Restaurant Reviews and Food Musings

Restaurant

The Crazy H
50 South End
Croydon

Phone:- 0208 688 6132

Website www.crazyh.co.uk

Overview

It was the 4th of July, and so Eva and I decided to try out The Crazy H (formerly Rockwell’s) an American diner in Croydon.

Ambience

The Crazy H was a bright and cheerful bar and restaurant, themed to resemble an American diner from the era of Rockwell’s paintings.

The Crazy H had a cosy bar with sofas and chairs, a main dining area and a secluded dining area by the open grill/kitchen.

The main dining area, to the left of the bar, was dominated by a 1950’s style jukebox. This fine piece of equipment was on free play mode, and so I took a trip down memory lane and played some splendid hits from the late 70’s and 80’s. However, don’t be alarmed the volume was not set so high that it was intrusive.

The tables were covered in check cloths, and the walls decorated with American memorabilia. Most notably there was a fine selection of Norman Rockwell prints, harking back to an era that never really existed.

One missed opportunity; Crazy H had forgotten it was July the 4th. Maybe it would be worthwhile thinking ahead to Halloween and Thanksgiving, and coming up with a special theme for those evenings.

Menu

In addition to the main menu, there was also a children’s menu valid until 19:30.

However, moving on to the adults; the main menu offered a good selection of “diner type” dishes. These included; potato skins, ribs, nachos, fajitas, 14 types of homemade burgers, steaks and chicken.

Service

The staff were very friendly and welcoming. The service was quick and efficient.

Food

I chose the potato skins, with cheese and bacon, for my starter. They were very tasty, a good sized portion laden with cheese and bacon; hot and flavoursome.

I opted for the rib eye steak for my main course, served with fries and fried eggs. I was very pleased with my choice; the steak was a good quality piece of meat, and had been cooked medium as requested. The fries were tasty, and sufficient in quantity.

Rather rarely for me, I chose to have a dessert; and opted for the apple pie with cream. This was very good. The slice of pie had a generous amount of apples under the crust; these were not mushy, but chunky with a good texture and flavour. The pie had just the right amount of sweetness, and had a hint of cinnamon.

Eva started with the breaded mushrooms. These had a nice texture and flavour, and were not soggy or greasy. They came with a good quality spicy dip.

Eva chose the “Mexicano” for her main course. This was a home made burger served in a massive sour dough bap. It came with cheese and a jalapeno and salsa topping, together with a large baked potato.

The burger was of good quality, both in terms of texture and taste. It definitely put to shame those mass produced slurry burgers proffered by certain well known chains.

Eva finished off with an ice cream.

The meal, which included and exceptionally good bottle of Pinot Grigio and an Irish coffee, came to just under £54 including service.

Overall Opinion

Great fun, worth a visit if you want a change from more formal dining.