The Crown in Playhatch

Not a wine post tonight but a food one instead. Tonight my wife and I had a great evening out with some friends at The Crown in Playhatch (nr Reading). Visit their website for more information (http://www.thecrown.co.uk). We met with friends that we haven't seen since before Christmas. These are some of our really good friends, who have been in our lives for years. These friends were the ones who introduced us to the Crown many years ago. So it was nice to back to this restaurant together; the weird thing was that they sat us at the same table that we were at the first time we went!

The menu is well put together; offering a good array of gastro pub food.

To start I had the:

Tian of locally smoked salmon, fresh crab, shrimp and crayfish tails - infused with chilli, coriander, ginger and basil.

This was a lovely, well presented started with all the flavours working well together.

For the main course I had (pictured above) the:

Baked Fillet of Cod - served on creamy mashed potato with green pea sauce and crispy prosciutto ham.

This really was a great dish and so well put together. The pea sauce was lovely and a perfect compliment to the cod. The pea sauce did not overpower the fish at all. The fish itself was cooked to perfection. The fillet kept its form and remained meaty but just melted in the mouth.

This was a good dish for me as my wife hates peas, so I don't get them at home (I quite like them!) Our friend's wife hates peas as well - so he had the same main course as me! I must admit that after two courses I did somewhat fail and have to pass on a pudding. The service was excellent. The waitress was very attentive without being overbearing.

I would highly recommend the Crown to anyone. All I have to do now is to find an excuse to plan another trip to go back there!