The Three Crowns

Only last year I would have given this pub a full 5-star rating but the place seems to have come under new management. Sometimes new management is good and sometimes it is bad. This time, it is bad.

When we first arrived in Stokey last year it was a regular haunt for us of a weekday afternoon for coffees, hot chocolates, nibbles and then weekday dinners. The food was always good.

In the last month I have met people here for dinner twice and can say I won't be meeting anyone there for dinner again. The menu – despite have the day's date on it – hardly changes. The attempt at more upmarket food falls flat: 'Chilli (and something I can't remember) Poussin & Shoestring fries = chicken and chips. It's not even good chicken and chips, it's decidedly average since the flavouring on the Poussin is just on the skin and as soon as you've done with that it's just a lot of (dry) white meat. The shoestring fries (or whatever they called them) were a stupid idea too. Since they are so thin they go cold almost as soon as the waitress has placed the plate down.

The slow roast belly pork was equally disappointing. First things first, it clearly wasn't slow roasted – the fat hadn't rendered down at all. I can't even remember what else was on the plate, but I will say that I ordered a side of “fat chips” which, for £3-4 was a rip off. You get about 6 chips, don't bother.

Nothing was helped by the waitress, who forgot almost everything. It took us a full 10 minutes to get mayonaise & ketchup out of her, and she obviously forgot to order my side of chips (and lied about it — “they're just coming”) since they arrived almost as soon as i was about to finish my plate!

So no more dinners there for us. And, no more afternoons either since I recently discovered that they now don't do soy milk. Big mistake in this part of town I think. I often used to go in for hot drinks with soy and stay for hours re-ordering.

Take your money elsewhere, the new manager obviously doesn't want it!

This is the best local gastropub in Stoke Newington. The Sunday roasts here are great, and a lovely place to spend a Sunday afternoon. They have some really good beers and wines too.

I genuinely can't remember when I have had such poor service at a restaurant. Things did not get off to a brillant start when waiter started to serve the wine, i had suggested to the waiter to just pour it and not to worry about the tasting. Rather prissily, he insisted i tasted it in a condescending tone. Then it took a quite a while for the starters to be delivered and then the main course..we had to ask about the fate of both before they came. for the main course, we had asked waitress how it was going, she said we had to understand that it was a sunday and that sometimes it took longer on a sunday. She added that the food had just been plated. But again we waited. When we asked for the bill, we waited again despite the fact we were one of the last to leave the restaurant and the dining area was largely empty. When i complained about the service as i left, the waiter insisted that it had only been 15 minutes between the collection of the starter plates and the arrival of the main course. It was long 15 minutes if that was the case.
Sometimes slow service is fact of life and you don't mind so much if you are having a good meal and good time. Food should not be rushed. But it was more the tone of how the staff dealt with us that i found appalling.
The wine was good – a Chilean carmanere reasonably priced. However, the food was no great shakes for the price. We had three roasts – lamb, beef and pork. All pretty much what you would expect for gastro pub fare. But the starter of cold meats was particulary poor. life is too short to go to this place again..next time i will just go to Rasa up the road.

Having visited The Three Crowns four times in three weeks both my partner Anne and I are of the opinion that this is a superb watering hole with excellent food, great staff and great value for money considering the quality of the food. The staff are very attentive without being overbearing, the wine list very good and the beers of a good selection at prices comparable to other pubs in the area. Sometimes can be very busy and advisable to check beforehand or make a booking.

I have eaten several times on a weekday evening at the three crowns and so far have not been disappointed. The restaurant side of the pub is cosy but you are not on top of each other and the service always helpful and friendly. Our favorite dish has to be their pork belly and the rhubarb crumble is divine.