Crowded House

A brief word on a new restaurant experience I had at the weekend. I found myself taking lunch in the aptly named Crowded House, situated between Bury and Whitefield.
I say apt, yet the place had the bizarre sense of being eclectically stuffed with all manner of odds and sods, but also being cleverly spacious. The overall effect was quite confusing, but also relatively pleasant; though the phenomenon of setting chairs of greatly varying heights around the table did give me initial cause to raise an eyebrow.

The staff that man the Crowded House do strike me as typical of a group who are very rapidly trying to take on the world, with a rather gung ho attitude. They are very welcoming, and very polite; yet they are trying to meld together two opposing ideas of trying to do everything for everyone with lightening speed and efficiency, yet also proffering the notion of no rush, and relaxation. This combination can work, but the team of Crowded House do not seem to have perfected that particular art just yet. Offering a very odd mix of restaurant, café, hair salon, photo studio and event venue does all seem a bit dizzying to me too.

If one is to concentrate merely on the restaurant side of things, results are mixed there too. The menu reads well enough, but for what often turns up to the table it is a tad over priced. And I'm sorry but trying to pass off faux-minimalist food at maximum price by deeming it "raw and un-fussy" is certainly not fooling anyone.
The fare that I had was by no means a flop; interesting lamb meatballs followed by a quite delectable piece of carrot cake. Yet it wasn't relaxing enough to tie in with one of the Crowded House's mantras and wasn't great enough to blow any minds once you've left the place.

I do feel on reflection that the Crowded House does have potential, but the team behind it do need to focus. Stop worrying about bombarding the public on all fronts, and the idea of a nice, pleasant and certainly different way of spending a few hours could become something more.