but is very impressive so well worth a look, as is the Lord's Dining Room beyond. A covered front patio seating area is also available. No real ale unfortunately, with just Peroni, Asahi and Meantime's Anytime IPA (£6.50) available on draught.
On 10th April 2023
- rating: 5
[User has posted 8086 recommendations about 8086 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Ian Mapp left this review about Crockers Folly
I'm not 100% sure what this is, but I dont think its a pub. Restaurant maybe?
Peroni and a couple of other lagers on.
Handsome on the outside and in, but it hard to have a look around when you are the only punter and being followed by staff in aprons.
Visit blogged at http://bit.ly/2oErY9B
On 28th April 2017
- rating: 1
[User has posted 277 recommendations about 276 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about Crockers Folly
Built in 1898/99 by local entrepreneur Frank Crocker, no expense was spared on this pub and hotel which, until 1987 was known as the Crown Hotel. The pub's current name comes from a largely discredited story which suggests that Crocker built the hotel believing it would be located outside the soon to be built Marylebone station, only to find the new terminus was to be constructed at its present site around half a mile away. In fact, Marylebone was already being built in its current location when work began on the pub and Crocker probably chose the site based on its location between the new station and Lords cricket ground. In recent times, the pub has endured a decade long period of closure, before a local Lebanese restaurant chain opened the place up again after a sensitive refurbishment.
Sadly for the casual visitor, most of this wonderful old building is off limits to all but those wanting to eat from the pricey menu, but the right hand room still functions as a public bar. This room, which was once divided into five separate compartments, gives enough of the sense of splendour, with numerous high quality features. The corner entrance takes you through a stained glass door with an etched glass 'Saloon Bar' pane above, as you emerge into an ornate room with modern floorboards and an angular, wood panelled servery to the rear. The bar back has some intricate wood carving, a built-in 'Crown Hotel' clock and a mirrored upper section. The room is quite light thanks to large windows on two sides, each with a three tier design - stained glass lower panes, a modern etched mid-section and a decoratively framed upper tier. Seating runs around the perimeter in the form of plush banquettes and comfy chairs, with some formed into a booth in the front bay window. One small oval table fills some of the empty space in the centre of the room and all of the tables seemed to be very high quality walnut pieces. An amazing gold frieze runs around the room, just below the ceiling, depicting cherubs playing various instruments and dancing. Above this is a gold patterned ceiling from which several elaborate chandeliers hang. There is a server's lectern to one side of the room and I was greeted on arrival and advised that I could enjoy a drink in this room, which sadly meant I couldn't explore the rest of the building during my lunchtime visit. The next room, accessed through a spectacular dark wood archway, is one of two formal dining areas. It is known as the Marble Room because of the liberal use of marble in the room's design, including a remarkable marble fireplace which acts as the room's centrepiece. The bar counter is also partly constructed from marble and as with the other rooms, the ceiling is one of the decorative highlights. The other dining room is the former billiards room, which apparently used to have two tables and a viewing platform which could accommodate up to thirty spectators. Should you prefer a roadside setting to such opulence, there is a strip of pavement seating, partly hidden behind some shrubs and sheltered by large umbrellas.
Sadly, there is no ale available, with not so much as a single hand pump on the bar - even the keg taps have been sited at the far end of the bar, facing away from the rest of the room. Draught options are Guinness, Peroni, Aspall Cider and Pilsner Urquell, so I decided to try a half of the latter. Having waited for them to change the barrel, the barman proceeded to charge me a whopping £3.00 for my half, so I was secretly chuffed to get back to my table and find that he'd accidentally filled a two-thirds of a pint glass by mistake. The service was all very formal, of the sort you'd expect in a top restaurant or hotel, so not really conducive to enjoying a casual chat with the bar staff.
This is undoubtedly one of the capital's most remarkable pubs and anyone interested in the lengths the Victorians were prepared to go to in order to create a top range pub would do well to pay this place a visit. To see the Marble Room and the second dining area, they recommend mid-week visits between 12:00 - 17:00, so I lucked out by turning up on a Saturday. However, if historic pub interiors or high end Lebanese cuisine aren't your thing, I would suggest giving this one a miss - it's now essentially nothing more than a restaurant and the poor drinks selection and insane prices make it feel like drinkers are viewed as a necessary irritant. It's a shame, but I'd rather that than lose this marvellous building entirely.
On 18th October 2016
- rating: 4
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about Crockers Folly
Closed since May 2004 and having undergone a year-long renovation which must have cost a fortune, this pub reopened on 25th October 2014. It is listed by CAMRA as having a Nationally Important Historic Interior which indeed is English Heritage Grade II listed and boasts "...no less than 50 kinds of marble, along with romanesque columns, cut glass chandeliers and carved mahogany"[sic]. I also gather that many of the fittings were spirited away during the period of closure.
Formerly the Crown Tavern, this corner pub is located at the very arse end of St. John's Wood and is hemmed in on both sides by a sprawling council estate where it's not uncommon to see an unsavoury character. On approaching this grand gin palace, a friendly doorman opened the door for me. I entered a spacious room and was immediately greeted by the smartly dressed Front of House standing behind her reception lectern; members of staff wear black slacks, black waistcoats and white shirts. I asked if it was ok to just have a drink and she gestured towards the bar. The bar is broadly central and met by a glazed partition, probably from the days when there was a public and private bar; a doorway in the partition led through to another large room beyond which was yet another large room and both appeared to be laid for dining. The corner room is a bar with menus on the tables which appear to be topped with fake walnut veneer; the chairs are restaurant in style and are fawn leather(ette). The floor is dark and bare boarded and I suspect is modern.
Despite an impressive array of spirit bottles, to my astonishment the bar seemed not to have any beer dispensing paraphernalia whatsoever. I asked the barman if I could have a half of lager - always assuming they served such a thing - and was told that only Lebanese beer was sold or that I could have something else (I couldn't really understand what he was saying), whereupon I was presented with a small bottle of Peroni which was tepid. And cost £5.50!!!; a couple next to me at the bar asked the bartender "Are there any other pubs around here?"
This pub may have - or may have had - an impressive interior but to my mind it's no match for the Warrington just over the border in W9 and ten minutes' walk from here. The Crockers Folly (or more correctly, the Maroush Crockers Folly) may warrant retention on this website by virtue of the fact that you can buy a drink of sorts, but it is *NOT* in any way a pub so I won't be returning.
On 31st October 2014
- rating: 1
[User has posted 1983 recommendations about 1949 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about Crockers Folly
This pub has re-opened following a decade long period of closure. It's now been the object of what seems to be a sympathetic refurbishment that looks to have preserved the superb Victorian interior, although it wasn't trading when I sneaked in the other day at lunchtime and couldn't get a good look around. It's effectively a restaurant with the large rooms on the left full of tables all laid for diners. However I did manage a quick chat with a gentleman I took to be the manager, who said that they intend to retain the corner room as a bar for drinkers. There were no handpumps on the bar, and I was told that they don't intend to reinstate real ale unfortunately; they did have Guinness and Pilsner Urquell available.
I plan to pay another visit - and even have a drink of something! - when they start opening weekday lunchtimes, so that I can have a good look around.
On 30th October 2014
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john mcgraw left this review about Crockers Folly
Pub No.12,000 and it's a great shame that it is left in this state.When I went in here many years ago I remember it as being a grand pub,but you never know,it may rise from the ashes.
On 4th July 2011
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 2044 recommendations about 2025 pubs]