Rose & Crown, St. Albans  fancyapint.com rated pub, rated2 pints - click for an explanation of our ratings

location:

St. Albans

address:

10 St. Michaels Street, AL3 4SG

phone:

0871 258 6608*
* calls cost 10p/minute, click here for more about 0871 numbers.

nearest station:

St Albans Abbey railway station
(1.2Km)

how to find it:

From St Albans train station, exit right onto Victoria Street and after a 10 minute you'll hit a T-junction where you turn left onto Chequer Street and shortly after right onto the High Street. Carry on down as it becomes George Street which segues into Rome Hill and eventually Fishpool Street. At the end of Fishpool Street veer left, cross the bridge and the pub will be on the right. Phew. St Albans Abbey station is nearer but less useful to most people.

click here for a larger map

picture of Rose and Crown
The Rose and Crown, along with its similar looking neighbour the Six Bells, helps provide St. Michael's Street with an archetypal country setting. As such - and benefiting from a nice floral display and a super-looking back garden - our hopes were pretty high, so it's with a heavy heart we can only award a two pint rating. Compared to other pubs in St Albans, the choice of ale was pretty disappointing, the handful of locals didn't exactly endear us to the atmosphere and the initial service was miserable, even if, in fairness, the landlord did bid us farewell later. The décor in the back section section wasn't great either, looking a bit tired and reminiscent of the Harvester approach to decoration. It was, however, a Whitney Houston CD that made us leave faster than we would have otherwise. We may have caught the pub on an off day and we can imagine it being a good place for locals, so we'll reserve some judgement until our next visit.

reviewed:
29/04/2007
reviewed by redcat

pub features:(click on an icon to see an explanation)

good beer served - click for explanationreal ale
beer garden or outdoor seating available - click for explanationbeer garden
dogs welcome - click for explanationdogs welcome

second opinion:

posted by ciderlover - Monday 3rd August, 2009, 4:22am
I forgot to mention that they bake their own bread, which is truly tasty.
posted by ciderlover - Monday 3rd August, 2009, 4:07am
I'm shocked by the other reviews. I think they really must have caught it at a bad time. I've been to this pub at least a handful of times, though I'm not a local. The staff was very friendly and I love the atmosphere. I love to play darts in that pub and sit by one of the cozy fireplaces. The garden is beautiful and the food is delicious. The sandwiches are excellent, as is the scampi and homemade potato salad. This is one of my favorite pubs in St Albans. The Six Bells is also nice, but the atmosphere is not as nice in my opinion. I suppose it could be a different situation on a Friday night. I usually went there for lunch.
posted by hannahr - Sunday 17th June, 2007, 8:48pm
I found this pub very unfriendly - the locals made sure we knew we were not welcome as 'friday night drinkers' and the bar star did nothing to really welcome us. The Six Bells next door is popular for a good reason - they actually WANT people to drink in their pub. It is a shame as the pub has the potential to be so much better. I wonder how it stays in business - maybe the landlord/lady isn't bothered and so doesn't want to make it a welcoming place to drink.
3 comments on this pub - why not add your own?

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