please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
A visit on a Sunday afternoon for lunch with the wife, this pub was chosen for 2 reasons , first of all it appears in the 2017 GBG and secondly it was the only pub in the guide in the area that had tables available for lunch!
Bar area to the left as you enter through the front door with a separate dining area to the right. The pub was pretty busy and the restaurant being half full. There's only 8 tables in the dining room with seating for around 22 people.
3 hand pumps with 2 ales on, one from Shepard and Neame and my choice which was Nelson Breweries Revengence Bitter @ 3.7%.
Music played at a decent level through the bar and dining room.
The walls in the dining area have many paintings, drawings and history of the village and local area as well as several stags heads, antlers and some taxidermy. There's a cabinet stocked with miniature whiskey's, I didn't take a close look bit it seemed to be some collection.
The food was very good (especially if you like fish) and reasonably priced. Service was attentive and food arrived swiftly.
A flying visit really as after our meal and my 1 pint we left. As i didn't spend any time in the pub I cannot really comment, but the food was good and the pint I had was well kept.
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Great pub at the eastern end of the village of Cooling. It's a free house which has a rotating local ale and Shepherd Neame Masterbrew. The local ale when we visited was a highly quaffable 4% bitter from the Rockin Robin brewery in Maidstone. There was also a local cider from the Biddenden vineyard, which the landlord allowed me to sample - it was like nectar. This pub is definitely worth a visit if you're visiting the RSPB reserves at Northward Hill and Cliffe Pools. Taxidermists will also love it as it's full of stuffed birds.
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I visited here just last week as I was staying with the family in a local Haven caravan park. This was only a short drive away down winding country lanes and it made it even better as I had a chauffer as the other half is not that bothered about sampling the fine Kentish ale on offer.
I found this pub to be very friendly and welcoming. Sometimes one can be a bit unsure of going into rural village pubs and I guess they can sometimes be a bit cliquey. However, as soon as I set foot in the door we were made to feel as welcome as if we had been drinking here for years.
I had Scampi and Chips which went down quicker than a whores knickers. It was cooked perfectly and just the right amount. Enjoyed an ale from the Royal Tunbridge Wells brewery.
All in all, very impressed and would definitely recommend a visit. I wish there were more pubs of this ilk in the area of Greater London where I live however if this was the case I am sure my liver and bank balance would take a turn for the worse.
8 out of 10
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It seems some of the guys who have posted a review on this pub have been disappointed which is a real shame! if you are to stroll in on a monday or tuesday you are quite possibly going to find it a little quiet as it is right out in a rural but beautiful farmland area and a wonderful part of kent.
It stocks fantastic Kent Ales and even sports a kent Pilsner from the whitstable brewery! along with great food available, (there is a choice for anyones taste)and you would be hard pressed to find a warmer welcome in the medway towns!
I have no hesitations in recommending this pub to anyone who really is looking for a real village pub and a friendly atmosphere!
I am a regular of "The Shoes" and find it a shame to come across reviews that are years out of date. Maybe if a few more members were to visit they could make up thier own minds but personally I think its great!
itisi - 29 Jun 2011 00:07 |
Our second visit, on a walk Higham - Gravesend on Good Friday, and confirmed this as a good lunch stop. The hot pea and ham soup for lunch was just right, along with a pint of Oldershaw Caskade. The others also enjoyed their food and beer. It was the rain that we had to walk into and through for the next hour and a half that was almost too much. Still, buoyed up by our lunch, we struggled through the wet and mud .........
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A proper quiet pub set in a beautiful setting overlooking the marshes and good beer too
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We popped into this pub last week whilst staying in the area. The welcome/atmosphere was friendly and the food was OK but nothing special. The pub itself was quite interesting and a bit quirky but above all individual - a characteristic which is fast disappearing sadly. The beer was well kept and the guest ale "Stronginthearm" was excellent. Would definitely go in again if in the area.
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Have been to this pub many times over the past 20 years and it seems to change all the time.
My last visit a few months ago was very different from the previous time I was here when it was lively and welcoming. Now, it seemed quite empty and very clicky; our visit was almost taken with an element of surprise.
It is a great pub though with a lot of history in an amazing and historic little hamlet. People used to come out of their way to come here and it doesn't seem they do much more which is a great pity and quite worrying considering that pub has closed down previously.
The beer range was fairly extensive and the quietness of the pub suited it in a way. It all felt authentic and very real as opposed to the many chain pubs polluting the country.
If you're looking for a quiet drink in a now quiet pub with a bit of genuine history out in the middle of nowhere, then this is for you.
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The following passage appears in "The Kent Village Book", published in 1986:
Cooling really is a decaying village. Now that the Horseshoe and Castle pub is closed and rapidly being colonised by the local herbage there is very little, apart from the church and castle, left.
A worthwhile reminder of what happens when a village pub closes, and even though SilkTork had a bad experience, I love visiting Cooling church and drinking at the Horseshoe and Castle.
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I got a friendly welcome even though all the other few customers were the owners and cronies. Sadly no Larkins on but the Shepherd Neame bitter was in very good condition. Went down well after a long walk on a hot day!
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this is a real country public house. friendly and efficient staff. excellent selection of wines and a wide selection of food all using local produce. excellent
anonymous - 17 Nov 2006 16:13 |
Tired and dull local in an out of the way hamlet on the Thames marshes. Our visit was clearly poorly timed as the landlady was on the wrong side of the bar having a quiet and slow chat with a couple of the regulars. After some time she got up and moved slowly round to serve us. She managed this without making eye-contact, without smiling and without actually speaking to us - though she did manage to keep up a conversation with everyone else present in the pub and a few who were just passing through. When she had finished pulling our beers she waited for me to pay. I asked how much. She tossed a comment in my direction without breaking her conversation with the regulars. When I asked her to repeat how much, I was allowed a stare of disgust as though I had just dropped my pants and spayed diarrhoea over her pub. Clearly this was a day and time for locals only.
This, incidentally, is Jools Holland's local.
The beer on offer was Larkin's Chiddingston, Shep's Master Brew and GK's IPA. We went for Larkin's and it was a splendid beer - soft and fruity with a gentle cleansing tang - and managed to impress even though served slightly warm and slightly tired.
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very friendly and welcoming pub, good selection of beers, great food.
Ben - 11 Aug 2004 16:51 |
