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Black Pig, sharing its name with that of Captain Pugwash's pirate
ship, is the only pub of that name in England. It's not that far from
the port of Sandwich, so you'll hopefully be in the mood for a bite,
and is one of those pubs that, unless a local, you will need to ask
directions to find. It's worth it, though. It dates from around 1420
and had a long period as a brewery before becoming a pub again and
has now mutated into a pub restaurant. Inside it is of average size
and a very atmospheric mix of old brick and timbers, with the smallish
restaurant separate from the bar area. Service is friendly and good
and the cooking is definitely done on the premises. We went for lunch
on a Saturday. I phoned ahead and was told 'only bar meals' were available
but hearing pies were involved that was not a problem. These bar meals
are not a bacon baguette sprinkled with crisps but substantial. My
pie was a steak and ale one and excellent with plenty of properly
cooked accompanying veg. My friend had a prawn salad and that definitely
passed muster too. It is not fancy cooking but good dependable stuff
- also available are chicken and mushroom pie, curry, stroganoff,
chilli con carne, lasagna etc. The usual suspects but nicely done
and served in a properly ancient Kent pub setting for a reasonable
price. They also do a three course lunch from Monday to Friday for
about £7 and an evening three course set meal on Wednesday and Thursday
for about £14. To cap it all the beer is Shepherd Neame and there's
a sizeable car park. Take an Ordnance Survey map and make a day of
it. Harry |
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