please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Very nice old pub, shame it's on a busy main road but you don't really notice inside. Plenty of room inside and a garden for when it's not pouring down. Had a couple of pints of "Long blonde" from the Long Man Brewery, a light summer ale and very nice to. Food was good & cheap and turned up quickly. Landlord & staff all very friendly and helpful.
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Visited last week and was pleased to see some interesting beer on. We had Long Man Blonde and took it out into the very pleasant garden at the rear (which although I had visited before didn't know was there). However beer was well past its best and we were disappointed.
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Pretty ordinary / a little old fashioned looking pub.
why do pubs have carpets? ... it puts me off straight away.
On the plus side, it does Have Kingstone Press Cider on draught and the Landlord seems very friendly.
On our 2 previous visits, he has kindly opened the side door, so that we can take our dog to the beer garden at the rear. Dogs are not allowed in the actual pub itself.
Not a great pub, but a better option than the somewhat pretentious Plough nearby.
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Lurking on Eynsford's main drag is The Malt Shovel. All faded paint and opaque windows, it has the look of an old man's boozer from the outside. That impression is only partially dispelled upon entry. The clientele is probably not quite as cosmopolitan as the one you can find at the WAG haven that is The Plough across the ford, to put it kindly. In fact, I haven't seen this many men sporting slightly dodgy moustaches since The Village People were at the height of their powers. Actually that sort of helps sum up a trip to The Malt Shovel - it's a bit like stepping pack into the late 80s. Even the old stickers for Access credit cards are still in the window. The decor is dark and heavy but not unpleasant. It is very unpretentious, with lots of copper kettles, chitntzy porcelain lamps and vermillion velvet booths. Meanwhile, the food is just about as weighty. The chips are so thick cut it's a wonder they found potatoes big enough, and encased in a shell that could double as low-grade armour. Portion sizes range from huge to enormous. The goat's cheese salad (�4.50) contains enough cheese to have kept a small goat busy for at least a week. And the hand-made maltburger (�7.95) is topped with enough melted cheese and bacon to fell a rhinoceros at 100 paces. It's all pretty tasty, but if you like your food low in fat, this is not the place for you. And then there's the service. Oh, the service. It started off well - attentive, polite, swift. But after a couple more encounters with the waiter, we started to wonder if he wasn't just a little bit, well you know, odd. He certainly had a great enthusiasm for comedic asides with the diners, if not a great talent for it. "The last time I put my hand in a lady's purse, there was a bear trap in it," he chortled. Mostly to himself, it has to be said. Then there were other slightly scarier comments: "Oh, don't worry about me," he said after shutting his leg painfully in a high chair, "I crushed my hand under a steel beam and destroyed 95% of the nerves. I don't feel pain like I used to," he added. Erm...ok. By the time he was telling us (unprompted) about his near-death encounter with a Great White, we were out of there.
Overall: �56 for three people and three courses each was good value, and the pub is pleasant. Recommended, but only if you enjoy the odd scare from the Norman Bates-esque service.
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Awful, truly awful. High prices for mediocre food. Ordered 3 meals - lamb (asked for it well done but was told it would be done how the chef wants to do it!), burger and chips and mushroom puff pastry crown (asked for it minus the cheese sauce as I cannot eat cheese and am veggie) very little veggie choice. Advised it would be a 30-45 minute wait which we accepted. Then after 30 mins were told that they couldn't leave off the cheese sauce as it was already made with the sauce on top - obviously not freshly cooked. At that point we left.
The other meals we saw brought out looked pretty ropey too. To add to that bar staff didn't seem to care about what they were doing, didn't see one of them mile and two were bickering with each other whilst seving our drinks and the place is really badly laid out. Like someone else here said, you feel like you'e in the way wherever you stand or sit. Avoid - go anywhere else but here.
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Pub serves good quality pints, but unfortunately food was ok. Ordered the steak pie, and got a massive piece as it was the last bit - didn't know whether he was being nice or clearing out the kitchen.
Unfortunately its turned into a London retreat - mums in 4x4s parking all over Eynsford and the Ford trying to show their kids what the country is like.
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Just to say, I am guilty of adding to my last comment, as I am a city dweller, so cant really get that het up about it.
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Haven't been here for about a year but from what I have read, it hasn't changed much.
On first appearances you think its going to be a comfy, country pub but once you actually look around and walk through, nothing seems to quite add up.
Now I am a fan of quite dark pubs and don't mind furniture that is falling apart even (slight exaggeration), as long as it has charactered and fits. I don't mean everything matching but at least an idea of, well, something and this pub does not have this.
I have never been over to the right hand side. Is this all dining?
All the furniture was uncomfortable and no matter where I sat, I felt cramped in and totally in the way and in the faces of the other customers.
The bar man on one occasion was just bizarre. Like he didn't really quite know where he was.
Apparently their bitter was reasonably well kept but I didn't have any.
The flowers on the tables were quite classy but (again) just didn't, go.
We once sat out side on a bright, spring, Sunday lunchtime, due to the smoking ban but were glad, as it was a much more pleasurable experience.
Eynsford is unfortunately (in the most part, not all), not really a country kinda place but more of a London suburb, overspill. Especially on a hot sunny weekend, it can be unbearable.
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i must sat that i found it realy dreadfull the waitress was rude and inconsierderatd and the head chef tristan made an apperance and was very discusted at ther attitude toward the costomers who were dinning there
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This picture needs updating, where is the authentic old dark wood furniture, now this place looks like a cheap spanish apartment with grotty "antique" pine and a hideous red carpet.....we weren't plannng to eat and it's just as well as I couldn't have spent more than the time it took to drink a quick half in there!
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OMG who done the interior design it is so ghastly. Who has swags and tails now adays!! The food is probably the worst I have eaten in a long time I have barred myself from it!
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I'm not going to leave a rating because my memory (¬es) differ so from the att'd that I am questioning whether I was in the same place! Half the pub last night was sectioned off by curtaining, so maybe they have some work going on. Dark Star Original, Harveys, Pride, a plasma opposite the bar & a few drifting in just before 17:15 ko, as is the habit of plastic mancs.
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Looks like a village local from the outside, but turned out to be much more of an eating pub than I expected. Nice pint of Everards, but had to sit at the bar as all the tables were full of (presumably happy) diners.
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Another establishment that likes to be classed as a "GastroPub" charging galactic prices for what is nothing more than pub food.
�6 for a sandwich is just a "Rip off".
Even "Pubspy" from the Newshopper wrote a scathing report when visiting over prices.
BY COMPARISON THE JAILHOUSE SERVES DOUBLE DECKER SANDWICHES WITH A FANTASTIC SALAD ALL FOR �3.65
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This is a great pub. The cask ales were in great condition with the Moondance being particularly toothsome. Good atmosphere and friendly staff all of whom were able to comment intelligently on the beer. But the food was average at best.
shack - 30 Apr 2007 11:37 |
Pleasant country pub with black beams and coppers in a 1930s Mock Tudor style. Relaxed local, family atmosphere and a single flower on each table make for a pleasing drinking experience. Three casks - London Pride, and two guests: Westerham Grass Hopper and Black Sheep Bitter. Very good condition. Parking across the road. Food served.
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Dropped in today for a couple of pints after a long walk and found this pub to be quite nice. The Harvey's was on good form and �2.70 a pint so not bad.
Annoying most the tables in the pub were reserved and it was full of very young kids. Aside from that the staff were friendly, decor was nice and I would go back in if passing.
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Recently visited Eysford and stopped at this quaint pub. Learned quickly that you have to go to the bar to order (that is how they all are). Had homemade Currie Chicken and wife had fish & chips. Excellent meal, and really enjoyed both the service and the atmophere. Hightly recomend this pub. Much better that pubs in London where the menu in all the pubs is exactly the same.
bmike - 20 Mar 2006 01:06 |
I dont know how they get away with the "Restaurant prices" they charge in this pub
I had a meal here some years back & paid �16 for a bottle of wine same label from Safeways charged �3.99 a 400% mark up I wont be back
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If you like good bitter, you will like this pub!
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A lovely village pub just up from the ford on the main road through Eynsford. Traditional fittings & wallhangings & a very friendly barman. Excellent pint of Dark Star Hophead, plus Fullers Pride & a local brew. Large, heavy wooden furniture sits outside the front completing the olde skoole look. Well worth popping in if you're in the area, or disappointed with the selection at the nearby, better situated Plough.
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