The Kings Head, Canterbury

Needed a place to stay in Canterbury at short notice. Booked through laterooms.com -- very smooth and efficient.

Pros:
Exquisitely clean
A shower that works really well
Very comfortable, firm bed
Excellent (full English) breakfast
Very nice pint of Harveys in the bar
Unpretentious pub with friendly staff and clientelle

Cons:
The breakfast coffee was dire: weak instant coffee in a jug.
Room very warm but window opened onto A28: choice between being hot (even with the provided fan) or traffic noise.

That said, I would happily return if I again need accommodation in Canterbury.

22 Jul 2012 10:18

The Bat and Ball Inn, Breamore

I have been back a few times since my previous review (14 Feb 2012); the food has been consistently very good (if slightly idiosyncratic) and the service excellent. This has been sufficient to convince me that the "issues" I had a few months ago were a "blip".

21 Jun 2012 00:01

The Bat and Ball Inn, Breamore

Been hearing good things, so we booked a table and tried it out for lunch. The welcome was warm; the pub was moderately full. While waiting to be seated, I noticed that they have a reasonable selection of malts, including one of my favourites: Laphroaig Quarter-Cask. However, it being lunch-time I settled for a pint of Forty-Niner (well kept) and my companion had a spritzer. We felt that the pub could have benefited from some heating; it was chilly around the kidneys, and we noticed people at other tables putting their coats back on.

I ordered salmon& dill fish-cakes (�9.95) and my companion had chicken fajitas �8.95). They took over half an hour to arrive -- for stuff that has (presumably) already been prepped and which only takes a max of 15 minutes to cook, this is too long. If the pub had been particularly busy, I could have understood this, but the problem seemed to be one of under-staffing -- we saw only 3 members of staff, who were consistently busy. Maybe this is just the reality of the pub-grub trade nowadays. The food was pleasant enough, but nothing to write home about -- just honest pub fare, that was reasonably priced, served by pleasant, friendly people. The taste of dill was just about noticeable in the fish cakes, and at least the chilli dipping sauce had more than a nodding acquaintance with capsicum -- just a pity there wasn't more of it. Sauces, guacamole, etc, are served in very small ramekins, making the portions a bit stingy.

Would I go back? Well, if I was in a situation where I had to eat there, I wouldn't object, but I'd not make a special trip there either.

14 Feb 2012 14:45