please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
A wonderful old fashioned pub not far from the train station,nine real ales that are well chosen,I wish this was my local.
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Fabulous street corner local pub with a range of 9 ales available across all strengths and styles.
Very busy on a Saturday night but still friendly and welcoming.
Definitely worth visiting.
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Damn good pub. Six ales on. Glasses are marked with pint, 1/2 and 1/3 levels. Plenty of info both about beer and local events. Good woody atmosphere. Good clientèle. Relaxed, warm and friendly. I want this to be my local.
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Still my favourite pub ANYWHERE. Chris and I meet up every Thursday afternoon and after a couple of pints in town, we make our way here. A delightful and friendly pub where Sharon copes with our eccentricities. I couldn't wish for a better place to drink beer in calm, sensible surroundings. We LOVE the place. Don't change a damned thing please. Excellent beer although not always to our taste. It's a real pleasure to visit there. And the Cornish Pasties.......wow!
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A very decent little pub just heading out of town and a few minutes walk from Maidstone United's stadium.
Tried to visit a few months back but it was rammed and couldn't get in, so popped in for a couple last week.
9 pumps with 6 beers on tap. My choices were both local brews with different brewing styles, pleased to say that both were extremely good.
The landlady offered me 10p off a pint with my camra card which was greatly appreciated.
A really decent pub that is worth the short walk out of town
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Popped in for a quick lunchtime pint, friendly staff, excellent beer choice. It's as good as I had been told...
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Further to my previous review in 2009, I have to update it. I was recently persuaded to go in there by a friend who had a complete disregard for my reservations.
I'm glad he did! i don't know if my previous experience was a one-off, but I've been there several times since and I've had a great time every time. No bad or odd behaviour, good quality lager (I appreciate it's a real ale pub, but their lager is very good as well), friendly people...
OK the location hasn't improved; its not the easiest to get to, but it's worth making the effort.
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Still my favourite local pub. 'Beer' yesterday was �1.05 a pint. Excellent beer festival. Yesterday afternoon the local band was part of Wheeler Street. Really really enjoyable. Sharon and Graham also make the pub a pleasure to visit.
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The best real ale Pub in Maidstone, large array of ales and ciders and a pub for drinkers rather than eaters
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I had read a lot about this pub in Draught Copy and finally had a chance to pop in for a pint. Now I see why this pub has such a good following, for real ale drinkers it's a proper treat.
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Your average Camra ale house which was hosting a festival on this visit. There were 14 ales on 'out back' but I had just got off the bus and wanted a pint without having to go through the rigmarole of buying a glass and going out back to get a beer so went for the one ale they had at the bar (would have gone for lager had that not been on) which was a nice enough pint of Plain's Innocence.
anonymous - 11 Sep 2011 11:09 |
What a great little pub, you can see why it's so popular. It's a real ale pub and always have a great selection of ale's on tap, but if you�re like me and like a lager or a cider then they can cater for that also, normally have two or three ciders on and have Budvar on tap, so in other words everyone's a winner.
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fantastic pub, all real ales are in tip top condition with the added bonus of a discount if your a camra member, friendly staff if sometimes a little slow, but overall 10 of 10. keep it up.
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I have yet to find a better selection of quality ales in the Maidstone area. That alone makes it worth a visit.
The pub itself is in a terrible location, next to a petrol station and a busy major road, and is unremarkable in its architecture, decor and ambiance.
It's all about the beer, and that is excellent. Perrys too
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Congratulations to Dave and Julie on winning the Maidstone and Mid Kent Pub of the Year, 2011, the third year in a row.
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Now with 9 handpumps. Last night there were 9 beers all from different breweries, many local. Where else can you find a pub like this in Mid Kent?
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Six beers from microbreweries; all back-street pubs should be like this. Whole-heartedly recommended, and not that far from the station.
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Just voted Kent Pub of the Year. Well done . Congratulations to Dave and Julie on this and the birth of their daughter, lucy Lola.
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Anyone can enjoy this pub. Great ales- Look at the provisional list of beers for the festival from May 6th-8th - Purple Moose Snowdonia Ale 3.6%, Arundel Suissex Mild 3.7%, Caledonian Deuchars IPA 3.8%, Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted 3.8%, Hidden Mayhem Mild 3.8%, Old Dairy Red Top 3.8%, Wantsum 1381 3.8%, Butts Traditional 4.0%, Crouch Vale Brewers Gold 4.0%, Titanic Iceberg 4.1%, Thornbridge Hopton 4.3%, 1648 Signature 4.4%, Old Dairy Gold Top 4.5%, O'Hanlons Original Port Stout 4.8%, Wantsum Hengist 5.0%, Moorhouses Pendle Witches Brew 5.1%, Thornbridge Jaipur 5.9%, Dark Star Victorian Ruby Mild 6.0%.
just enjoy and be thankful Maidstone has a pub like this which haS JUST BEEN CROWNED mid kENT PUB OF THE YEAR FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW!
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As Isabella says, "A great pub with an exciting range of ales". Well, let's qualify that:
"an exciting range of ales"? Yes.
"A great pub" - probably, once you've been welcomed into the clique.
The thing with a cliquey pub is that if you are part of the in-crowd, you don't realise how it appears to others. Wetherspoons is just down the road - they have a wider range of ales and are equally (i.e. not especially) welcoming.
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Just to pick up on Isabella's comments, none of our party were asked to leave.
The problem that I had with the place was that one of our party was drinking barcardi and coke. The barmaid flatly refused to serve single shots of bararci, and demanded and insisted our friend had double shots of a cheaper rum.
After two or three drinks the barmaid came over to our table (whilst the rum drinker was in the toilet) and informed us rather rudely that she would not be serving any more rum.
It was the bar staff's insistence that we had teh stuff in double measures, and if the person in question was in any way unruly (I don't think she was), then perhaps dealing with her directly might have been the best way forward?
I wonder if Isabella has a vested interest here? Click on our names - I've reviewed over 180 pubs over three years on this site. Isabella has commented on one pub. Draw your own conclusions.
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Great night with 5 beers being changed, a big crowd and a great band playing 50s and 60s rock n roll, Midnight Flyers. Superb Dark Star beers are being regularly featured as well as Goachers Goldstar and always 6 real ales on draught
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A great pub with an exciting range of ales. I totally disagree with MankyBadgers comments below. The staff are what makes this pub what it is, not just the choice of excellent ales. If you choose to go to a pub after an all day pub crawl, and are asked to leave because of your behaviour, I applaud that barmaids/landlords decision. They are responsible for running a good and welcoming pub that is a pleasant place for all drinkers. As a lady, i feel that i can have a drink by myself and have a chat with the bar staff or regulars at The Flower Pot. I cant do that in many pubs. I wouldnt want to visit a pub where the Landlord wasnt in control and drunk people who had never been seen in the pub before could upset the locals.
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A great pub with an exciting range of ales. I totally disagree with MankyBadgers comments below. The staff are what makes this pub what it is, not just the choice of excellent ales. If you choose to go to a pub after an all day pub crawl, and are asked to leave because of your behaviour, I applaud that barmaids/landlords decision. They are responsible for running a good and welcoming pub that is a pleasant place for all drinkers. As a lady, i feel that i can have a drink by myself and have a chat with the bar staff or regulars at The Flower Pot. I cant do that in many pubs. I wouldnt want to visit a pub where the Landlord wasnt in control and drunk people who had never been seen in the pub before could upset the locals.
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Excellent beer selections and bar staff are attentive and always helpful. Never been talked down to by anyone.
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For the ale selection alone this pub this pub would have scored 9/10.
BUT...
Because of the attitude of the barmaid, it gets 0/10
I would not go back to this place because of the attitude of the arrogant bar staff, and I would in all honesty advise everyone to give this place a miss.
If you want to be spoken down to by your inferiors, then this is the place to be.
Me - I shall take my money elsewhere.
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Best pub in the County Town by a mile. The beer is always in top condition as is the welcome.
The atmosphere in the top bar is very relaxed and it�s just as easy to sit and read some of the free beer related literature on offer as it is to chat to the bar staff or locals.
Long may the success Dave & Julie have bought to the pub continue (if the beer range and quality stays the same it surely will)
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This pub just gets better and better. New and exciting beers are added everytime I visit, as well as the excellent Goachers Gold Star. What a pub to have as your local? Dave is planning a new curry and beer night. Cant wait. Real curries and real beer ! What more can you want?
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My second visit to this newly award winning pub.
Its my first evening visit in a Maidstone pub and there a fair few in tonight quite a mix crowed but a nice friendly atmosphere with a band.
I remember from my last visit to go straight to the top bar as that is where the real beer is.
What a choice I have Darkstar Porter, its magnificent with strong chocolate flavours, then 2 pints of Gold Star from Goachers its perfect!
6 beers on tonight but there were a couple of changes so in total 8, lots of Real Ale being drunk which is fantastic.
If this is like this all the time I can see why all the other so called real ale pubs are empty.
Through my time in this pub tonight it does often feel like two pubs to be totally honest, with all the games and machines and lager down one end and the serious drinkers up the top end it sometimes feels strange and disjointed!
But apart from that I had an enjoyable evening.
Excellent!
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Ive heard so much about this pub but could never find it!
After a long walk through some back streets i eventually come across it, as I walk in I'm faced with a pool table, fruit machines, Juke Box and some very large speakers jammed in a corner and some loud men clad in football shirts, have i got the right pub I wonder to myself?
I look along the bar and see no Ale only Fosters, Smooth and guinness, I ask the barmaid if they sell ale and she replies yes top bar with a smile.
I step up to the next bar and am greeted with not 1 not 2 but 6 pumps!!!
I'm in heaven what a choice I start with Gold Star from Goachers just sublime!!
Then I have Darkstar Hophead mmmmmm!!!!
I must say all the ales I tried were in perfect condition.
I later discover that the pub has won the local CAMRA pub of the year
award and I can see why.
One question though with so many pubs in the area that cater for the lager and smooth drinking brigade why would a Real Ale pub want to serve such rubbish as Fosters and Smooth and does the pub in anyway benifit with all those machines??
All in all though this pub seems to be doing really well, Well done!
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I had occasion to visit the Flower Pot last Saturday upon having to abort the shambolically organised Maidstone Beer Festival at the Kent Life Museum (perhaps an over exaggeration on my part, but the ill-advised short bar length resulted in waiting times of over thirty minutes to be served).
In any event this turned out to be a blessing in disguise - the Flower Pot is a good local's pub situated a few minutes walk from the town centre, with an interesting selection of real ales and and friendly welcoming staff. I enjoyed my stay and will return when next in Maidstone.
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Excellent beer festival last weekend. 19 beers sampled and not a dodgy one in sight.
In reply to the chap who had 2 cheap pints of poor quality beer, the beers in question were both from the Cottage brewery. Dave has vowed never to have them back again as they were far inferior to what he expected. When a pub has tried out 112 beers in 5 months, I guess you have to find a couple of duffers amongst them. Keep up the good work, landlord .
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Stopped off last weekend following a suggestion by the Brewery Liaison Officer for Whitstable in Grafty Green as they were holding a beer festival and barbecue, and is the current local POTY. No disappointments on my part I must say. A corking local with oodles of atmosphere was found, along with a range of around 5 ales on pump and a further 8 at the rear for the festival (all beers sampled were on good form and none were being offered for �1 in imperfect condition; hopefully the licensee has learned his lesson there!). All staff were friendly and efficient; locals appeared to be rubbing shoulders happily enough with interlopers like us, and there was certainly an earthy, pretense-free air about the place despite its recent success. Tried the food (chicken curry) - cheap and cheerful.
The only significant criticism has to be the sheer lack of space, which I daresay wasn't an issue in the pub's previous incarnations, but now it is enjoying something of a renaissance in fortunes, it is close to becoming something of a victim of its own success. Happily the weather was clement and no-one objected to us standing out on the pavement to quaff, but that option won't always be available so be prepared for a bit of a tight squeeze if it's wet and busy!
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My first visit to the Flower Pot in years and two of the hand pump beers were only �1 a pint. I soon discovered why when I found first one then the other was on the turn. The young barmaid had to telephone the landlord in order to serve me with a drinkable pint. I can only presume that he knew these two beers were going off, so reduced their prives. Unforgiveable. Would a restaurant serve meat which they knew was going off?
Nevertheless the other beers were OK. The young landlord has turned this grubby old corner pub around and it's furnished comfortable with lots of reading material. I hope he does well but six handpumped real ales is a lot for such a tiny pub.
I can't forget those bad pints, but I will return as that might have been a 'one off'.
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My first visit to the Flower Pot was in 2005-2006 and to be honest it was a bit of a dive. However, after hearing the recent news with regards to the CAMRA awards, I had to visit - and I am very glad I did. What a transformation this pub has recieved - the garish interior has been completely replaced with comfortable seating and tables in the upper level, with some further seating and a pool table in the lower section of the pub. As previously mentioned, there are 6 guest ales available - on my visit, these were all from micros with no national beers - fantastic. I forget what I sampled but I went back for seconds and thirds thats for sure, and it was fantastic, and at a very reasonable price. I can see me returning on a regular basis if the standards remain this high!
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Excellent pub, just voted CAMRA Mid Kent pub of the year. Six ales on at all times, with Goachers Goldstar as a regular. The behaVIOUR MENTIONED BY flippincrikeys is certainly not the norm and happened when the landlord was ejecting an unruly customer. This pub is worth finding and is a worthy successor to The Pilot as Pub of the Year. Real ales are between �2.55 and �2.65. Beer festival featuring up to 20 real ales to be held for 3 days from Sept 4th for 3 days.
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�3.00 for a pint of flat, warm Fosters. A local chap threw his pint over an elderly woman, informing her that he would 'see her next Tuesday' (if you get my drift), and everybody else (about ten / twelve people) just carried on as though that's entirely normal / acceptable behaviour.
Certainly won't be venturing there again (usually, if a pub's that bad, I go back just to see if was having a bad night). Horrible pub, horrible location, and strange people both sides of the bar.
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Very much improved pub with new young licence's. Has 6 real ales now on tap some micro's some national's. Worth the trek from Maidstone East..
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A long time ago, this used to be my Friday lunch-time local with good, cheap food a short distance from the office. Sadly, both the office and the menu have gone, as have several neighbouring backstreet pubs and most of the passing trade (so I hope that this one finds a way to keep going).
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Distinctive little pub a 10 minute walk from the town center. Its like having a bar in your front room here. A darts board and pool table in the lower end, with plenty of room elsewhere for relaxing. When I visited I think I saw Youngs Special as well as another beer on draft. I imagine they have a few bottles available as well. Also on tap is Budvar, the only place in Maidstone that this is available. A good pint as well in authentic glass. Well worth a visit.
Sharp - 25 Jan 2007 20:20 |
