Chequers Inn, Smardenback to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Snarden seemed like a very nice old village indeed. Whilst there didn't appear to be anybody inside on our Sunday afternoon visit, there were several in the lovely rear garden that overlooks the large village pond with plenty of ducks. It made for a very peaceful setting. There is also a small courtyard immediately to the rear of the pub with a few fish. 3 ales were on - Sharps Doom Bar, Old Dairy Summer Top & Harveys Sussex Best Bitter. Service was good. I'm not sure where all the customers were. But the car park was full. There is parking on the street nearby if you struggle. No sign of any food inside. Although it was mid-afternoon and what looked like the chef was in the garden with us.
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Well what a disappointment. Me and the wife last went into this pub 5 years ago when our son and his wife moved south. We stayed in the Chequers for 5 days and it was brilliant. I was so busy i couldn�t park near it. No problems now, first time we went in over xmas and new year holidays, it was near dead, second time it were full of dogs running amok and workmen in donkey jackets an filthy boots. We ordered some food which was expensive and not very nice, and the lass who should have been serving us was either chatting up the builders or on her phone all the time. I were a real shame as we had looked forward to going back.
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There are a pair of white leather sofas in an incongruous city bar style area of this pub that serve as warning that all is not quite at ease with itself here. Retro chic white leather sofas in a pub of beams and hanging hops? The fire place is lovely and there are enough cosy nooks and crannies from which to hide from great white beasts, the carpet could do with updating but hey. Well kept beer and a menu with dining pretensions, though I've only tried the more pubby scampi & chips and sausage & mash so far, both were beyond reproach. The piped music is a bit irritating, some of it the kind of "not by original artists" guff you get in supermarkets. Someone needs to stand back and take a wider view, or an outsiders view of this place, keep the good bits and see where it's going wrong, it has a lot going for it, the location and the look of the place are absolutely mint and it could be so much better.
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Its several months since we last visited and commented on this lovely old pub in the pretty village of Smarden. Unfortunately I have to report that the only changes have not been for the best.
After collecting my husband from the station he suggested we call in for a drink and bite to eat. It was surprisingly busy when we arrived given it was 7.30pm on a Monday. We asked the young man serving if we could be seated in the right hand room (What was the �red room�) as the bar area was full of workmen. We were told that this was not possible and shown to a table in the main bar area.
The food was good, the wine fare. The situation in the bar was intolerable. High spirits I enjoy, laughter can be infectious, but the torrent of obscenities, profanity and sheer obnoxious behaviour from some of the customers was enough to prevent a return visit. We did ask the young man serving if we could be moved as we felt uncomfortable, only to be told it was �Farmers night�.
Nice pub, lovely building, badly managed. Not the place to go for a civilised evening.
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I have been using this pub for over twenty years since I and my husband moved to the area. in that time we have seen landlords come and go, and the pub have a number of "lives".
The last couple who had the pub did it no favours at all. The new owners have been in for a couple of years and are a nice family. The daughter is hard working and polite (and according to my husband a bit of a babe). The son is pleasant but painfully shy and ill suited to bar work. The father and mother are rarely in the main bar area but seem pleasant enough if a bit quiet.
They provide a good range of beers and wines and have recently introduced a much improved menu. Unfortunately our favourite dining room has been decorated and no longer feels as cosy as it did, while the main dining room is often catering to noisy and often foul mouthed drinkers until mid evening.
It is a wonderful old building in a beautiful village full of charm, but if lacks a traditional welcome and the atmosphere it had a few years ago. As i mentioned the previous owners took a thriving Country Inn and ruined it by fitting appalling fitted furniture and 1970�s style carpet to replace wonderful antique pieces and rugs.
I think until the current owners address these basics and put things back as they were they will continue to find it hard work.
Mrs B
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Last night visited, as they had a live band for Halloween, hadn't been there since their 'last bash' -the summer BBQ, which was a dissapointment, with the 'people shy' landlord warming a pre cooked 'Iceland' type burger up on his grill and the landlady saying 'There's no salad in case the rain washes it away' (grey sky but didn't rain!).
Again a disappointing visit, the band was quite good and the pub nicely decorated in the spirit of Halloween, but a low turn out while we were there. As on my previous visit, my pint of Stella tasted watery and bitter. The band finished promptly, with little applause or fanfare and the pub went eerily quiet, which was suddenly broken by a male member of staff lauching into a tirade of foul lanuage abuse at a drunk customer.
I looked scornfully on at this member of staff as he shouted infront of my wife
'I'll F****** take you outside you F*****C***' to be met with a threatening stare back, time to drink up and not return for many more months!
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We spent a very pleasant weekend at �The Chequers�. This was a 14th century public house which is steeped in character and had a very welcoming air to it. The hosts were very friendly and accommodating. We stayed in one of the double rooms, which was clean, airy and again full of character with oak beams, low ceilings and was fitted out with antique furniture. We ate in the pub for the two nights we were there and were not disappointed. The portions were plentiful and well presented as well being very flavoursome. Smarden is a beautiful village and a great place to visit surrounding points of interest in Kent. Four choices of Real Ale which had been well kept.
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I must admit I've knocked this place down in my estimation from 7/10 to 6/10.
The beer selection isn't what it once was, and the seervice is slow, to say the least.
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This pub is in Smarden, 9 miles from Ashford!. The new landlords are a great improvement on the previous jokers who not only served imported beef, but did so with bad grace.The pub is now attracting a good local trade, some acheivement in a village with two other good pubs. The Adnams I had was well kept, though we haven't eaten there yet: I'll report when we have.
It has all the potential of becoming the principal pub for the area which it once was.
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Good pub serving 3 - 4 ales and takes requests for what ales you want on. Nice garden and pond. Food good, but a tad pricey.
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