If you read my December review, you will see that DH was absolutely enchanted with the sweet potato pillow that is part of Rose & Crown's chicken dinner. Since I got to repeat my happiness with Le Cellier, it was only fair that he got to repeat his nirvana at Rose & Crown.
We arrived close to our ADR time of 7:45pm, and only had to wait a few minutes before our buzzer went off. It was a chilly night, but not nearly as cold as it had been on our previous trip, so we didn't care if we sat inside or out. We were seated inside again, but this time on the opposite side of the restaurant. We were in the last room in the corner, and it was actually a bit of a squeeze (both for us and our waitress) to get to our table. Once the place started to clear out later on, though, that was less of an issue.
Once again, we made fast friends with our server. Kim was friendly and helpful, and we really enjoyed chatting with her. This time, I decided to just order hot tea to begin with, and had standard English Breakfast tea throughout the meal.
Unlike the signature restaurants, R&C just has a few types of Twinings tea. This could be due to the theme of the restaurant, too. The tea was still really good (I think I had 3 pots!), but I did miss the vanilla roobios.
DH ordered iced tea. Kim also brought out some cheese rolls with butter:
These really look better than they tasted. They were cold, and not terribly flavorful. We didn't eat much of them anyway, since we knew we had a lot of food coming.
For his appetizer, DH wanted to try something uniquely English, so he went with the Scotch egg:
This is a hard-boiled egg wrapped in sausage meat and fried, then served with a little mustard sauce and toast. It was definitely unique, and he ate the whole thing (I got a taste), but it was very rich. We could see how some people might be turned off by all of that fat and meat together. Not sure if it's something either of us would get again.
Guess what my appetizer was? That's right, another cheese plate!
What was nice was that this plate had a trio of new cheese for me...all from the U.K. There was a mushroom brie, Irish cheddar, and stilton. Being a cheddar lover, that was my favorite. Likewise, not being a fan of brie, that was my least favorite. Stilton is a lot like blue cheese, so it is very strong, but good when paired with the fruit. As you can see, there was a lot of cheese on this plate. I tried to finish it all, but only made it through about half.
Since I had also tasted the infamous chicken and sweet potato pillow on our last trip, and also loved it, DH and I both ordered the same thing for our main course:
Personally, I think it was a little less delicious than it was in December, and I think it was the chicken. In December, I remember the chicken being perfectly cooked and very juicy. This time, it was still good, but not quite as tender and juicy. DH had no complaint, and finished his whole plate. I was so full by that point in the trip (both from the day's food, and the whole week's), that I made it through a little more than half. Oh, and there's still nothing wrong with that sweet potato pillow...that is just awesome.
Of course, there was still dessert to be had. We tried to order items that weren't too large, but that's a matter of perspective. DH liked my chocolate scotch cake in December, so he ordered that:
Still pretty good, but not the best cake either of us had ever had. I guess it's just too much like a regular cake, with not enough moistness or unique flavor.
I wanted to try the sticky toffee pudding, even though I don't like butter sauces:
As you can see, I got the sauce on the side again. The rest of the dessert is really a cake sitting on some pudding. Both were fine, but I wasn't terribly impressed. A lot of people rave about this dessert, but maybe they are bigger fans of toffee than I am
By the time we were done with our meal and paid the check, it was well after Illuminations, and most people had left the restaurant. Our check is timestamped 9:38pm, but we were definitely the last ones to leave.
Total OOP cost before tip? $76.02
Atmosphere? I liked sitting closer to the pub in December, rather than our room this time. I can definitely see why people are happy with viewing Illuminations from the patio here, but since we weren't interested in that, and only concentrating on the inside atmosphere, this is a 3.
Service? Kim was very nice. Our only complaint was that there seemed to be longer stretches later in the evening where she was absent. This is a 3.5.
Food? DH still maintains this is a 5, but I think he's blinded by the sweet potato pillow. Other than the pillow, which was perfect, this meal was more of a 3.5 for me.
Overall rating? We'll be back...DH is an addict
)
Booooooo! But there will be more trips, we hope.
I cannot WAIT to try Karamell Kuche in July and August!! 
We missed it in January because when we attempted to go, we couldn't even open the door without the surplus of caramel hunters pouring out of the building. 
