Plough and Horses, Crowborough

A huge pub, with a large beer garden, serving food. The selection of beers isn't very imaginative, but they're usually very well kept. Very good service every time I've visited. The only downside is that it's almost next door to the Wheatsheaf, which is the best pub in the area.

29 Apr 2009 15:59

Boars Head Inn, Crowborough

A beautiful, low-ceilinged 17century barn pub, serving food. We visited on a lovely sunny spring day, and the pub had just the right level of custom - plenty of tables available outside, but a good 40-50 people dotted about drinking and eating.

We arrived at about 2pm, and walked up to the bar. We were the only customers waiting to be served, and there was nobody behind the bar. After a short time, the barmaid/landlady appeared from the restaurant, and proceeded to tour the tables collecting glasses. She walked past us, and then went outside and continued collecting glasses there, before wandering back inside, past us again, into the kitchen. After another minute or so, she reappeared, and then took a seat with her friends and started chatting! She must have seen us, but for some reason decided not to bother serving us for about five minutes. When we finally were served, the lemonade was completely flat and tasted very odd. She also asked us in a very offhand way "You aren't hoping to eat, are you, because the restaurant's shut". We weren't intending to eat, but to shut the restaurant at 2pm on a Sunday afternoon is pretty odd, especially as the food serving hours on the board behind her suggested that service should still be going on for a little while yet.

In summary - a pleasant enough building, but the service was pretty woeful, and the quality of the drink very much lacking.

29 Apr 2009 15:56

The Huntsman, Eridge Green

Given the huge size of the pub building, the interior bar is strangely small and cramped. The emphasis here is firmly on the food, and The Hunstman is more of a restaurant than a pub, which probably makes sense given that Eridge is a tiny village and so most people would have to drive here. Whilst the food is very good, it's certainly on the pricey side. The beer is decent, and the service acceptable to good - I've experienced some 'couldn't care less' attitude from staff in the past however. The beer garden is absolutely vast, running down to a stream (fenced off). There's an occasional outdoor bar in the smoking patio area that will come into its own on summer days. This place really needs a bigger interior bar, but it's worth a trip on a summer day when the beer garden is a suitable place to sit. The Huntsman will really start to thrive once the Spa Valley Railway starts to run steam services to Eridge Station (next door) in early 2009.

3 Nov 2008 13:57