The old and tired Rose and Crown on Kew Green has been given a much-needed facelift, complete with a Farrow and Ball makeover, a serious accessibility upgrade and a new identity, and has been reborn as The Cricketers. It’s a great improvement and a pleasant surprise.
The main south-facing L-shaped room has been thoughtfully decorated and furnished to give it a bright, comfortable and cosy feel (lots of cushions, wood, tiles, natural light, muted New England colours). There’s a garden at the back, again fully accessible, and a small raised terrace at the front with 3 or 4 tables over-looking the village green, which will be brilliant for lazy summer afternoons spent sipping long iced drinks and cheering on the local cricket team. It’s also very close to Kew Gardens, so would also make a good place to recharge after the rigours of botanical exploits.
The menu is quite short with pub grub staples like fish and chips, a couple of sharing platters, sandwiches, salad and veggie options. The wine list isn’t extensive but offers a reasonable choice at very reasonable prices. The service was a bit slow on the day we visited (short handed I think) but very friendly and welcoming.
There’s obviously been some thoughtful and serious consideration to accessibility issues during the refurbishment which for an old and listed building was always going to be a challenge. There’s a smooth (ish) tarmac’ed entrance ramp, then some crazy paving to negotiate, followed by a raised lip at the front door to get over, so it’s not completely smooth but the floors inside are tiled & wooden and there’s adequate manoeuvring space. There’s also a shared disabled loo/ baby changing room (am I the only person who finds this combo usage a bit irritating?) which is tucked away at the back of the bar, but the trip there should be easily navigated.
It’s clean, modern, spacious enough and has all the right things in the right places. The Cricketers gets 2 BBS Ticks for good access and disabled facilities.
