First of its kind

The residents of Rickmansworth and the surrounding villages must be happy. Until recently, the food pubs in the area were the dullest kind of market-researched chain. Then the Rose And Crown opened - the area's first gastropub. As it is within the M25, and my recent outings in Central London have been so gastronomically uninspiring, I took the Dirty Blonde to the far reaches of the Metropolitan line one Sunday night.

According to the Watford Observer, this pub used to be a tiny, wisteria-covered country inn well regarded for its ale. According to others, it was a swirly carpeted s***hole that served good beer. The new owners still keep proper ale, London Pride, and interesting and diverse guests, currently Duchars and Tim Taylor's.

The main business is food with extensive bar snacks, as well as more restauranty stuff. We ate in the poshed-up conservatory overlooking pastoral scenes. Seagrass matting and white tablecloths distinguish the area from the original glossy old wood and stone-floored bar. It's an old pub in a spruce new way.

The menu is not at its best on a Sunday. The week's leftovers are being used up, Ready, Steady, Cook-style, before tomorrow and the new menu. Crab with dill and grapefruit came with earthier salad leaves than the crab could carry, the grapefruit and dill were both coldflavours, the crab watery. This was a poorly balanced dish. Dirty B. took a smoked haddock fishcake with a nicely sloppy, potatoey centre, which could have done with more actual fish. The mustard sauce didn't hurt it, in fact, its flavours stood well against herby and bitter leaves.

Hand-cut chips were dry and pallid. Roast loin of pork had plenty of great fat, which saved its lack of tenderness, but did not excuse it. It was served as a big fat slice on a bed of cold Chinese leaves in a watery dressing. Dirty had duck, which was overcooked and piled on the plate with copious trimmings, topped off with a kicky raspberry sauce. Duck Sundae. He liked it. The broccoli had signs of brown age. Not good.

The food didn't taste bad, and individual elements, such as carrot-and-swede mash and the pork crackling, were jolly good. The bar menu is full of favourites such as Cumberland sausage, haddock and chips and whitebait. There's a welcoming feel to the place, and talk about group trips to breweries for ale-loving regulars. The Rose And Crown could be the closest thing London has to a proper country pub, and definitely worth a creep into the nearby countryside. But perhaps just not on Ready, Steady, Cook night.

The Rose and Crown
Woodcock Hill, Harefield Road, Rickmansworth, Herts