Kings Arms, Boxleyback to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
I visited the Kings Arms on Saturday whilst on a weekend break in Detling. A nice pub, well-kept beer (Harvey's Sussex Best, HSB and Pride) and a nice lunch (field mushroom with feta, Wild Boar sausage sandwich) tackily presented on massive, square plates. Sat in the blazing sun in the large beer garden, lovely. So nice I decided to return for sunday lunch. Same again, nice pint. However when the barmaid made a mistake with my change I was treated quite rudely, said barmaid insisted on consulting a calculator with her back to me for quite a simple bit of maths while another member of staff who had seen/heard what had happened reimbursed me without question. I walked away with said barmaid still with her back to me tapping away at the calculator and grumbling, visibly put out and with no word of apology. This, understandably, got my back up. My duck spring rolls arrived, hilariously presented (think of one of the courses served up in the opening sequence of American Psycho, but an Aldi version) swiftly followed by my girlfriends vegetarian 'Nut Roast'. On closer inspection, the 'Nut Roast' part of the course seemed to be missing. I returned this to the bar staff, who informed me that the 'Nut Roast' was in fact present and consisted of 10 cashew nuts that had been browned in a pan. What a pisstake. They offered me a refund and I left.
Apologies for length, in summary: good beer, great garden, nice food prepared by someone who doesn't have a clue, attitude from one member of staff.
|
Visited the pub again, and instantly you sense a real difference. Graham the new landlord was fantastic, a true gent. He has great plans for the old place and being a local himself realizes the potential. He greeted everyone with a smile and was extremely helpful. His enthusiasm and charisma rubbed of onto the staff who were also as friendly. The garden instantly looked better with new wooden furniture and beautiful flowers inside the pub gave a really lovely touch. Really looking forward to seeing what the refit will be like after September. Our children were made to feel really welcome so now I give the pub 5 star+ and highly recommend you visit.
anonymous - 4 Jul 2010 06:29 |
There is a hell of a lot of potential here and under new mangement I hope it can flourish. As a previous employee of the establishment I think the criticism is quite harsh as the landlord in particular was very pleasant and dealt with complaints incredibly well. The garden is brilliant, despite this being a local I had never really noticed the potential before.
OhMyE - 29 May 2010 15:31 |
I understand this pub is now under new management, and about time too. I guess there was substance to my review as I believe the previous manager was kicked out. Good luck to the new landlord, now could be a good time to return. It's a lovely village pub that needs to be run properly. I'll let you know....
anonymous - 2 May 2010 09:10 |
We visited this pub for a birthday dinner for my mother. I'd often driven through the pretty village of Boxley and seen this quaint looking pub so thought to give it a try. Lets just say that quaint only went as far as the front door. The staff looked completely miserable and everything was too much effort. The food was no better than my local hospital provides, when we complained the atitude from the Landlord was take it or leave it. Well lets just say I will leave it thankyou sir. I would not recommend this place to anyone, it certainly needs the intervention of Mr Gordon Ramsey to knock it into shape. Either that or the landlord and his staff need to go back to etiquette school, and the cook can go back to Mcdonalds!!
anonymous - 2 Oct 2009 20:40 |
Ooh err. We've been there a few times as the food is always very good as is the beer. The garden is nice and safe for children too. The previous revue seems a bit harsh but then we weren't there to witness it.
|
Since the change in management we've been to this pub three times as it's local to us. The first two times they ran out of Guinness and the food was really bland so gave up on using them for food again. On the third visit for just a drink with my family and friends we were more disappointed as once again the staff were really unwelcoming. They are extremely child unfriendly, our 4 year old children were naturally curious of the big marquee in the Garden which was open. The Landlord and Landlady + one other women came out screaming abuse at the children to get out of the Marquee when there were no signs or indication to say it was not to be used by customers. The children were very upset from this torrent of abuse they received, if they had asked us politely instead of bullying the children we would not have had a problem in removing them from their tent. When confronted they offered no apology and were extremely rude. Other customers in the garden were also appalled in the way these people treated our children.]
anonymous - 28 Jun 2009 21:56 |
Nice pub, nice garden, OK beer, cute barmaid; shame there's no parking.
|
|
