The Crown And Thistle

Considering this is a small restaurant in the middle of the countryside, it served me some of the best food I've eaten. I went on a Wednesday and took advantage of their grill offer of either a starter or a pudding with a grill option for £12.95 with a £3 surcharge for fillet steak. I had a goats cheese, caramelised red onion and cranberry starter, which I could only describe as top quality restaurant food. Something I'd expect to eat in a top restaurant in Manchester city centre. Then came my fillet steak (medium of course) and it was cooked perfectly, served with what I think was twice or three times cooked chips and sides. It only shows how good the restaurant was when my only criticism was the vinegar was in vinegar bottles instead of a vinegar jar. And then we ended with a lovely fresh pudding. We had 1 x 3 course meal including fillet steak, 1 x 2 course meal again including fillet steak and 3 pints of diet coke for £45.00 amazing value for quality food.

What a great pub this is. Had the lunch menu and wow what great value and fabulous quality as well. The surroundings are very old school pub meets quality furnishings.... Good selection of beer really nice staff.... The food was hearty and home cooked. I had the plate meat pie hand cut chips and mushy peas......it was very good. Highly recommend this place everything about it ticked the box. We have already planned a return.

The Crown and Thistle is a pub/eatery that is out of the way on the Roman Road in Hoddlesden. We were out on a Bank Holiday looking for a decent pub to have some food and maybe a pint or two, and happened across this place and decided to go in on the spur of the moment. We arrived in the middle of the afternoon and found ample parking across the road, this place feels like it's out in the sticks a little bit so there weren't any issues with parking. Upon first impressions the Crown and Thistle is a small, rural and well kept pub that has a couple of dining areas including an outdoor patio which would be nice on a balmy summer's evening. On my visit, this wasn't the case so I opted for the dining area in front of the bar area. I opted for a pint of Thwaite's Wainwright and had the choice between a selection of other real ales, including a range of lagers. My partner in crime opted for a large diet coke and we were seated with ease and there were only a few tables occupied. My pint of Wainwright was well pulled and tasted great. The young waiter that brought our menu's over made us aware of the "Monday and Friday 2 Course Steak Meal" which we chose to order from. I rather gluttonously, chose the Chef's Homemade Pate and Mixed Grill from the brightly coloured menu and my opposite ordered the Homemade Soup of the Day and a Sirloin steak. Upon ordering our food, my dining partner was asked how he wanted his steak and he replied rare, the young girl that took our order very politely informed us that the chef would recommend cooking that particular cut of steak to a medium rare to which my friend agreed. I was also asked how I would like the steak on my mixed grill cooking but as this was a different cut, it wasn't an issue. The starters and main arrived in good time and the starters were flavourful and the correct portion size. My Pate was accompanied with toast, an undressed side salad (a personal nitpick, it may not bother everyone) and some chutney. My dining partner's soup came in a delightful little soup bowl and some crusty bread, which received a good review - very tasty. The main courses were excellent, both myself and my dining partner remarked on how well the steak was cooked, it was perfect in colour and had a wonderful char-grilled taste. The chips were quite fat and not to my taste personally, but received a good review from my friend. My egg was runny, gammon juicy and the sausage was plump. Rather boldly we opted for dessert and I had an ice cream sundae and my opposite had a Cooke Dough cheesecake. Maybe we had been over-faced by the sheer quantity of food at this point but the desserts didn't go down as well. Most likely due to our bellies being too full and not the quality of the dessert. They are most likely bought in, but that is to be expected if it is true then it isn't to the detriment of the food here. In total, the bill came to around £43 for a starter, main and dessert each with two drinks each also. The food came quickly and our bill was brought over to us by a very friendly waitress in good time. A good option if you fancy a good meal in a rural setting.