please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Clean, tidy and well kept pub. Downside is the range of ales which as others have mentioned is limited and uninspiring.
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We went here Saturday lunchtime.Large Car Park.Nice outdoor seating area.Dog friendly.Pleasant attentive staff.Good menu reasonably priced,food arrived quickly,well presented.Guest beers available although we weren't drinking alcohol.Toilets clean and tidy.Part of the English Inns Pub chain i believe.First visited this pub over 25 years ago and it has always been alright on numerous visits.
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A recommended place for a good meal and cheerful service, unfortunately the selection of beers leaves a lot to be desired. A good menu, excellent steaks. Prices realistic for what you get. Large car park, busy road but not noticed once inside and access is good.
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Last review was nearly a year ago so time for an update. We were recommended this pub for its food so we went for a Saturday afternoon meal recently. Food was superb - five meals all well-cooked, well-presented and tasty. All staff were pleasant and welcoming, even the younger ones. The owner was friendly and couldn't do enough for us (and we had a two-year old with us). Can't comment on the choice of beer as I am a cider drinker! Wouldn't hesitate to go back here.
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Usual poor ale offering from GK...why, oh why do they not use a specialist local brewer? Afraid of a bit of competition, I guess. A pity really as they are trying very hard with a food menu that looks excellent BUT is it like their beer offering, flattering to deceive? As no decent brew I wended my way to Ardingly in search of both good food and good beer.
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no local beer here....shame
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Only pub I've ever been banned from. I wonder if the embargo imposed by that nasty little landlord back in 1983 still applies ?
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This was a recommendation pub from friends - oh dear! The ambience was okay in the bar but was lost in the restaurant side - lights on full created no sense of privacy or intimacy and left me feeling as if I was eating in a village hall.
I ordered the Rump steak @ 16.95 thinking that as finalists as steak pub of the year it would be good - it was less than 1 cm thick and much less than the 8oz it promised. I asked for med rare it can med well the thick cut chips had run out - this is Sat night with Sunday lunch approaching but they had no potatoes - just goes to showbtgatvthey are really frozen chips - so we got thin fries. My wife's was no better!
The burger was so over garlicked it swamped the table overpowering everything and the bun was burnt! The desserts were a let down and the service very poor yet they still carved �11 for the lack of it. This place is all talk and no substance over priced and simply does not deliver the goods ---- avoid !!!!!
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Oh dear! The Cowdray has become a bit foodie & pretentious. Says everything sourced locally, but no local ales to be found. A real shame!
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Greene King pub at the junction of a couple of B roads in the middle of the countryside. Morland Original and Ruddles Best were the 2 real ales on offer. The interior is modernised, but still has a little character. The owner/manager was very friendly and welcoming. We were tempted and eventually succumbed to the scratchings in a jar behind the bar, which were then served on a plate. Whilst they were very salty, they appeared to have been marinated in honey and spices and were extremely tasty. Although they caused terrible indigestion later! The pub was quiet on our visit, with nobody eating.
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I agree with duckdod! This is a country pub/restaurant masquerading as a London gastro pub. Yes pubs need to diversify... But serving fish n chips at over �10 a meal, I expect more than battered cod stylishly balance on aprox 8 chips stacked up Jenga style. My bugbear with pubs us when they ruin traditional British dishes by making them into some sort of modern art exhibit!
Leave that to big cities n Michelin star restaurants... Not country pubs!
The food is good, staff ok, but the style they are trying to emulate is totally out of place with a place like The Cowdray, an old coaching in on the old London to Brighton Road
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Some of these reviews are nothing short of ridiculous...does no one understand that the days of drinking only pubs are history. This fantastic food led pub is showing the modern steps required for a pub to succeed! Great food, friendly service and a user and travel friendly range of drinks! Well done and ignore the cavemen, beer swilling, beard wearing comments before!
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The Cowdray Arms used to be one of the pubs we would make an effort to visit in the early 90's when Mike and Claire used to run the place. Mike used to run Beer Festivals that were really great. Anyone know what Mike is up to these days? Anyway, we popped in on Saturday and it was sad to see that there were no guest ales to speak of although there was one pretending to be guest ale that was in fact brewed by ... Green King (something from Westgate). Green King also have a bad practice of pretending that the brewery's they have shut are somehow guest ales (ie. Morland). It was also sad to see that the waiting times for food were one and a half hours! OK maybe we were unlucky with out timing, but far too many people (we counted 14+), faced with this wait, promptly left. This place can still be better than it is and we hope it will improve before our next visit.
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My grandparents were the licencees here in the 1930s and our family used to call in there during the 50s and 60s. Exterior still recognisable from phots of the 30s although the orchard is now the car park and they have put in mains water and electricity! Apparently was very popular with cyclists before the road became so busy. Judging by previous reviews things have gone down hill!!
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In this day and age not having a vegetarian option just is not acceptable.
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I used to know this pub when it was a Beard's free house, serving a superb range of real ales. Apart from forest, the only thing to note nearby is Worth Abbey, a monastery and public school, and the pub has always been the watering-hole for the teachers and sixth-form.
It's now just "The Cowdray", and is a gastro-pub. (Yet another stupid, pointless name-change). The food is excellent, and sourced locally. The beer is bog-standard Greene King -yawn.
Good for a meal, don't bother otherwise.
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Beware- it's nowhere near Balcombe, but on a crossroads in between that place and the M23.
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I swore that I'd never visit this place again after encountering the fat, rude landlord who wouldn't serve me because he obviously felt my face didn't fit. Hope he's now festering in the great drip tray in the sky !!
The pub has certainly gone up a great deal since then and I'll call by whenever I'm passing. If you're still around, fatty, I hope that you're reading this !!
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Went here for dinner on Friday with some friends and had a fantastic meal. Service was quick and friendly without being OTT. The food was delectable, well good and full of flavour. We were all a little greedy and had puddings which none of us needed so left feeling a little over full but very content. Their selection of Sussex wines are definitely worth a try. All in all a fantastic place but ladies watch your high heels on the slightly slippery polished wood floors!
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Their website still advertises Dark Star Old Ale, which they don't sell!
It seems that this place is now an advertising stage for the Audi dealership up the road. Makes you wonder what they'll think of next!
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This pub has just re-opened after a refurbishment and it certainly looked nice as we entered after almost 3 years of staying away from the scruffy olds pub. We ate there and the fish and chips was super, if only they didn't serve it on top of rocket(not nice having hot lettuce leaves).We didn't find the staff very friendly though the service was good.Food prices are a little high so wouldn't take the family there.
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Oh, dear!
I think that 'JohnTheBeerMonster' needs a spelling lesson: it's Greene (with an 'e') King.
Furthermore, a reality lesson wouldn't go amiss: it's not the "pork scratching behind the bar" that he hears, but the rat that regularly strutted its stuff through the conservatory during lunchtime sessions!
My hard-earned cash regularly rattled in the till of this establishment in a past life when it was a Real Ale drinker's paradise. That, of course, was in the good old days before Greene King took it over, leaving the the wallpaper to peel, throwing out the Harveys Best Bitter and forcing the discerning Real Ale drinkers to leave and discover pastures new.
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Wow what a difference! Not visited this tired old pub for many months it was so dire before. Now its transformed with some great Green King beers, friendly staff and superb local food. Try the pork scratching behind the bar - a meal in themselves and home made. We went last week and the car park was full - something that has not happened in the week for many years. Well worth a visit, congrats to the owners and staff for turning the place around.
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The Cowdray has just re-opened after a refurbishment and what a fantastic change. I ate there yesterday and the food was amazing. The pubs uses all local Sussex produce and offers dishes on the menu that are just brilliant. Everything was so tasty and the service was really friendly. It's a real gem for anyone living in the area.
Lainy - 18 Mar 2008 10:24 |
Oh dear what has happened to this pub? Looks very tired, very few cutomers, zero atmosphere... Shame - has gone down hill rapidly over the last year or so...
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This used to be a good pub with good food. I'm not too sure what has happened recently but the quality has in my opinion declined markedly. The last family meal we had there on a Saturday Night was clearly not up to scratch.
anonymous - 30 Jun 2005 19:32 |
I discovered this beauty of a pub twelve years ago and can never wait for my next visit. Friendly, reasonable prices, great food,
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Check the map before trying to find this one. It's nowhere near Balcombe, but is in the forest to the north, at the junction of the east Crawley and East Grinstead roads near Worth Abbey.
Vasili - 30 Jul 2004 14:16 |
Excellent reasonably priced food, excellently conditioned Ales. Nice bar staff. Nice garden, country pub atmosphere. Play garden for the kids. Wish it was my local !
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it is a nice friendly atmosphere and the food is great. i would recommend this pub to anyone any day. the staff are all friendly and very helpful
michelle - 23 Mar 2004 14:25 |
Sited just outside Crawley this pub always offeres at least 4 usually 6 diffent real ales all to a high standard. Food is very good and the restaurant is situated in a huge conservatory. Good combination of friendly locals and ocassional users. Excellent landlord.
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