please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Enviable location overlooking the Thames - and with a beer garden providing a real seaside feel.
ancient building - creaky floors, low ceilings and not a right angle in the place.
In the Good Beer Guide 2020 and some interesting and unusal choices. I went for a Pale Ale Mary from Northdowns brewery. Well kept.
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Rambling multi-room pub on the riverside. It is very old - the outside of the building looked Tudor. Excellent beer and interesting food menu, although the food didn't quite delivery. There can be nowhere nicer on a fine summer's evening. Last visit slightly marred by a party of very drunk people and their long-suffering children.
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Impressed by the 3 Daws yesterday...1 average pint...end of the barrel followed by a couple in very good condition. The ham, egg and chips were excellent. After we went for a drink in the Rum Puncheon....shocked how much this has gone down hill...must be a good reason for this, for now I'll be sticking with the 3 Daws.
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I love this pub which overlooks the Thames. A large sprawling building with plenty of small snugs and alcoves. There is also an outdoor drinking area.
I popped in in mid afternoon last week, there were quite a few people present either watching the traffic on the Thames or enjoying a meal. which made me hungry so I had a lamb roast which was very tasty. The roast potatoes were a very decent size!
As for the beers there were a couple of Millis ales and a Rockin Robin. Between the three of us we had all of them with no complaints.
The decor had changed little since my previous visit. Lots of old photos and drawings with a maritime theme. Very interesting!
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The Three Daws is a large pub and restaurant overlooking the river at the bottom end of the High Street. This was the first pub apart from the spoons that was genuinely busy with food being very popular.
6 ales across the hand pumps, I managed to get the last 2 pints of Whitstable Breweries Winckel Picker @ 4.5% before the barrel was empty. My pint (which came first) was drinkable but my pal’s wasn’t though he did manage to drink it all!
As mentioned by every other reviewer the pub is full of alcoves and nooks and crannies, it certainly has some history to it aswell as the large river frontage garden, not the right weather for us to sample the outside area.
Behind the bar is an old wooden boat / tug sign depicting the name Hilda, there is a lot of ship and boat memorabilia on the walls.
Bar Billiards table in the small room to the left of the bar.
A decent enough pub but for some reason I didn’t enjoy my visit and was pleased to leave and head towards the Rum Puncheon.
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Very pleasant and oldfashioned pub which had three ales on at the time of visit. I also had a cheese ploughmans. The interior of the pub is cosy but you can't beat the terrace on a sunny day, to watch the ships go by on this wide reach of the lower Thames.
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I can't praise the Three Daws highly enough. Agreed it was a fleeting lunch time visit on a beautiful sunny day but the pub, apparently at 500 years is the oldest in Kent, is a great old building and very atmospheric with a variety of aspects to it.
It was quite busy with people sitting inside and others outside on the terrace with a great view of the river and the oldest cast iron pier in the world. There were two staff at the bar, both very pleasant efficient and helpful. They let me sample 3 ales, Gravesend Guzzler, Dartford Wobbler and the one I opted for the Truman's Runner. All were good but the Runner was excellent.
I was then very fortunate to get a nice table by the window with the optimum view watching the small boats toing and froing as well as some huge container ships. It was quite a heavenly interlude boosted by having some retired lightermen on an adjoining table identifying the marine traffic. They had ordered main meals and appeared to be enjoying them.
Pubs rarely seem to do proper sandwiches these days, preferring to do fancy stuff at exorbitant prices. This one though does do proper sandwiches and I had a beef one which unfortunately was on the dry side. That didn't detract from the visit though and it is clearly a better experience than the deserterd posh new restaurant built on the pier. There's a lesson there somewhere particularly as it conceals the entrance to the ferry terminal.
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Building has a very pleasing vernacular style. The Millis ales, as noted below, are consistently underwhelming (I would seriously rethink having so many on) however the St Austell Proper Job was enjoyable. Food is of a good quality, fairly priced, well prepared and tastes home-made - with loads of choice for vegetarians and fish-lovers. Staff are friendly and knowledgeable, and the interior boasts considerable interest - although the decor in some areas is arguably a little dated.
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Historic pub and one of the few in town that actually sell real ale. Sells basic reasonably priced pub food, which is passable enough. Nice sitting o/s and watching the ships come up and down the river. Friendly staff and locals.
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I don't often go to Gravesnd but whenever I do this pub is one of those I visit. I've always loved pubs with lots of nooks and crannies and the Three Daws has a load of them. Everywhere you look there are tables and chairs tucked away in corners and alcoves.
It's a very old large sprawling pub with a view overlooking the Thames,(not the most attractive part of the river admittedly), from the furthest area from the bar.
Apparently the pub was a great favourite of smugglers in bygone times and with so many hidden parts to it it's easy to see why!
There is also an outdoor area with tables and chairs but whenever I've visited it's never been warm enough to venture out.
The three real ales on yesterday were Friggin' in the Riggin' and Powder Monkey from Nelson Brewery and Dartford Wobbler from Millis. Friggin' and the Wobbler were fine. Didn't enjoy the Powder Monkey.
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I have to agree with RogerB on this one. The Three Daws is almost an excellent pub - the building itself is interesting, the outside seating area is very pleasant and the staff are friendly. I should also say that the food they serve is pretty good and quite cheap. The only real downside is that the quality of the ale isn't always that hot (figuratively speaking). They seem to have different guest ales on every time I visit, but they're often a bit vinegary which is a shame. Still, its definitely worth a visit if you're in Gravesend, especially if the sun's out and you feel like watching the ships on the Thames.
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I am trying so hard to like this place but it is always let down by the poor quality of its beers. I recall the most foul tasting pint of Brains Rev James on my previous visit and the Millis Kentish Red I had yesterday wasn�t much better although to be honest the Millis beers aren�t that great to start with. Unfortunately the Hydes Xmas beer (Yule Be Back) was gone and the only other option was the ubiquitous Green King IPA. Tough choice. The pub itself is a sprawl of alcoves and a mix of old features and sympathetic refurbishment. The pub was originally built in 1488 although how much of the original pub remains is not clear. It was reknown as a smugglers inn and there is a record of the innkeepers from when the pub was first built. The exterior is quite charming with towering chimney stacks, gabled windows, weatherboarded walls and mossy roof tiles. The interior features include some pretty ancient fireplaces and there is a nautical feel about the place with old ship wheels and drawings of famous Thameside pubs. There is also a bar billiards table, quite a rarity in its own right. At the rear is a patio overlooking the river and Gravesend�s piers although the industrial site on the far bank does take off a bit of the shine. There are a few function rooms that can cater for large or small gatherings, the main one being downstairs and which can easily mistaken as the main entrance to the pub. The main entrance is actually up the stairs at the front of the building. It is an interesting place and if they could improve on the beer quality it would rank as a �must visit� on any Gravesend visit.
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just had a really good meal, the bar staff were friendly and very reasonable prices, will go there again.
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Best pub in Gravesend by a country mile.
anonymous - 31 Aug 2005 14:21 |
Rambling and atmospheric 500 year old Thames-side pub with sloping floors, odd shaped rooms, great views of the maritime life on this part of the river, and many rumours of smuggling (at one time the building had seven staircases - and there are stories of tunnels leading off in all directions). Serves Kent beers, usually Nelson and Milton, in varying condition. Does cheap and cheerful pub food. Has a bar billiard table (with multiple objects under three of the legs in order to keep it level). The pub is not posh, but neither is it rough. I like it.
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