please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Despite the adjoining hotel it seems to have degenerated back down to old school Cricklewood albeit with a few sofas and armchairs chucked in for good measure. Ales were missing this time and the over priced "craft" keg bore an uncanny resemblance to coloured fizzy water. Both hotel and pub are popular for Traveller Weddings.
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Main open bar at the front is the busiest, Ton's of space in rooms behind. Only a couple of ales on, but my one was excellent.
I've never seen a conversion quite like this one, merging the pub into the new hotel next door. Impressed.
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Lovely pub, the Guinness was ok but have had better.
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lovely pub but the staff are very badly trained !! I was served a guinness in 1 pour !!!
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Not as bad or expensive as it was and more of an ale choice (Deuchars Autumn, Purity Gold and one of the mass produced chain ones I forgot). The Purity Gold (@�3.20 a pint) wasn't too bad .Do watch your change though as on my short visit more than one person challenged the barstaff (apparently correctly too) over the change they had received from higher denomination notes.
anonymous - 9 Sep 2011 18:52 |
Monday night jazz back on. Give it a listen.
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Drank many a pint her in the early 70's. Great place to meet friends and lose friennds that needed losing. Saturday nights were best provided you managed to escape a fist flying in the direction of your jaw as you innocently walked in the door to a fight in progress.
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You can try to take Cricklewood out of the pub but you can't take the pub out of Cricklewood. The pricing out the 'vermin' ploy has kind of priced out everyone. The 'lounge' bar at the back has kind of become the hotel bar for next door. The front bar is still reasonable but the iffy over priced Taylor's is not going to draw anyone from the Docket.
anonymous - 12 Jun 2010 18:57 |
Best place for to pull, get a late drink or get into a dust up, in Cricklewood. Very good Happy Hr 5-7 Mon-Fri - if you want a decent pint of Guinness you have Barretts up the rd, opp Beacon Bingo, and they quite often stay open pretty darn late!
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Why oh why? Is it that hard to serve a decent pint of bloody Guinness.
I emailed their head office ages ago looking for an answer. Do you know what? I'm still waiting.
If Ryanair ran pubs, they would all be like the Crown.
RIP
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Attended a family event here on a Saturday night, starting in the King Sitric Bar & Grill, their Dining room. Meal was below average and out of the 35 people in my party - heard no good response regarding the meal. Anyway, the evening was moved to the pub and we were told there was enough time for one more drink. However, the extremely rude and unprofessional security told us to leave (we were waiting for our drinks to be served as we had table service) as it was closing time. I was shocked of the attitude and actions from the security. It seemed they were looking for a good old punch up. This attitude was toward not only the young but the grandparents. Even some of us were staying in the hotel.
In conclusion, I've stayed in the hotel, ate in the King Sitric Bar & Grill, and drank in the pub many times and every occasion is extremely disappointing. I'm always trying to give them benefit of the doubt. However, my Irish family like to go here as they believe it�s good to support the Irish community. Good news is that they have finally taken my word for it and after the last event they have made their own judgement. Quite sad as we spent a lot of money that night and we had individuals fly from Scotland, Ireland, Australia, and America just for the evening and the Crown did nothing to make the evening enjoyable.
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This is a soulless pub with the atmosphere of a hotel bar, which it really is. The staff were pleasant, but in a professional business like way rather than a relaxing pub manner.
There is a quiet lounge bar at the rear that had Landlord on three pumps and some jazz type music played at a very low level.
The front bar has a single Landlord pump and a selection of standard draught. There are also a couple plasma screens that I would imagine showing rolling news rather than any sport.
I won�t be returning to this pub.
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A tired pub with zero atmosphere except for the red brick facade. I would not bother drinking here as it would bankrupt me
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great range of beers and spirits.Very good and pleasant staff and good service.Five screens and a good coverage of live sports.I am surprised it is not busier during the day,on the other hand there must be ten pubs in the small area and they all seem empty during the day.By the way an excellent cellar.
kenn2 - 21 Apr 2008 15:56 |
Stupidly expensive and please give it a rest with the blaring sports fixtures. Was in there a couple of Sundays ago - no one watching the bloody football but screen upon screen of ear-splittingly loud sport. Could be such a great place but they don't do it justice.
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not my regular but I decided to try it .Pleasant and cumfortable decor. Staff all very nice and helpful.Very good range of beer and spirits,good food and attractive layout but boy do we pay for it.At the time of my visit three customers in the bar and this was at one in the afternoon .
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Ventured up this way for the first time in about 6 years. Sorry, Cricklewood is still a s*it hole. Arrived here about 8.30, 3 bouncers on each door - 2 doors. Big old pub with a modern hotel attached. Lovely old building. Only here could you get an old building connected to a modern hotel. Quick service, decent pint. Despite that, won't be back. What happens late at night is anyone's guess.
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Live bands are back on Fridays, but Saturday is still DJ night. Its a bit hit & miss - some nights its full of Polish guys out for a fight, other nights its an absolute ball. Still a decent pub.
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Very nice pub. went there a lot lately and i'm loving the live music. Freindly bar staff nice place to hang out.
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A lovely pub, good range of beers, live music, dj's depending on the night. allround good night out! I recommend it.
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atchitecturally brilliant front - may be the best part of the pub. Good for cricklewood pub crawl.
6/10
phil
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Since getting my two front teeth knocked out in a fracas outside the Crown about 10 years ago this pub has always held a place close to my heart! It always was a big imposing joint that dominated Cricklewood but I fear that during the refurbishment works some of the old girls soul was carted off in one of the skips. I'm sure the business is coining it now, thanks to the highly efficient Morans group but the underlying seediness and real drinkers pub feel is gone and with it some of the Crown's attraction. One more thing - Kiwis, Aussies, South Africans, Eastern Europeans and Jesus Mary & Joseph hoards of bloody students- Where the bejabbers have all the Irish gone for a pint?
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I agree with all the latest comments.The pub is going down the pan.Ive stopped going because of the bad atmosphere around the place.This Friday 5thMay i will make an exception tho.The band Undiscovered are playing,must be the best live band in London...Cant wait.
anonymous - 2 May 2006 12:44 |
Anon, 21st December, I too grew up in Cricklewood,(Oaklands Road) but my dad always refused to go to "The Crown", preferring "The Cricklewood Hotel".
I agree with you that Cricklewood has gone down the pan, in fact a right toilet these days.
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Despite disagreeing with Tarquin Finwinzler's review below, I would like to nominate him for the most gratuitously verbose review on BITE I have ever read, and believe me, I've tried to do likewise myself. Although presumably, one 'wiles away one's days' as opposed to 'while-ing' it.
Good bar though.
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When the early mesopotamians began toying with the idea that continually wandering about the place swearing at livestock was only one of a myriad of lifestyle choices, they were not to know that the early trade and bartering systems they established would eventually lead mankind down the path of soulless global capitalism, where high streets teem with identi-kit chainstores filled with comfy aspirations and mass produced tat. Which brings me nicely on to The Crown in Willesden Green. Initially the building�s mock antique facade speaks of class and evokes a feeling of upmarket, sophisticated luxuriance in which one could happily while away ones days in an alcoholic fug. On entering the place however, assuming you�ve managed to evade the simian door staff who sit grooming one another in the doorway, it is clear that any charm and character promised therein was never anything more than an illusion. The interior is all IKEA individualism, polished surfaces and generic sports programming.The beer available ranges from the same characterless Australian swill found throughout the capital to the kind of tofu flavoured wheatgrass based ales that evoke the nasal caress of a vegetarian�s fart.
Some of the pubs positive features include: generally attractive, if Soviet-sounding barstaff, who serve customers with an icy, glacial precision, very much at their own convenience; function rooms upstairs which occasionally act as shelter for some of London�s more forthright guitar-botherers; and an extremely easy pub quiz which my flatmates and I, having won three weeks in a row, became bored with.
All in all avoid like the plague, which you may well contract if you do go into the place.
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i grew up in cricklewood and the place has gone to pot, the crown is the exception and looks fantastic but the beer is over priced and at best average,full of kiwis and oz crowd which is good but the eastern europe crowd put me and my mates off going there as they do hassle your girlfriends . Not a place to meet locals but it probably is the best on offer, for a proper pint of guinness try barretts opposite the bingo hall, i reckon its the best you'll find in london and certainly a lot better that the rubbish guinness they serve in the crown which considering its run by irish hoteliers the morans is bad.
anonymous - 21 Dec 2005 02:41 |
As most other people below say, this is by far the best pub in Cricklewood (which isn't saying an awful lot). Service isn't great but the decor and ambience are pretty decent. There's also a pub quiz on Mondays which isn't ludicrously hard (unlike many other pretentious London pubs)
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Best pub in Cricklewood but that is not hard. The crown looks good now; it easier to get to the bar and it open to 2. Now charge to get in after 11 which is a bit of cheek as it not really worth paying to get in.
anonymous - 30 Oct 2005 20:05 |
Nice bar, very airy, cold beer, clean bar area and toilets. Much better than a lot of the dross joints further down towards Cricklewood station. Only downside is the god-awful furniture in the front bar. Uncomfortable and not relaxing. Definitely worth a visit though.
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Saw a fantastic band in this pub, three guys called THREE - they know every song going, and play them so well
anonymous - 3 Oct 2005 18:45 |
Popped in here for the first time tonight. What a lovely bar, a world apart from its previous incarnation. Great beer and two of the most gorgeous petite blonde barmaids I've seen in a long while. I'll be back!
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'The Crown' is a very large old coach house / inn, and has been a traditional fixture in Cricklewood for donkeys years: hence the old London rhyme beginning, "The craic is good in Cricklewood, but the beer in the Crown is bad...!".
The beer's not bad now but no variety unfortunately- just the usual Fosters, Grolsch, John Smiths, etc., some decent bottled beers. What really sells The Crown now is its impressive decor, variety, and its come-as-you-are weekend attitude.
You've got a gin-palatial lounge room, large, tasteful, modern bar areas at the front of the building and upstairs, and, on Fridays and Saturdays, a dancefloor area I wouldn't be seen dead on but plenty of others seem to like. As someone else here says, there's a nice degree of seperation between all the areas so the place has variety.
Mainly mid-20s onward custom, I reckon, which may explain why there's no aggro. Late bars on Thurs / Fri / Sat (The Crown is attached to a hotel): arrive early and the lounge is a relaxing place to get plastered with mates.
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Good place for a few quiets during the week but unfortunately fills up with loads of seedy Eastern European guys harassing the ladies on the weekends.....
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Went there for the first time in a few years for Sunday drinks with friends who live in the area. The difference is amazing now that the building work is complete.
Really liked the change in feels between each bar. We had a drink in the modern and airy bar at the front before moving to the traditional styled bar at the side with comfy leather sofas by the fire where we had a great sunday lunch. In one of the other bars there was live music.
I want to go back and see what it's like on a Friday or Saturday night - my friends say it rocks.
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Was there on New Years Eve, had a fantastic time. Place was buzzing but still didn't take too long to get a drink. Plenty of talent too
Will definitely be going back!
anonymous - 2 Jan 2005 17:33 |
You can see from the other comments that this is a brilliant place. And on the weekend its open till 1am!
A spacious place hosting a mixed crowd.
h4rms - 24 Dec 2004 16:13 |
Great Band called Qwicksand plays here, come and check them out!
Michelle - 15 Nov 2004 20:46 |
When I went to The Crown last month it was my first time visiting Cricklewood and to be honest I wasn't looking forward to it. But once I arrived at The Crown all my worries seems to disappear. My first impressions - Fantastic pub! The building is huge with original features, tastefully lit up outside with friendly bouncers. Live bands - Great atmosphere. Has a trendy yet comfy interior. Great crowd – attracts people of all ages. I wish this pub well. Hopefully it will make Cricklewood a happier place. Also the bus stop is right outside! I'm going there this Friday with a group of friends to see the same band. Can't wait!!
Ellie W - 9 Nov 2004 09:09 |
Oh, where do I start?
From the outside this is probably the best looking pub in London. Despite the incongruity of the hotel next door the foyer area of where the hotel and pub meet is quite spectacular and works really well.
But somehow it just doesn't work. I am loath to slag off Cricklewood but it really is a poor relation of Kilburn as sad as that is. For a suburb so close to central London it really is moribund. I hope this doesn't sound racist because I would hate to sound that but I get the impression that the DJs in there are only in employment because they are playing a brand of cheesey house that can only be popular in deepest Eastern Europe. 2 years ago there was a fair few English and Irish locals in there but they seem to have deserted it which is a shame cos the area desperately needs the Crown to work. I wish it well.
John - 30 Oct 2004 12:58 |
This place is huge. Just when you think you've seen all of it, you try and find the toilets and find another 200 seats hidden out the back.
There's nothing wrong with it, I guess, but there's not much that's right either.
It needs to make up its mind how it feels about sport. If it wants to show matches, then turn the volume on and do it. If not, can the bar staff turn the telly off? It's impossible to have a conversation while there's a random football match on in the background that you can't really get into because someone keeps playing Beyonce.
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A big place with a stupid amount of bars. It does well to rise above the slum of an area it's in, and to go there on a Friday or Saturday, you actually meet people who have travelled from far away to get there. Well, Wembley mainly.
But none of that means I like it. Wouldn't have hurt that out of all those ridiculous wads of cash they must have spent on this place, they could have seen fit to have a real ale or two served.
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I'm a local and you'll be please to know that the pub does accept debit/credit cards now. And that fool who plays the same music every friday night is to be replaced !!!
Eric Reggison - 7 May 2004 14:58 |
Renovation in the Crown has finished, and what a fantastic job they have done...
Not only can you have a fab meal at the restaurant in the hotel (King Citric) then you can move on into the pub. There are 5 bars to choose from and they have been cleverly designed so that each area has a different feel to them. First there is the cocktail bar next to the restaurant, then into the pub itself the back of the pub has bands and dj's playing on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. The front bar is cool for checking out the talent and if your a real local or want to keep to your own group of mates then go upstairs, 'oh yeah' then the right hand side of the pub has another bar that is large, airy and refined!! The pub is open until 1am on Friday and Saturday and I've heard on the grapevine that they are applying for an extention until 2am.
Yes, Cricklewood is a right dump, however as soon as you're in the pub you forget about the external surroundings.
The Crown is unpretentious, chilled, mad, busy, quiet, made for all ages and types...just have a walkabout until you find the bar you like best!
Also the decor is tasteful, with fireplaces and comfy sofas with the past mixed in with a modern touch.
Lucy - 4 May 2004 21:49 |
IVE HAD MANY A GOOD NIGHT AT THE CROWN & ITS GETTING BETTER & BETTER. ALL THE STAFF ARE FRIENDLY EVEN THE BOUNCERS.
ALISON CUMERBATCH - 6 Jan 2004 19:40 |
This is my local and I'm sure if it were in a trendy part of London, everyone would want to go there!! Cricklewood is a dump but thankfully The Crown makes living there more than bareable.
The staff are friendly and enthusiatic and the atmosphere is always relaxed and enjoyable.
The only down side is if you want to watch any sports. The lay out means that seeing a tv is an uncomfortable experience. All in all thats the only down side, and now all the re-development work is drawing to a close the building looks ver good.
My tip = get yourself down there and sample the delights of The Crown for yourself!!
Alan - 17 Dec 2003 14:37 |
I had my 21st in the crown in 1987 and thanks to your two barmen then, Matt & Pat(who took a shine to my friend),we hada great night, I left for the USA after that, but we all still have the memories...stripper and all...TARZAN!!!!
Up Ireland by the way!!
anne - 12 Dec 2003 23:32 |
When for a saturday night in the upstairs bar. A lot of people, quite pleasent. Pity they dont take credit or debit cards!
Went down stairs for a look at the dance floor. All of a sudden this guy had five bouncers on top of him. The bouncers started choking the poor guy. Bit of enteraintment.
Everyone talks up Friday night, so give it a go. Best pub in Crinklewood.
spanko - 10 Dec 2003 17:14 |
This is my local and I think it's great tho the current building site decor detracts from it a touch.
Good beer(tho i did have a crap Kronenbourg in there on Saturday)coupled with a good refurbishment have made this a pretty stylish place to drink in what otherwise is a pikey craphole. Yes, Cricklewood is rubbish and pikey(ohh I said it again!)but this bar's an attractive proposition for a friday night drinking.
jemima puddlefcuk - 19 Nov 2003 09:53 |
The Crown is a great place to go to, and is by far the best pub in Cricklewood, which is, as I've said, a tad 'Pikey'.
And I'm a bloke, Murray and Jennie, but nevermind.
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The crown is simply wicked! I have to admit, I used to tag along with my mates because they loved it so much, but since they've decorated it, im quite a regular on a Friday nite. Dont have a clue about what Rubys trying to imply but is obviously part of 'pikey central' herself/himself/whatever they are cos they like to be in Cricklewood by the looks of it. Nice men in there and nice to catch up with old friends when everyones back from Uni
jenny - 29 Oct 2003 20:36 |
The Crown has even more improvements since July. It now has four bars and an amazing atmosphere. The hotel which will be finished next month adds even more style to the area as well as The Crown itself! The people are friendly but as always a good night is based on who you are with and there is plenty of places to sit and stand when with a large group of people. I rate this pub 10 out of ten! It shines class and it feels like you are walking into a pub in Soho! Go have fun and be merry at The Crown!! Also i found it very offensive that Ruby who wrote about this pub also thought that writing 'Pikey' was appropriate! If she was trying to be funny it's not!
Murray - 22 Oct 2003 19:17 |
Recently refurbished, the Crown now boasts a funky bar upstairs (with DJ at weekends), a comedy room (that like Father Xmas I've heard about but never seen), and a standard yet trendy comfortable pub downstairs. Very lively on Friday and Saturday, they're kind enough to stay open til 2am (queues form after 11). Live bands (2 blokes with guitars) entertain people in the downstairs back room. Popular with antipodeans who want to avoid the raucous rock-iness of the Spotted Dog in Willesden.
Went there last night for a summery beer outside (several wooden tables in the front car park facing the damn high street)
Moderately pricey but worth it for the decor, which also keeps most winos and madmen at bay. They frequent all the other pubs on the street.
Some gorgeous women in there from time to time, but it's no Budapest* (*the place from whence all stunning models emerge)
Easy to spot, a huge hotel is being built to the right of it, though why people will travel from all coners of the earth to stay in what looks like a pricey gaff in Pikey Central is anyone's guess.
Ruby - 15 Jul 2003 10:03 |
