3 /5 P.R Author: I stayed for a few days at this particular Crowne Plaza, known for its popular Indian restaurant, the Caprice. Although not my favourite cuisine, I was glad to see a lot of options on their all-day menu and a very ambitious set-menu to say the least. As well as an Indian menu, English, Italian and French dishes were also available, including a luxurious dessert selection.
On my first day I ordered the corn-fed chicken breast that came with carrot purée and seared broccoli. The purée, broccoli and thin thyme infused gravy was delicious, however the star of the dish- the chicken, was bland and a little dry. For dessert I had an amazing rum sauce plum and blackberry crumble. Perfectly crispy crumb, soft plums, and a vanilla custard that brought the flavours together wonderfully. On my second day, I ordered the duck salad, confit pork belly and the dark chocolate mousse. The duck salad was disappointing as it was dry and chewy, a far cry from the melt-in-the-mouth experience I was expecting. The pork belly, though paired with a rich herby mash and light serving of vegetables, was again lacking in quality. Having only a few days prior tried a pork belly dish at another Crowne plaza, I was perplexed to see the inconsistencies in food quality. In this case the ambition and complicated elements of the dish, took away from the quality of the meats served.
Nevertheless, dessert hit me with a high note, the dark chocolate mousse was sweet, light and paired perfectly with the tart raspberry purée and strawberry sorbet. I went with a few more sides after that, and I’m happy to say their triple cooked chips were the best ones I’ve had in a while.
We also had breakfast on both mornings which was delicious, especially their full-English and assortment of pastries. I also favoured their plain praunta which was reminiscent of a savoury crispy pancake, mild in flavour and suited to all tastebuds, as opposed to authentic Indian flavours. Their garlic naan and poperdoms were also perfectly fresh and piping hot, but after this good experience things only went downhill…
Unfortunately their paneer was solid and not as fresh as it should have been, and their plain lassi was so bad it made one of our table members sick for two days. Stay on the safe side and order a fine wine or a fresh juice, that lassi gave stomach aches to all who drank it. Yet again, dessert saved the evening- their array of ice creams and perfectly soft and moist chocolate brownie wetted the sweet-tooth.
Service in the restaurant itself was a 10/10 experience. Staff was very accommodating with seating and table arrangements, and very familiar with dishes on all the menus which made ordering a pleasant experience. We got to know our servers well and I was astonished to see they remembered our past food preferences as each day went on. The only reason I have given four stars as opposed to five, is due to a bit of a breakfast mishap where another room’s order was sent to our door and I had to have a rather unpleasant and tiresome phone conversation as to how the order was not ours. However, credit is due where it’s due and the reception did call back to apologise as the breakfast order was indeed sent to our room by mistake. Overall, staff is very friendly and efficient, but my experience in the restaurant was much better than my experience with room service.
Overall I was happy with this Crowne Plaxa’s staff experience and pleased with their excellent, luxury standing desserts. It is very unfortunate about the room-service mistake and the upsetting results of drinking the lassi. Sometimes less really is more.
- P.R
