"My friend, who was visiting from The Netherlands, wanted to experience a “traditional meal in a traditional pub”. Most establishments now advertise themselves as gastro pubs, which wasn’t what we were looking for. Having read the most recent reviews and looked at the menu we selected ‘The **** Inn’ in Peasmarsh. My friend ordered from the section entitled ‘pub classics’, selecting Steak Ale Pie which was described as (presumably served with) “Creamy Mashed Potato Seasonal Vegetables” for £15 As a vegan who is wheat intolerant my own choice was very limited but I’m used to this. There was no indication that any dishes were gluten free, although there was the standard notice regarding allergens “please make us aware when ordering food” I did query one dish which turned out not to be gluten free and took a stab in the dark and selected “a trio of sausages’ which was served with ‘beans and chips’. The beans turned out, not surprisingly. to be baked beans. We ordered cola light and bitter lemon to drink. The drinks were fine but when my friend ordered a second glass of bitter lemon he couldn’t drink it he said it tasted as if someone had squirted washing up liquid into the glass. Both hot meals arrived on cold plates. Neither looked remotely appetising. The pastry on the steak pie was pale and insipid, (it looked undercooked) and was served with gravy, a dollop of overcooked cabbage and carrots. There was a round of what looked like potato mashed with parsnip or onions. What I had thought was either parsnip or onions turned out to be just lumps of potato. So much for the ‘creamy’ mashed potato and ‘seasonal’ vegetables. Carrot and cabbage cannot, surely, be described as ‘seasonal, vegetables’ in August or does seasonable now mean vegetables that are available whatever the season? My meal was so poor that I left most of it. Both sausages and crinkle chips were obviously straight out of the freezer: some of the chips were hot but too many were barely warm and the baked beans were cold. The sausages, however, had been heated to within an inch of their lives: hot but hard, dried up and tasteless. I was charged £12 for this! When I went to pay, the barmaid, who was friendly enough, asked if we had enjoyed our meal. I replied “Not really” and went on to describe the state of my meal. “Oh we always serve on cold plates and you should have told me about the cold food and I would have heated it up for you”. I didn’t mention the soapy drink as I felt it was up to my friend to make his own complaints as I hadn’t actually tasted either the drink or his meal but he (and I) just wanted to leave there as fast as possible. My advice to prospective diners is: read ALL the reviews before you go there. We should have done. The claim on their website is “It's important to us that we serve the best quality food we can to our customers”. All I can say is “Really?”"
