The Rose and Crown Pub and Dining Room

Note:  This restaurant was visited on 29 April 2012.  The review was originally written later that afternoon. 

So we're off again to another Disney restaurant.  This time, its the Rose and Crown Pub and Dining Room, at the England Pavillion in Epcot.

The Rose and Crown Pub and Dining Room

Once again accompanying me on this trip were my mother, Cheryl Butler, my younger brother, Nathan Butler, and Jared.  To be honest, this visit wasn't precisely part of my original plan.  But since we were going to be in Epcot anyway, Mom and I figured hey, why not, and picked up a couple of lunch reservations.

As with Le Cellier and Teppan Edo, you have to keep in mind that this restaurant is inside the Epcot park.  You're going to need admission into the park as a whole in addition to the cost of the restaurant.

For those of you who haven't ever been to Epcot, the Rose and Crown is located in the England Pavillion, a part of World Showcase.  Once you're inside Epcot, walk under Spaceship Earth, then continue through Future World to Showcase Plaza.  From Showcase Plaza, take the right-hand path and walk to the second pavillion (going past Canada), which is the England pavillion.

The Rose and Crown, under the trees.

The right side of the England Pavilion.

A side street in the England pavillion.

The far side of the England pavillion, including the fish and chips shop.

The Twinnings tea shop.

The Rose and Crown from the front.

Our reservation was for 12:05 pm, but despite arriving right on time and the restaurant being completely and utterly empty, we had a bit of a wait before being seated.  It wasn't that there was a crowd; rather, it was because the opening crew was running late and hadn't apparently finished getting the restaurant ready for business.  This, to me, is an inexcusable irritation.  I mean, its not that big a deal, as we were seated as soon as they could seat us, but there's no excuse for not having your place ready to open its doors when the doors are supposed to be opening.

So like I was saying, we checked in at the reservation kiosk and were handed a buzzer and told that, sorry, despite there literally being no one in the restaurant, we'd have to wait to be seated.  Okay, fine.  It turns out that the Rose and Crown has an exterior terrace that overlooks the World Showcase Lagoon.  It gave us a chance to sit down under the shade of the trees and enjoy the breezes off the lake as we watched the boats go back and forth.  There were also ducks and egrets and ibises to watch, so at least there was some entertainment.

The terrace at the Rose and Crown.

Enjoying the shade.

The view across the World Showcase Lagoon.

The wait for a table took ten minutes.  As we waited, the crowd in the terrace grew until there were about two dozen parties, all waiting for a table.  When the seating began, we were the third or fourth party seated, and ended up right back on the terrace where we started.  The area we were in had a lot of shade and a nice breeze that took away the heat of the rest of the day, and had a really good view of the surrounding park.

Our table.  You can see, even at this angle, that we had a great view of the rest of the park.

Almost as soon as we sat down, our waiter, a young man named Lee, appeared with menus.  He chatted with us while we decided on drinks.  Not to be too snarky about it, but the last person I would trust to make decent iced tea is a British person, so I ordered a soda.  I also ordered something called a Snake Bite, which is a pint of hard cider topped off with Harp Irish lager.  I have to say, this hit the spot on such a hot day.

Lee, our waiter.

When the time came to order our lunch, Nathan and I ended up ordering the cottage pie, while Jared and Mom both ordered fish and chips.

The cottage pie was a variation on the classic shepherd's pie.  Ground beef, diced onions, carrots, and potatoes, all in a sauce made of chicken stop, tomato paste, and the usual herbs and spices, all covered in a shell of cheese-sprinkled baked mashed potatoes that were so tasty all by themselves that the Rose and Crown could have listed just the potatoes as an entree.  The entire thing was filling and tasted good.  It was the perfect thing for lunch.

Unlike the fish and chips Mom ordered back during the T-Rex trip, the fish and chips Mom and Jared had were actually seasoned and cooked to a turn.  The chips were traditionally thick-cut British style french fries, and man were they good (yes, I stole some from both Mom and Jared).  Mom proclaimed the cod to be cooked to a turn, while Jared gave it all a big thumb's up.

The cottage pie.

Mom's fish and chips.  I love the fact that it was served wrapped in newspaper.

Jared's fish and chips.

When the time came to consider dessert, I demurred, as did Nathan and Mom, but Jared decided that he absolutely had to have something called a Knickerbocker glory.  This was a sundae made of a fruit coctail (apple and pear chunks with grapes) topped with vanilla ice cream, and all of that topped with chocolate and strawberry syrup, with whipped cream, sprinkles, and a cherry on top.  Jared emptied it quickly and proclaimed it "delicioso!"

The Knickerbocker Glory.

"Delicioso!"

 

With three adults and one child, drinks, and a dessert, the bill came to just under $75.  I'm giving it three and a half out of five starts, and would recommend it to my friends.

Before we left, I stuck my head inside the taproom, just to get a look at it.  There aren't many real bars on Disney property, but this is one of them.

The taproom.

Next up:  The San Angel Inn, at the Mexico Pavilion, Epcot.