English ale house, football, darts, and crispy brown fish and chips
Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 1040
Reviewed: 12/6/2004
Rating: 9.5
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Hail to the queen for she serves one of the best fish and chips in the Bay Area. The Rose and Crown Pub is located off University in Palo Alto. Its in the parking lot adjacent to Pizza My Heart. You will notice the mural painted outside the pub that resembles an old english tavern.
Its a bit dark when you walk inside and a little stuffy but its a pub, what would you expect. We came here for some serious fish and chips. While we didnt come here to drink but the temptation was too hard to resist, Terry got a Guinness and I got the Boddingtons Ale.
We were surprised that the 2 piece fish and chips rang it at $8.50. Pricey but we will see if its worth it. We could hear the fryers going and smell of batter from where we were sitting. With a short wait, the waitress brought out the fish.....geeezzzzz the fish were huge!!! Whole fish fillets deep fried!!! not the small rectangular cubes that you are used to seeing in other places. Lets do the jatbar fish and chip breakdown
chips - hand cut fries, a bit thicker than shoestring, heavy on the pepper. Great stuff.
fish - icelandic cod, beautiful portions, no fishy taste, no slime, fish was a bright white color. Excellent.
batter - oh my gawd...the holy grail of batter, this is one of the best Ive had anywhere. It was a dark golden brown color that had small bits of flakes falling off. It wasnt heavy on the batter and it was completely cooked through. It was flawless. The batter held up quite well and did not get soggy. If the owner reads this, I beg you to send me the secret recipe....haha.
If you love english style fish and chips, you will love The Rose and Crown Pub. It is my current favorite Fish and Chips place for the Bay Area and cant wait to take my out of town friends here. If you are worried about a crowded pub atmosphere, go there for lunch and eat your food on the outdoor patio. Im counting the days on making my return visit.
RETURN VISIT for Jason!5/25/2006 - 9.5 Rating: It's been awhile since I've been to Rose and Crown Pub but with 5+ visits here, I was confident they would not disappoint. As with my previous visits, they did an excellent job with the fish. Crispy, flakey, solid piece of bright white fish, and I was actually surprised that my piece wasn't as greasy as my previous visits.
The waitress messed up on Adam's order but left the plate for him to eat and quickly brought out a replacement. Good service.
They had football on the big screen along with all these english accents screaming. If you're into pubs, you'll love the atmosphere. If you can't stand the stale smell of beer and cooking of batter, sit outside.
Here's my current rankings.
Cook's Seafood for standard batter Rose and Crown for English style Jonathan's for Southern Corn meal
Right on. Its great to just stumble into a place and try it for the first time, sight unseen, no reviews or recommendations....AND ENJOY IT.
That was the case with Rose and Crown Pub. It looked like a true beer-stinking,windowless,hole in the wall and the place was practically empty at noontime. The stale stench of last nights beer infiltrated the carpets. The dim lighting perfect for post-hangover blues, the soccer matches on the TV in the corner keeping us up to date with British sports. Anyway you get the picture. It feels like a british pub.
I had to go with the Fish Chips of course. They arrived fairly quickly and oh my god, these are the best Fish Chips I've had in the Bay Area! They are different than Jonathon's FC (which are damn good in their own right) but for the classic style of deep fried fish and chips, Rose and Crown cannot be beaten. The fries were thick cut with the skins on and salted to perfection. The fish was fresh but not slimey in the least. It was pure heaven. They give you a nice amount of tartar which was tasty (not the best, but good). The batter was not too thick, not too thin, slightly burnt tasting and greasy, but not enough to upset my stomach later on in the day. I gobbled up the fish and chips and was completely full. So full I was busting out. It was a perfect Fish and Chips experience.
Reviewer: Dan
Total Reviews: 84
Reviewed: 1/16/2006
Rating: 8
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I have fond memories of the Rose and Crown Pub since I've always gone on Fridays with friends, drank beer, and stayed perhaps a little too long. But I will try not to allow my buzz-addled memories sway my vote.
Something about the configuration of this place (main entrance off a city parking lot, adjacent to an alley) and the ambiance (poorly lit, eclectic British pub) lets you feel like you're off the grid. The blackboard above the bar lists the beers on tap (at least 20!). Scarves for many soccer teams hang above the bartender and the walls are littered with pub signs, dartboards and paraphenalia (my favorite is the breastplate [literally!] with the royal Scottish flag painted on it). The inside is clean but can feel kind of small and confining. Thankfully, there is a deck outside if you prefer the fresh air.
Burger -- Nicely done and a good size. Quality meat on a really good, fresh bun. Doesn't come with fries but we usually buy a plate of fries to share. Fries are thick cut and delicious, good enough to cause a little elbow bumping competition for the last few.
Fish and Chips -- Tried this on my most recent trip per Jatbar's recommendation. These had light, flaky fish inside with a nice crunchy batter outside. I'm not a fish & chips connoisseur, so I can't comment on how they compare to others in the area, but they were damn good! Still a little greasy for me, but I can be kind of an anti-grease fanatic. Fries were excellent as before. Enough food that I couldn't quite finish. The two-piece plate plus one beer and tip ran me about $14. Without the beer it would have been about $10. A little steep for me to go more than once a month.
On my last visit, our waitress/bartender neglected us too much, and then she gave us a check with a total and no breakdown. But that is not the norm. On most of my visits here, service has been friendly and helpful. But they take their time, so don't go if you're in a big hurry.
“I like for my fish to be more chunky than like a fillet but the batter was excellent and the fish was of the highest quality so I can't really complain. The setting really puts you into the groove of a blue collar Brit after a rugby match.”
