Our reviews
We always love to get great feedback. Here are some of our recent reviews:
THE AA GUIDE
The villagers here prefer to keep their “local” a secret but good news travels fast – and well! Max in the kitchen and Louise out front, arrived late autumn at this bistro/pub below The Chilterns. Their superb food, seasonal menus and real ales, rapidly earned a fine reputation.
The timbered bar and adjoining restaurant with real fires, create an atmosphere both warm and welcoming. Food from local suppliers is always freshly prepared so the menu is tight, barely a dozen lines long. Wise week-enders will book ahead ... and take their time when they arrive.
Bar Meals at lunchtime.
Brewery/Company Free House Brakspears, London Pride, a guest beer changes monthly.
Children’s Facilities Highchair
Nearby Market town of Thame
Notes Large garden with “Aunt Sally” court. Dogs allowed in bar.
VALE LIFE
It’s the proverbial hidden gem – a pretty, cosy, comfortable, 16th century village pub run by an outstanding chef whose food really is the jewel in the Crown.
Tucked away in the tiny hamlet of Sydenham, not far off the Thame/Chinnor road, the Crown was an olde worlde village pub struggling for survival. It was nearly lost for good too, when the brewery decided to close it down and auction it off for redevelopment in 2008. Luckily a syndicate of five local couples, got together, bought the ancient hostelry, funded a refurbishment and brought in Max and Louise Pettini to run the business. They chose well – Max is a first class chef with a rare knack for producing the most delicious meals with simple well matched ingredients, while Louise is the perfect front of house host, charming, friendly and attentive.
The couple met while working at a pub in Beaconsfield in the 90s. Max, an Italian by birth, was brought up in Australia and had trained as a chef for four years before setting out to see a little more of the world. Louise joined him on his travels and the two eventually got hitched, had daughter Alice, 14, and son Christopher, 12, and lived in Australia for three years before returning to Wycombe some eight years ago. Max has since honed his talents in the kitchens of several top notch hotels including Pennyhill Park in Surrey, The Compleat Angler in Marlow and Frimley Hall.
The couple had been looking to run their own place for a while, but had yet to find a suitable location when a friend of a villager told them about The Crown. Max had just accepted the position of head chef at the Compleat Angler and had to go in on his first day and explain he wasn’t staying.
"The Crown was just what we were looking for,” he says, “It’s freehold, not too big, and had been put in good order. We thought is was somewhere we could develop the food while keeping the pub side too." Foodwise Max likes to keep thing simple: “You can’t reinvent the wheel,” he says, “I use really good ingredients and put a couple of elements together, rather than chuck in a whole load of things which may or may not work and I source fresh, local ingredients where possible.”
Max makes it sound easy, but when Vale Life visited on a busy Thursday evening we were treated to one of the most perfect meals we’ve ever experienced. Pan fried scallops with black pudding and apple sauce was a delicate, perfectly executed starter, bursting with flavour and the crayfish, chorizo and smoked chicken risotto; rich, warming and smokey, with a hint of tomato and flaked parmesan – tangy, but not overpowering. My battered turbot had the lightest, crispiest of coatings, over firm flakes of succulent fish, while chips were nicely fried, slender and a pea ‘shot’ was a novelty – fresh and tasty. The honey and mustard roasted lamb rack was juicy, tender and full of flavour and served with dauphinoise new potatoes, pleasantly aromatic and not as earthy as older spud. The rosemary gravy was delish too.
Desserts were also superb: an excellent chocolate brownie, slightly crispy on the outside, chewy within and served with a toasted marshmallow and home made vanilla icecream, not oversweet – a top combination. Max suggested an accompanying Amaretto, which proved a good idea too. A bottle of Sancerre combined well with our meal, light and refreshing with a mineral edge and a hint of gooseberry while the white Rioja – sampled, purely for review purposes was pleasantly light, fruity and floral and highly recommended!
Louise served us throughout, somehow managing a smooth combination of fast and efficient, pleasant and chatty – and all while looking after the other diners too! Very impressive. Max may be keeping things ‘simple’, but he is serving simple food that has been beautifully cooked. His clever flavour combinations are delicious and the food is light andfresh, so even after three courses I didn’t feel I had eaten too richly.
At the bar there are three real ales: Brakspear, London Pride and a guest beer that changes monthly.
The pub is open for food Tue-Sat and Sunday lunch. They are closed Sunday night and Monday. It seems The Crown has been well and truly saved!