The Crown at Groombridge

Hi

Had a very pleasant lunch today at the Crown, organised by Julie and her walking group. That morning, they enjoyed a four mile ramble from the pub car park to Tunbridge Wells via meadows and woods, then took the train back to Groombridge for the lunch.

On arrival at the Crown we mentioned to the landlady that I had had a text from Julie who wanted her to know they would be a little late for their booking, as a bolt had needed replacing on the Spa Valley Railway train, delaying their arrival by about 20 minutes. She looked a little stressed.

We then ordered a bottle of wine and two mains (the vegetarian nut roast that comes with roast tats and salad) and offered her the cash. She said it would be easier for her to take the money at the end when we had all finished eating, and looked a little stressed, but nevertheless accepted the cash.

She asked us if we wanted to eat immediately or to wait for the others to arrive. We replied we'd prefer to wait for the others to arrive. Again, she looked a little stressed.

We then asked if we might possibly have veg and gravy instead of salad with our nut roast, being as it was Sunday lunch. She said the chef was very busy as this was Sunday lunch, and looked a little stressed. We said yes, it was indeed Sunday, which was why we fancied a vegetarian variation on the trad roast. She said she would ask the chef if he could manage to put veg and gravy on our plates instead of salad, given how busy he was today, and once again stress crossed her features.

We made our way to the safety of the 'snug' and didn't have long to wait before our friends arrived. Our nut roast did indeed come with veg rather than salad, but no gravy. We asked the waitress why no gravy and she said proudly, "Because all our gravies here are properly made from boiled meat bones." We pointed out that Bisto do a very good gravy for vegetarians - in fact all Bisto is vegetarian as far as I know.

I might as well have mentioned dog doo doo. The waitress looked horrified. "We wouldn't DREAM of having anything to do with GRANULAR gravy!" she whispered.

"But that means we vegetarians get no gravy at all," we moaned. At that point it was our turn to look a little stressed.