generally empty venue, even on weekends. food, for the most part is good.
i don't want to write a negative review about the menu or the food, or even the people.
i've had one negative experience out of many, but it's enough to discourage me from returning again.
i ordered a takeaway vegetarian pizza, walked the two streets home and took a bite. i realised that it was covered in pesto and being allergic to most nuts, started vomiting.
i called the crown hotel to explain what had happened and asked that if i brought it back, would i be able to get one without the pesto, as i'm allergic to nuts. the person on the phone hesitantly said "okay".
i got to the hotel and sat down near the bar where i originally ordered the pizza. a man who i presume to be the manager came out and asked me if i ordered the pizza.
i responded yes and handed him the full box with one piece of the originalpizzamissing and said "i'm sorry, it seems like such a waste".
to my surprise, the man grunted and said "you know, normally you would have to pay for another one. it says on the menu that it has nuts"
i explained that i hadn't seen the menu and had simply asked if they had any vegetarian pizzas. he showed me the menu and it did say that it contained 'pesto mayo', but no mention of any nuts.
now, i understand that it was my mistake for not looking at the menu or asking the wait staff if it contained any nuts, my reason for this is because my allergy is mild, and not anaphylactic, so my life is not at risk if i consume nuts.
my shock comes from the way it was handled. i was not rude or demanding on the phone, i made no demands, i only asked, i didn't argue, i didn't scold them. yet i was met with the attitudes that i was trying to rip them off or act shady with one piece of mypizzawas eaten.
if i pay $17.00 for a pizza, i'm going to damn well get something that i can digest. if i was dining in and something was wrong with my meal, i'm sure i wouldn't have been met with the rudeness and attitude that i was tonight.
once again, to reiterate: the bar/wait staff are wonderful, the venue is nice, the food tastes good, there's never anybody there, but apparently the manager is a wanker.