The Crown Hotel at Boston Spa review: Here’s what I thought of Sunday dinner at the £1.2m Leeds pub

After hearing so much about the place, I took a drive to the Leeds village to try the Sunday menu.

The pub looks inviting from the street and we walked through the cosy bar area with gorgeous green walls, marble tables and plush yellow sofas.

The dining area is housed in a spacious conservatory - The Stables - with exposed brick walls, big mirrors and art deco touches, looking out onto the garden. It’s stunning.

There are four choices of roast - beef striploin, lamb shoulder, chicken supreme and pork loin and crackling.

My companion went for the lamb, and as a pescatarian there were a couple of options for me - roast cauliflower and baked hummus, and pan-fried salmon with white wine sauce and asparagus. I went for the latter.

Staff were super friendly and clued up on the menu; my main didn’t come with veg, but our server reassured me that one portion was plenty for two.

Our mains arrived quickly. Well, half of them did. After getting the salmon and a second plate of meat, roasties and a Yorkshire pudding, we waited for our veg. And waited some more.

To the staff’s credit, we were checked up on twice and given an apology when the veg finally came out, but our food was turning cold by the time we tucked in.

The skin on my salmon was perfectly crisp, but it was still translucent in the middle and I couldn’t finish it. The white wine sauce was a touch too salty and had split.

The Yorkshire pudding was a big hit with my companion and he said the lamb shoulder was well cooked and tender in the middle. Although our roasties were cooked through, we both thought they were lacklustre - chewy rather than crisp.

The saviour was our veg, all cooked to perfection.

We couldn’t get enough of the buttery soft mashed potato and there was a generous portion of crunchy green beans, shredded cabbage, parsnip and broccoli.

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We hoped for better luck with our dessert and both went for the special, a lemon tart.

The pastry was spot on and the lemon curd was nice and sharp - it was delicious. Our only complaint was that it needed a little dollop of cream or drizzle of sauce to go with it.

Two courses will set you back £21.95 or three for £24.95. And I’ll be honest, I’ve had a much better Sunday dinner for far less.

After finishing our meal, we settled in the bar area to catch the Lionesses’ triumphant Euros win - there was a brilliant atmosphere and it was hard to tear ourselves away.

I really wanted to love this place - and we did, but with stiff competition in Leeds, the food has a way to go.

Factfile

Address: 128 High Street, Boston Spa, LS23 6BW

Telephone: 01937 229 900

Opening hours: Mon-Thur, 11am-11pm; Fri, 11am-12am; Sat, 10am-12am; Sun, 11am-10pm.

Website: https://thecrownbostonspa.com/

Scores

Food: 6

Value: 5

Atmosphere: 9

Service: 6