RECENTLY refurbished, The Crown Inn was a welcoming place on a snowy March night.

I'd been impressed when booking, to be asked by the receptionist if I required a non-smoking or smoking table.

As my boyfriend is unable to leave his mouth fag free for a nano second, I opted for the latter. But when we arrived on a busy Saturday night, we were shown to the non-smoking area.

On pointing this out to the head waiter we were told, somewhat irritably I thought, that we'd have to wait for a table.

A quick drink in the adjoining bar (The Crown is pub, restaurant and hotel) soon passed the time, although it would have been nice if we'd been offered a menu to glance through while we waited.

After 10 minutes or so we were shown to our table in the smoking area. It seemed the non-smokers were favoured as they were seated in an attractive conservatory-style part of the dining room.

However the place was pleasant enough and we were hungry.

Minutes passed before a young waitress asked us if we'd like to see a menu. We both agreed this would be a splendid idea since without perusing it we'd have difficulty in making a choice.

The menu is fairly extensive with a separate vegetarian section - brownie points there - alongside more traditional fayre - steak Diane, £9.95 and starters including black pudding, £1.75 and Italian bread with mozerella, £1.95.

Forever a slave to fashion, to start I chose the prawn cocktail, £3.25, while my boyfriend plumped for the garlic mushrooms, £2.75.

Mine was lovely - the prawns were nice, juicy and plentiful and the salad garnish very fresh. It was served with a portion of brown bread and butter.

But, oh dear, the garlic mushrooms were bereft of just one thing - garlic. They arrived swimming in what looked like a thick white sauce which, in fact was ...a thick white sauce.

My boyfriend spent the next five minutes or so fishing around in the mysterious gloop, only to exclaim at regular intervals "I think I've found some parsley", and "Yep, it's definitely parsley".

Still the house wine saved the day - at £5.95 for a bottle of red, it was very palatable indeed.

For the main course I chose trout parcel stuffed with prawns and mushrooms, £7.25, and my boyfriend decided on the leek and Roquefort cannelloni, £6.40. All main courses are served with a side dish of seasonal vegetables and a choice of potatoes, chips or salad.

I couldn't really fault the trout - it was cooked to perfection - but it was extremely bland. True, I'm a seasoning freak but a pinch of salt and pepper and a wedge of lemon would have helped it along.

The same must be said for the accompanying vegetables and new potatoes - all cooked just right (the veg, al dente) - but they couldn't be described as tasty.

Again though, it was my boyfriend who drew the short straw. His leek cannelloni turned out to be pasta parcels with mushrooms which he certainly hadn't ordered.

Still, not one to complain - well, he couldn't be bothered, he was starving - he set about eating it.

He declared it "quite nice" and said the sauce was very tasty - in fact he was quite happy he'd got the wrong dish.

I don't usually go for dessert but, to be honest, I was still quite hungry and was hankering for something that would leave a lasting impression on my tastebuds after my bland main course, so I ordered cheese and biscuits, £2.50.

This was a treat. On my own little plate I got a hearty selection of five cheeses and a healthy clutch of biscuits - and I devoured every morsel. Well worth the money.

We decided against coffee and asked for the bill which came to £28.10.

Service at The Crown was efficient, if slightly impersonal, and waiting staff were polite.

Vegetarians are fairly well catered for and there is a children's menu available. There is access for wheelchairs in the dining room but I couldn't see how they would be able to negotiate the couple of steps up to the no-smoking area.

A quick snoop in the ladies loos revealed a bright, clean and well decorated area complete with the most well-equipped vending machine I'd ever seen - tights, hairspray, hand creme, shampoo, make-up and other essentials.

Apparently the gents' are similarly equipped, according to my boyfriend. KAREN STEPHEN

Star Rating *** HH

MENU *** HHH

ATMOSPHERE * H

SERVICE ** HH

VALUE FOR MONEY * H

CHILDREN'S MENU Didn't see this but one was available

DISABLED ACCESS ** HH

VEGETARIAN DISHES ** HH

ends

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.