Huntsman, Eridge Greenback to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
What a fantastic pub! Loads of character and a great atmosphere. Everyone was really friendly and there was a great buzz about the place when we visited on a Friday night. Beers were top notch too. A hard place to leave – we will definitely be back!
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So djwhisky tells us there are no high chairs for babies.
Hoorah!! This is obviously a good pub to go and visit.
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We were going to take the Spa Valley Railway from Tunbridge Wells out for a Sunday lunch with our friends and our and theirs 19 month old kids... On booking and trying to get high chairs they said they didn't have any!! So let's get this right, you run a foody pub (the ONLY pub) at the end of a popular kiddy friendly tourist attraction and you don't think it's wise to maybe get a couple of high chairs in - seriously missed opportunity on their behalf!
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This place is a cut above the rest. Great service, great food, great choice of beers!
Always a lovely atmosphere, and everybody is so friendly you feel at home within minutes. If you are looking for a pub pub, then look no further. Dogs welcome, this is a proper english pub and i bloody love it!!!!
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My wife tried to make a lunch booking for ourselves & 4 friends but was told they did not do lunch on Mondays.Hey- ho we thought, we will walk there for a drink. When we got there we were politely told by the barmaid that the pub was shut for a private function. Having walked there for an hour I said that it was a pity that we were not told this when making the initial enquiry and left. I was stopped after 3 yards outside by the landlady (so she said) who berated me for being rude to her staff! When I tried to explain she started screaming at me at the top of her voice that I was banned!
Apparrently the louder you can shout the more right you are!
Only visit this pub if you wish to be insulted by a young female (never lady !) with no respect for the older generation
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I use this pub on a regular basis. The food is excellent and Emma is doing a great job in making this a really welcoming place. Nice atmosphere and the fact that they are making a real effort in looking at opportunities to improve further is very refreshing. The Huntsman comes highly recommended.
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The Huntsman is a very special place. For me this pub is everything a pub should be. No jukeboxes or tv, instead pub games drawn onto the tables like shove ha'penny and even monopoly. Great beer and a really impressive and large wine list which was chosen after a wine tasting session where the wine tasters rated the wines and advised what they would like to have on the list. The food is excellent with locally sourced produce I believe and the service received makes you feel like you are a really special visitor. The menu changes daily by the way. The delightful new landlady, Emma, had her finger on the pulse but everything felt laid back. One night a week (I think it was Tuesdays) I noticed they had a Bikers night for classic bikes. I just wish this pub was my local because the formula for a proper pub was perfect for my liking. I know this probably sounds a bit gushing but I just haven't found a pub like this for years that simply ticked all my boxes. Thanks ... I will be coming back SOON
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Further to my review of Feb 2010, I recently revisited this place after hearing that it'd changed hands. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised - the atmosphere has improved and now resembles more pub than restaurant, although the menu is still quite pricey. It was a Friday evening and there were more drinkers than diners - definitely an improvement on a few years back. The young staff/landlords seemed friendly enough and the seasonal beer 'Hopping Hare' was pleasant. I would go back, something I never thought I'd say about this place.
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Following a thoroughly unpleasant afternoon at the Abervergenny Arms in Frant, our group of happy but wet campers decamped to the The Huntsman, which is next door to Eridge train station.
What a wonderful PH and well worth visiting. The Stand-in Landlord made us feel extremely welcome and the beers were excellent, I particularly enjoyed the Fuzzy Duck which is from a local micro-brewery and was tangy and very refreshing.
We asked whether we could eat but unfortunately the kitchen is closed on a Sunday though we were told that we could order a delivery and we ordered Pizza's sharing our food with the Landlord.
The menu did look excellent, locally sourced food and the prices looked reasonable.
Later in the evening a large group of local Gents came to the pub - it appears that they meet weekly and were a great bunch and made us all feel very welcome and both groups enjoyed chatting with each other and all had a fantastic night and we were all very sad when last orders were called!
Given our earlier experience we only wish we'd found this place first.
Unfortunately the landlord I guess will be moving on but we really wish him well and thank him for making such a memorable night and a big hearty cheers to the Sunday Night drinking group!!
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Some people obviously have no taste. My family and I ate here a few weeks ago and found the quality of the food was little away from amazing. The wide variety of game, and locally sourced produce gives this pub the 'pubby', homely feel it should have and chips stacked up jenga style, so what, it's quirky.
Obviously it is necessary to book a table if you would like to sit at one, this was especially obvious on the Sunday that we went, but as for a 'drinkers pub', this most definately still is. There were a crowd of what appeared to be locals drinking at the bar and many customers that seemed to 'know' the bar staff. It just has that healthy balance of catering for drinkers AND diners.
So in conclusion, my experiance was really good and I would definately advise this as one of the pubs to visit in the area. I would just advise booking, as i did, to avoid any dissapointment.
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I've never been a fan of this place, which is definitely a trying to be a pretentious restaurant and not a pub. If you like your chips stacked up Jenga-style then this is for you. Don't bother going in for just a drink as you'll be interrupting them trying to serve their foodie punters, and don't dare sit at a table if you're not eating.
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Tried to eat here on Sunday to complete a very pleasant weekend and found it closed 'to recharge the batteries' - don't they have staff they can trust?
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There is a heavy emphasis here on food but that's not suprising given the location in a tiny village. However the balance is right as you wouldn't feel uncomfortable just dropping in for a pint or two. Inside is a bit smaller than it looks from the outside and unexpectedly has a little bit of a feeling of a Victorian station refreshment room! However it's none the worse for that with simple, clean decor. Service was prompt and efficient.
Food wasn't cheap but was very good quality and perfectly cooked with reasonably sized portions. There's quite an emphasis on local game on the menu which makes for a more interesting selection than the average 'generic gastropub' menu which is getting so popular in this kind of location.
My only slight gripe would be with the beers, nothing at all wrong with the way they're kept but as they're a Hall & Woodhouse pub it's a fairly limited range of Badger beers. Just not to my personal taste and it's a shame the range of beer doesn't match up to the impressive wine list.
As a bonus it's located right next to Eridge station so it's easy to get to from London if you fancy getting out of town to a proper country pub.
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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.
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Went here a year or so ago - my abiding memory is of a friendly pub where the beer and food was good. Makes a nice change from some of the pubs in London. Would like a similar place close to me, but I imagine a chain would buy it then revamp it into one of the many theme bars, thus losing it's appeal to an out-of-towner like myself!
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When you wait for the vegetables only to be told they are 'under the fish' which is in front of you, then I think there's a problem. This was a good place to eat, and to be fair the quality still is good, but prices up and portions down begins to smell of a piss take.
Now off my list of places to go, and of places I am happy to recommend to others.
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Popped in for a quick pint early Sunday lunchtime. The very pleasant landlord chatted with us about his good beers and was proud that he was booked up for food for many evenings in advance and also for Sunday lunches.
The Sussex bitter (ex King and Barnes) was outstanding and the enthusiastic young attractive staff were obviously gearing up for a busy Sunday. The now obligatory smokers covered area has been established outside.
Clearly a professionally run pub well worth a visit even if you have to go out of your way but it seems that you will have to book if you want to eat or you could just enjoy the mouth watering smells emanating from the kitchen!
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much improved inside following the refurb, in fact it looks more like a pub now, though it is probably even more of a restaurant than it was previously. the atmosphere is a little strange,so it's certainly not on my list to pop into for a quick pint though the beer is decent enough, it just isn't very jolly and the landlord is a bit wooden. the food is good, certainly not an ordinary menu
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Refurbished, but still with an air vaguely reminiscent of a cross between a 1900�s station waiting room and a village schoolroom � Victorian fluted glass ceiling lamps, cream/ochre walls, black scrubbed wood panelling and bare floorboards.
When we arrived, the bar was surrounded by what appeared to be an amiably eccentric gathering of steam train preservationists, real ale worshippers and whole food gurus, replete with grey beards, comfortable tums and bobbly jumpers. They�d probably parked their Morgan motor cars out of sight around the corner.
Simon runs the front of house, while partner Nikki prepares the food, using vegetables and herbs fresh from their garden. The bar offers Cask Marque Ales from the Badger Brewery, along with Hofbrau Premium Lager and Hofbrau German Weissbier. Wines are decent quality and fairly priced. The Huntsman�s lunchtime menu is relatively short, but changes daily. The food is interesting, flavoursome, wholesome and well presented. Portions are generous and prices are good value (�9.95 for my chicken).
In cooking my wife�s shoulder of lamb, Nikki had succeeded in combining melt-in-the-mouth tenderness with a blush of pink at the heart of the meat. The lamb was served with a dish of organic �tacklements� (if, like me, you�ve never come across the word before, it means �accompaniments�) � organic redcurrant jelly and organic mint jelly. Delicious and refreshingly different.
My breast of chicken stuffed with St George cheese, �sun-blushed� tomatoes and basil, and wrapped in bacon, was a treat of fresh flavours. Roast potatoes were light and crispy, and soft-cooked celery was dusted with crispy, golden cheese and breadcrumbs.
In winter, when the gardens are out of use, there is limited space inside. If there are more than two of you, and you�d like a meal on the weekend, then you�ll need to book two or three weeks in advance.
If your normal scene is Harvester or Beefeater, then you may find the d�cor of The Huntsman a tad spartan. But I�d thoroughly recommend giving it a try � even if only for the opportunity of escaping from the palate-numbing sameness of chain food and trying some really good home cooking.
Service is friendly, polite and - as is only right and proper with freshly prepared home cooking � unhurried. Allow 30 minutes for your food to arrive.
One last point: access to The Huntsman is by way of a small turning off the A26 at the bottom of the valley between Crowborough and Frant, signposted �Frant Station�. If approaching from the North (ie from Tunbridge Wells), there is a wickedly dangerous right turn across two lanes of manic traffic with no central reservation. If you�re 25 years old with nerves of steel and the reflexes of a gazelle, you�ll probably think nothing of it. If, however, passing years have dulled your appetite for danger and tempered your belief in your own immortality, you may prefer to drive another mile south, turn round the roundabout, and approach the Frant Station turnoff from the south � when it will be on your left. It may add five minutes to your journey, but at least you�ll live to enjoy your meal.
The Huntsman is closed on Mondays.
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Excellent location as it's next door to the railway station of Eridge. This line runs south to Uckfield and northwards to East Croydon, the trains are new and comfortable.
Also nearby are the Eridge Rocks, set in a nature reserve covering 40 hectares.
A small patio in the front and a large garden below provide ample space on warmer days, the inside being small. Food was good too, and varied.
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A traditional old country pub - good ales and menu looked excellent (although I didn't sample anything from it). Also a very large (30+) selection of wines. My only fault would be that it's a little cramped inside.
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A real pub. Great food,friendly atmosphere. Well kept beer. Always something new on the menu to ensure you want to make a return visit.
anonymous - 6 Jun 2005 23:24 |
Great pub, great atmosphere and great food and wine. Has won awards for it's wine selection, though still has the genuine local country pub look and feel. Don't be put off by previous experiences, this placed changed hands early in 2004 and is now a real gem.
SteveC - 17 Nov 2004 16:22 |
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