Rose and Crown, Ipswichback to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Had been a pub since the seventeenth century but no one at all appears to give a shit as it is gutted and trashed to be turned into an Indian restaurant.
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Freehold up for sale by Admiral Taverns
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Obviously a pub that needs to get back to its glory days. Pleasant enough, and music wasn't bad. No real ale though, which sounds like a down point from before. The Kronenbourg wasn't bad though - we shut our eyes and thought we could be in France!
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The rose and crown is now under new management. It now has a new and fresh look. we have great plans in the pipe line and hope to soon start serving great home cooked food.
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The Emperor has improved by leaps and bounds since Nigel left it, and hopefully the same will happen here. This goes to show, you can't run a successful pub by sticking a few real ales on the bar and letting everything else go to seed. As I said in my previous reviews, this pub has been scruffy, freezing cold and dark on my visits- on one occasion so cold I couldn't stay to finish my beer. It really wouldn't have taken much investment to whitewash the walls, stick up a few traditional pub signs by way of decor, turn on the lights and central heating and offer a bit of pub grub. Anyone wanting to run a successful real ale pub should pop along to the Dove or Fat Cat to see how it's done - it's not rocket science, but great real ale isn't the only thing on offer, customers need to feel comfortable enough to want to stay. Hopefully this pub will be taken on by someone who is able to offer west Ipswich the great real ale pub it really needs.
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I had the rumours confirmed at lunch time today. Nigel, the landlord is leaving the pub this Sunday. What a shame this pub was not more successful! Ipswich residents you should be ashamed of yourselves for not supporting.
This is one of my favourite lunch time destinations with excellent beer quality and conversation. The beer was always reasonably priced and the pub was always friendly. Nigel is already removing some of his items from the pub. At lunch time before I asked I noticed that the front 3 hand pumps that he added have now gone. The juke box is in the process of having the cd's removed.
Anyway there are still two lovely dark beers available today. Make sure if you want to say goodbye to Nigel come this week before Sunday. Nigel is planning on taking a break from the pub trade at the current time.
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You won't find better beer on the West side of Ipswich, particularly if you like darker beers.
With a varied, changing selection, Nigel always has something interesting on, most of it from smaller local breweries, usually in uncommonly good condition.
This pub highlights just how fantastic real ale can taste, given due care and attention.
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good real ale fest before christmas and over the newyear. top class beers with good landlord.
friendly locals and normally 5 beers on at any one time. music on Friday and Satterday evenings upstairs.
could do wiht a lick of paint. It's a bit quiet and this is a shame since Ipswich surely can support 3 real ale pubs apart from the Dove and Fat Cat.
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Christ, what a shambles. Despite previous disappointments, I revisited this pub on Wed 23rd because I'd seen an ad in the local 'paper stating that they were holding a beer festival, starting on the 21st, with 'up to 20 real ales available'. On my visit there were just 3 0r 4 beers on offer, as when I have been in before. There were only 2 customers, watching 'Top Gear' on a big telly(the beer festival entertainment??) The beer I bought, Santa's Revenge, had a strong aftertatste of soap, as though something had been washed out and not rinsed properly. Much of the pub was in darkness as if customers weren't wanted. Worst of all, the place was absolutely freezing cold, so much so that I couldn't stay long enough to finish my drink. The landlord was much in evidence looking very pleased with himself - really not sure what he has to be pleased about on this showing.
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I had my second visit to this pub on a late lunch today. I like this pub, good ale and good company. 5 ales on display today although I understand a St Judes beer was also available straight from the barrel. Three of his beers seem to be regulars Earl Soham Gannet and Victoria as well as Crouch Vale Brewers Gold. I like what Nigel the l/lord has done and is trying to achieve. For a newly re-opened pub to be able to support 6 different ales this quickly is quite an achivement. The beer I had today was very well kept and as the pub is only about 10 minutes walk from where I work I am sure I will return soon.
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Visited the R&C on 28 August 2007 evening. Seven Real ales available: Earl Soham Gannet mild and Victoria Bitter, Crouch Vale Brewers Gold, Nethergate's Old Growler, Premier Bitter from Bartram's and Ruddles� Hedgerow. St Jude�s "Chocolate Malt" available upon application - from the cellar.
Bottles: Strong Suffolk and Gold Label, with three different Polish lagers. Bellevue Kriek and Aspalls cider starts the fizz list, with the usual lagers etc.
Soon to come O'Hanlon's Port Stout! Looking forward to this one. This pub is building up momentum slowly, have started looking for old enamel signs on the pubs' behalf.....
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Comfortable without being over the top.
Disappointed with range and variety of beers but sure this will improve when Nigel leaves The Emperor for good in 4 week time.
Great potential,lets hope it is fulfilled!
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Took a trip here on a Friday lunch time from work. It's a little way out of town but worth the trip. Six local ales (3 from Earl Soham brewery, 2 from Crouch Vale and 1 from St Judes). Very quiet though but then it's only just re-opened. It wasn't the template design for a cask pub as described below but had more of a gastro feel - light and airy and clean. Recognised the landlord as Nigel formerly from the Emperor. Likely to make the occasional lunchtime trip here I think... made a change from our regular Friday lunchtime venue, Mannings. Hope the trade picks up as I liked it a lot and it would be good to see it be successful.
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Well this pub had definately been redecorated/resigned outside when I drove by about a month ago, contrary to other posts on this site.
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j-p implies I've been less than fair in my review of this pub and I agree my last review reads a little like 'sour grapes'. I want to put down why I'm so disappointed in the Rose and Crown, then I'll shut up about it forever.
Rewind a couple of months; the Rose and Crown closed its doors. Then an advert appeared in CAMRA's local newsletter stating it would be opening again as a 'cask ale freehouse.' I was excited. Cask Ale freehouses are 'theme pubs' - I don't mean this in a disparaging way because these are the pubs I love. They are always built around a tried and tested formula. First the range of Cask ales- usually at least 6. The decor is based on the 'bare boards' theme- bare floorboards, stripped down walls, but all gleaming and clean. Often the walls are decorated with old enamel pub signs, advertisements for long defunct brands of cigarettes, quack medicines etc. Food tends to be of the basic-but-filling variety- Pies, filled rolls, scotch eggs, the wonderful home made pork pies that used to sit on the bar at the Golden Rule in Ambleside. There's an absence of piped music and fruit machines. 'Events' usually mean a weekend barbecue and perhaps a bi-annual beer fest.The intention is to recreate the atmosphere of the bygone 'Victorian ale house', but the whole thing is usually not the genuine article.If you are ever lucky enough to go on a pub crawl in Burton on Trent you will inevitably find yourself in the Burton Bridge Inn. The back room there is an absolutely classic drinking space ticking all the 'traditional' boxes- yet it was created less than a decade ago as an extension to the original pub. The Norwich and Ipswich Fat Cats were both renovations of former non-descript failing boozers- the Victorian atmosphere is purely a recent creation. Norwich has an abundance of great 'cask ale freehouses' answering this description- I'd say at least 20- and over the years I've spent countless happy afternoons in them, always ending at the best of them all, the Fat Cat. One recent discovery, for example, is the Kings Head on magalene Road, which has been a cask ale freehouse for all of 2 years but nevertheless oozes atmosphere.Occasionally you might find yourself in a pub whose atmosphere is the real thing- the Cock at Brent Eleigh is an example of this and it's a joy to drink there. But failing that the manufactured variety is a great substitute.
So this is what I thought- or hoped - we were getting in north west Ipswich- a cask ale freehouse in a town where unlike Norwich we have just 2 other examples. In my mind's eye I was calling into this great new pub for a beer on my way home from work, maybe becoming 'spotted' as a regular; in my dreams I was beckoning over my friends from East Ipswich to come for a beer in a decent pub on this side of town for the first time on record.
Then reality kicks in. Creating a 'cask ale freehouse', as with any other kind of refurbishment, takes an investment of money. This simply hasn't happened. Before it closed the Rose and Crown was a run-down pub with no real ale. Now it's a run down pub with 4 real ales. So much for my little dreams.
Finally in my previous post I accused the pub of having no events planned. This has now changed. Apparently from June 30th the pub is playing host to 'one big Polish party' (the migrant worker type, rather than the kind which might make the surfaces a little cleaner). So I'll leave the pub and it's future to the Poles, and leave it to others to form their own opinion.
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No karaoke? No discos? Right that's it, I'm definitely going back then. :-)
I'm a bit confused by the cigarette ash thing, as it was already a non-smoking venue on my visits - I'm a smoker so that's how I know. Still, that's all over everywhere on July 1st, as you say, Ed.
I'm also a bit confused by the 'basic tables and chairs' comments. Yes there is some furniture that fits that description and this type of furniture often features in the pubs I like (cask ale freehouses). But if you do fancy a lounge, I'm pretty sure there were some very comfy-looking sofas in there as well. Maybe they were covered in fag ash as well and therefore invisible? ;-)
I still maintain that 'a run-down dive' is a little strong, you should see the charming little place I went to in Clapham High Street this week...that was a dive.
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Feeling a little guilty about posting 2 negative reviews for this pub without ever having set foot in it I felt I'd better pay an actual visit this evening. First I can confirm the pub has not been 'externally renovated' as a previous review claims- it looks exactly like the picture on this site which I suspect is at least 5 years old. Cannot confirm whether the pub has been 'internally renovated' but if so what came before must have been dire indeed. There are basic wooden tables and chairs;at the time of my visit most of the tables were coated with cigarette ash; I would guess the landlord has removed the ashtrays and not quite had the courage to ban smoking, hence the ash protest. In just 2 weeks he will lose his smoking customers forever. This evening- Friday at approx 9pm- there are 10 customers in the pub. 8 are clustered at the bar and are obviously friends/associates of the one memmber of staff who is running the place. The other 2 are German tourists. There are 4 real ales on offer but absolutely nothing else- no food, no forthcoming events, no karaoke, no barbecues, no discos no- As I have said previously, it's just a run down dive. Putting 4 real ales on the bar simply isn't enough to create a 'cask ale freehouse'- the landlord needs to go across town to the Dove and Fat Cat to find out what else is needed.
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My apologies. for "fiends" please read "friends" in my recent post.
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Visited this pub on 18 June 2007. Externally and internally renovated, this pub is now light and airy. Fairly quiet, but this means that you can drink a good pint of real ale in peace. Ideal for a meeting of fiends in fact, as you can get a table.
Beers tasted in this pub recently, Earl Soham mild and a whopping 5% offering from Arundel brewery. Both in excellent condition. The landlord has recently moved from the Emporer, so knows his cellar work.
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2nd attempt at this comment! This venue is no longer a gay venue, but it is a Real Ale Pub that welcomes Everybody! Currently selling upto 6 real ales at a time, including regular beers from Ipswich's St Judes Brewery, (served in LINED GLASSES so you get a pint of liquid plus a head), with plans for expansion when business increases. The west side of Ipswich has long awaited a genuine freehouse/free of tie establishment and with support, this excellent pub will thrive. Don't listen to idle chat or FALSE assumptions, go there yourself and make up your own mind.
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Fanfare or no fanfare, I can confirm from a visit in person that The Rose & Crown is indeed a real ale freehouse and is neither encouraging nor restricting access based on sexual orientation!
Beers available on my visit where from Earl Soham and Crouch Vale breweries. The Brewers Gold was fabulous. For cider heads, some Westons was on dispense. There was Veltins lager on draught as well as more standard keg fare and bottled Polish beers to satisfy the growing Polish community.
The landlord is quite sensibly not rushing headlong into serving 10 ales at a time, but building the range slowly. Get in there and encourage him folks, I wish the pub had been like this when I lived just around the corner 10 or 11 years ago. West Ipswich has its alehouse at last! With support it will become a gem.
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Ok, you can stop watching this space. The pub has quietly reopened, with no announcement or fanfare of any kind, and I'm reliably informed that it is exactly what it was before- a moth eaten, somewhat run-down gay pub. Real ale may or may not be on offer now- but given this descrition it doesn't really matter, I won't be going in to find out and this side of Ipswich will have to keep on hoping for its 'cask ale freehouse'...
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Closed at present but an advert in local CAMRA newsletter states it is to reopen as a real ale freehouse. CAMRA themselves don't seem to know anything about this, despite having presumably accepted payment from someone for placing the ad in their newsletter. Anyway it's good news for real ale lovers since there are no decent real ale pubs on this (west) side of Ipswich; the Emperor has a few good beers but is othrewise tired and run down, and the Dales is more like an OAP's club. So let's hope this pub will bring something like the Dove/Fat Cat etc to this side of Ipswich! Watch this space.
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