please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Only three ales on but each one was immaculately kept.
Gadds Cloud Surfer was my favourite on the day.
Small even by micro pub standards the pub is always clean and tidy and the locals friendly.
Colin the landlord is equally chatty and what he doesn't know about beer and brewing isn't worth knowing!
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Love this place! The definition of a micro pub- very small, no frills just a decent selection of well kept real ales and a friendly knowledgeable landlord to serve them.
Whenever I visit the customers have always been friendly and keen to engage in conversation.
Well worth a visit if you enjoy drinking real ale in a friendly environment.
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We were given a friendly welcome by the "barman" - obviously not Colin, and a nod from the other customer in there at the time.
There was a choice of three beers of which we tried two. Very well kept but as previously noted by Soldrax, a bit lacklustre.
There was another beer which I would have preferred but the barman said it was not ready. A customer came in shortly after us and was quite mouthy when told that this beer was not ready. To his great credit, the barman refused to serve him with this beer - he obviously wants his customers to enjoy beer at it's best!
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Splendid little place which was a florist when I used to live in Ramsgate!
Small even for a micro pub it's very friendly and a real labour of love on the part of Colin the landlord.
There are a couple of round tables and an array of stools round the sides of the room. I would guess there is room for no more than 20 customers in total.
There are pictures of old Ramsgate on the wall and plenty of real ale related literature to read if you don't want to join in the conversation!
On my last visit I exchanged memories of old Ramsgate!
The beers available on my last visit were Gadds #3 and New Zealand Pale Ale and Pardoners both from the Canterbury Tales brewery. Both the Gadds and the NZ were excellent and well kept.
The beers are dispensed from a separate room (like some other micros there is no bar) and access to the toilet is through the same room.
An excellent place to visit if you appreciate real ale and friendly company.
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Perfectly good small pub, though hardly stands out from the dozen or so around the area (the one on Margate seafront is my favourite), and beer was good rather than exceptional. Not a place you'd take a book to read either. Ramsgate has some wonderful pubs in the centre.
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An old shop that has been converted into a bar complete with a good selection of ales and a very knowledge owner..Colin I think he's name.
3 good quality ales were on sale the evening I visited along with a decent cider so I am told.
A really quirky little place that was neigh on full, good mix of customers a couple of very friendly and lovely dogs with their pleasant owners, make this a place I will definitely return to on my next visit to Ramsgate.
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Colin: a real gent who makes for a nice pub - micro or otherwise.
The ale choices can seem to be chosen by proximity to the pub rather than by quality or style though - so I can be drowning in lacklustre choices from Gadds' [sic] or Wansum (that's not to say all their beers are lucklustre), rather than something a little more engaging from further afield.
That said though, I have tried some lovely things there at times - trouble is, I always feel like it will be a loteery as to whether there will be some style of beer that I will enjoy when I visit.
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CAMRA South East Super Regional Pub of the Year, so SOMEONE must think it's the real thing!
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Definitely the tiniest pub I've ever set foot in. Warm welcome and excellent choice of ales, though mine was on the flat side. Beware of the rather unusual opening hours before planning to visit however.
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I have been here a couple of times and enjoyed my visits. However I cannot see how this has become the Kent Pub of the Year.
I don't consider micro-pubs as proper pubs due to their limited opening hours and also most are not open 7 days a week. MPs are just small bars with a couple of chairs and tables in and a couple of beers on sale. If I was a publican in Kent I would be very annoyed that this pub has won CAMRA's POTY.
Good luck to Colin, but the Conqueror and other Micro pubs are not the real thing.
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Kent CAMRA Pub of the Year 2012.
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One of east Kent's emergent micropubs which happily seem to be proliferating hereabouts, presumably keen to follow the successful blueprint set down by Martyn at the Butchers in Herne a few years ago. The Conqueror was set up recently by a local CamRA official, Colin Aris, who is a very jolly and convivial host, who has all the right qualities to dictate a steady and civilised pace in the 'front room' atmosphere that a micropub must master if it is to succeed. I'd have to say that he is a little less brisk than Martyn and he has a kind of cuddly compere quality about him. He seemed to revel in moving amongst us and holding court - but not in a pompous or theatrical way - with the cluster of like-minded ale enthusiasts who have all experienced that same epiphany that me and my mate did in that we rediscovered the notion that a pub sometimes just needs to be simple and no-nonsense, focusing solely on excellent local beer and good civil conversation that should flow from that, with some basic cold food an optional extra.
Granted, that model won't suit every pubgoer, least of those whose palates have yet to discover the delights of cask ale! But for those of us who do, and have perhaps started to tire of the gathering inclinations towards gastro-ism, expensive foreign imports, or at the other end of the scale cheap identikit bars, large TV screens and so on, this sort of venue is manna from heaven.
The ale choice was of course, local as can be - or at least it was until Colin had to replace a rather nasty barrel of Goody's Good Heavens (not to my personal taste anyway but sadly he'd been sold a real duffer - some of the most disgusting beer I've ever tasted!) with one of, er, Castle Rock! Well, it was kept to perfection and I'm not one who insists on every beer having to be brewed within 10 miles. This was an unfortunate occurrence as it is clear that bad beer in the Conqueror is extremely rare - I suspect Colin will have been on the phone to Martyn about that the next day! Otherwise, needless to say, all was well on the stillage.
There was a gentle hubbub of chat, punctuated by the odd visit to the tap room for the toilet. Cheese was provided in what looked like a worryingly processed piece of plastic wrapping - but you know what? It was bloody cheddar gorgeous! Really went so well with our ales. Later on, someone went out on landlord's orders to fetch some fish and chips, which were generously shared around and went well when washed down with the beer.
I must say that besides the inherently-space limiting nature of the format, I find micros to be predominantly male-orientated pubs. Certainly that seemed so on the night we visited the Conqueror, and previously at the Butchers. However, it isn't a 'laddish' or 'working men's club' environment here; women are just as welcome, and usually some kind of wines or spirits are provided if ale or cider doesn't float their alcoholic boat. Other micros at Westgate and Deal certainly had a decent influx of the fairer sex on my recent drop-ins, so don't ever think if you're female this kind of place won't do for you. The main bond between all patrons is the mutual love of good beer - plain and simple. If you fit that mould, you'll love this and its nearby counterparts irrespective of age, gender, sexual orientation, politics or wealth.
Come ale ye faithful!
This promises so little from without - as the photo above testifies - yet once within it yields so much albeit in an arguably narrow field. Apparently this premises was leased and set-up for around �10K - amazing what a relatively small sum can do eh?
A genuine classic-in-the-making; I'll be back.
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A landlord who is a proper gentleman, and who follows the ethos of the Butcher's Arms in most ways - but is too nice a chap to carry off the curmudgeonly qualities that Martyn Hillier has made his own!
I love the pork pies, and the ale is kept scrupulously well.
I sometimes fear the choice of beers has been made by the heart rather than the head though, and sometimes, I see a range of local beers rather than a range of tasty genres.
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tradervic, a sad life trawling BITE for an arguement, just a miserable no mark troll.
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The fact that they do cheddar now is great but I would rather see some regional cheese.
They do regional beers so why not regional cheeses?
As for the Vijfde graaf van de niet permanente bron, keep up the good work. But more is less and less is more.
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Sober up bourne....
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T.A.V. �markos�.
U kun nu kopen echte Engelse kaas ( rijpe �Cheddar� ) bij �The Conqueror�.
De �Cheddar� kaas, een varkensvleespastei, een keus van mosterd, en een uitstekende pint!
Wat meer kond u wensen?
Een goede maaltijd voor een redelijke prijs!
Mvg.,
5de Graaf van Wimbourne
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The Conqueror has nearly been open for a year, and is named after a paddle steamer which used to ply its trade between Ramsgate and the French channel ports. The captain of The Conqueror was the landlord�s grandfather, and there are a number of photographs of The Conqueror adorning the premises.
Three ales � always served in tip-top order which is only to be expected as the landlord was chairman of the local CAMRA branch before opening The Conqueror. Proper Cider is also served. Snacks are limited, and the speciality of the house are the hand-raised Pork Pies, with an interesting selection of mustard.
No music, no fruit machines � just conversation and good ale. If you live nearby, it�s the perfect watering hole if you are doing your Dhobi as it�s only a couple of hundred yards from the local launderette. A far better proposition that sitting in said launderette watching your long-johns flailing around in a washing machine!
The opening hours are limited which sometimes is not a bad thing, and The Conqueror is closed on Sunday evening and all day Monday. It is situated on the �Thanet Loop� bus route.
It certainly gets a �thumbs up� from me! 8/10.
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The first micropub in Ramsgate but I have been a little more cautious with my rating, simply because I don't find this bar comfortable. I feel the colour scheme and acoustics are not great. I wish that I didn't have this view because I am very much a promoter of this concept. Ale wise and knowledge of the beer is a thumbs-up mind. I just feel that a softening of the decor would make such a big improvement as the inside looks as awkward as the exterior. Sorry guys.
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Excellent new addition to Ramsgate scene. Friendly & chatty landlord, great
beer, what more do you want ?
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Visited this micropub on a Friday and it was very busy. It was a first time visit to a micropub and it was a bit strange not having the landlord behind the bar but in between us all.
The beer was good and it felt like as if I was at someone his living room.
They serve pies in here would like to see some real English cheese in here. Somekind of regional cheese platter with a good pint of ale.
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