Hawkenbury Country Inn & Restaurant in Maidstone

Went to see how the place had changed as I used to visit often, thankfully ithe pub hadn't changed much which is a good thing, owners are still very pleasant and looks to be managed by his son and girlfriend are also lovely. Good to meet the Frenchy too.

We had an evening meal which was fine but the breakfast was not brilliant and the bacon and mushrooms definitely had unusual taste.

Nice stop off on a country walk from Headcorn. Good selection of food well cooked, also a good selection of real ale.

Everybody I take to the Hawkenbury raves about it .... the friendly, family environment and the wonderful food. I travel into London a lot for film meetings and rarely find helpful staff or meals that are worth the money. This is the complete opposite. From the moment you enter the friendly staff make you welcome. The restaurant is always clean, warm and well attended. However the star of the show is the food. I have brought family, friends even the head of Paramount films and they all commented on the piping hot and plentiful meals. Whether you order steak or scampi the portions are wonderful and the food is ALWAYS fresh and well prepared. We have been during the week, Weekends, Sunday lunch and even Christmas meal and the service and quality of the food isw always the same ... superb. I thoroughly recommend this restaurant to anybody who likes a piping hot, plentiful , freshly cooked well priced meal. I even took my brother recently who could eat for the Olympics and never seems satisfied with his portions at restuarants. He had a starter and then his main meal ... it was such generous portions he never had room for a desert. History was made at the Hawkenbury. We now judge other restaurants portions and service by the Hawkenbury and I have to say few match up.Wonderful family restaurant and congrats to the Chef whoever they are.

We visit fairly regularly on Friday evenings or Sunday lunchtimes and are never disappointed. A nice family run pub/restaurant, with a relaxed atmosphere (apart from some very occassional 'undesirables' in the bar area, when its a case of watch your pockets) Very good size menu, and everything we have ordered has been at least decent and often excellent. Rarely very busy on Friday's and the owner always comes over for a chat.

On Sunday we decided to eat here, I haven’t visited in a while so I and my partner took mum and dad. It wasn’t very busy. We ordered a drink at the bar. The bar staff looked like they had ,had a bad day .....no smiles or interaction with us, very blunt and to be honest this followed through to the waiter to. We are a family who like to laugh and even with my banter I could not raise a smile from any of them. My parents meal came out late and we were told the waiter had dropped it and another was being made. When it did come out I jokingly said oh you didn’t drop this one then lol. To which was given a very puzzled look and shook his head as he said ohhhhhh did I. I can only think from his reaction that it hadn’t been dropped at all it was forgotten or just late. I’m very disappointed that none of the staff were welcoming and we will not return,when you visit one of your locals you expect to feel at ease,as we left we all said that none of the staff looked happy. On the other hand the food was ok .

lovely place, my only comment is that the accommodation is in the old stables which is right by the childrens playground. grumpy me doesnt want to have screaming kids right by me when im relaxing.

We really enjoyed our meal at The Hawkenbury Inn. The staff were very friendly and welcoming. We had our two dogs with us and they were welcome too.

Really like popping in here for a Sunday lunch, the food is really good and the staff are very nice. I love the fact you can get good old fashioned deserts like spotty duck and jam roll and custard. The main menu looks good too.

Our family of three were looking for a pub meal close to our holiday rental and his place was very close. We gave it try and were pleased to find a great pub atmosphere where they had the six nations game on, a pool table, darts, local ales and a good menu. We had a nice meal, played games, watched rugby, and drank ales. A very pleasant evening.

We were a bit worried to find ourselves the only customers at lunchtime on a Friday but we needn't have!! The Thai fishcake starter was delicious and the mains were good too. Service was friendly and helpful.Simple hearty food - nothing fancy - with generous portions.Highly recommended.

What a disappointment. Have had lunch here a few years ago and it was really nice, wish I could say the same about tonight's disaster. Service and welcome was good, even the time we had to wit for our dinner was ok but the food was terrible. I must say that before I start I have had over twenty years in the Hotel & Catering trade and I am a senior reviewer on trip advisor and never like leaving a negative review unless I feel it necessary. Where to start I ordered the Homemade Steak & Guinness pie, the pie filling was mainly gravy with lots of peas, diced carrots and about five half inch pieces of over cooked beef which was hard to chew and served in what only can be described as a packet gravy with Guinness added which had not been cooked out properly and made it very bitter, plus an extra huge pile of peas as one of the vegetables given to accompany. My husband & son had the Pizzas which were soggy in the middle and burnt underneath my son said he couldn't decide whether he was eating pasta or pizza and the cheese was not at all nice, the grand finale was a dried up piece of chocolate fudge cake, even the icing was dark brown and you could tell it had sat around plus the portion size was at least half what you would normally get. Needless to say we won't be returning, a waist of £55 of our hard earnt money!

Nos alojamos en el Hawkenbury el sábado por la noche y pasamos un tiempo estupendo, un gran pub y un agradable habitación tranquila en la parte trasera. El desayuno del día siguiente fue también muy sabrosa. Teniendo en cuenta lo que pagamos, creo que fue una excelente relación calidad-precio. Gracias por una estancia maravillosa.

De no haber sido por una (una pierna de cordero desmenuzado - no menos sacó), de los cuatro platos, sirve le habría dado este restaurante 4. Sencillo servicio, en un ambiente agradable, con gente entrando, - siempre es una buena señal. Así: Por favor, intenta, después de todo era sólo una miss, en un día. Por desgracia, nuestro día. .

Stopped for a pint or two and a lovely welcome awaited, some nice local ales as well as classic largers

Después de trabajar todo el fin de semana festivo, no lejos de mi familia y yo tuvimos una cena temprano en el Hawkenberry.

Visitamos el pub como un grupo grande, con poco aviso club. El interior es muy acogedor, el personal y el dueño muy acogedor, y una excelente selección de cervezas y vinos de gran variedad de hecho.

I, my wife and 2 daughters called in for a late lunch, hungry on our way home from a very good day out at Leeds Castle. From the menu my wife and I selected fish and chips and my daughters chose scampi and chips, and...

Excelente comida, excelente servicio. No es el más barato los precios, pero vale la pena. Todos los alimentos cocinados a la orden y el desayuno era simplemente perfecto. Usted elige lo que quieres cuando te registras y es cocinado a la perfección y el desayuno era enorme.

La comida era buenísima y había mucho para elegir. El servicio del personal era también excelente.

stayed here over a weekend. The pub is welcoming and the food is excellent, with a good choice on the menu. The beer garden is huge, away from the road and is great for enjoying the sun.The B&B rooms are located away from the road so are very quiet. They are spacious inside and well equipped. As well as having a nice seating area outside.

We stayed for one night. The rooms are in a separate building which doesn't look much from the outside, but the rooms was really well decorated with a comfy bed and good powerful shower. The evening meal was really well cooked and breakfast was superb. only drawback was the bottle of water my wife asked for to take back to the room - it was £2.30 for a small bottle. Overall though we really enjoyed ourselves and the staff were really friendly

Stayed here for a weekend away in Kent. The hosts at the pub were very welcoming, offering excellent quality food both at breakfast and dinner. The spacious B&B rooms benefit from being at the end of the car park so very quiet and private. We had great weather so could relax in the large beautiful beer garden soaking up the sun and country air -perfect for summer days - you may even be lucky and witness the resident wolf (dog)!I would definitely recommend, reflective of great hospitality and value for money!

Popped in whilst having a random weekday drive around the area with a friend. We were the first ones in to the pub when it opened and the guy behind the bar was really friendly, we ordered s couple of baguettes and sweet potato fries and would have been happy to sit in the bar, but were told we could sit in the restaurant which was laid out beautifully. The food was delicious, the pub was cosy and comfortable, a lovely hidden spot which we will definitely head out to again, and very reasonable prices.

Had lunch with my wife here. The food was pretty atrocious cant comment on the quality of the beer as I was driving.

I have had several lovely lunches here so i didnt hesitate to return with my friend. I have also had a bagette here before which was filling , plentiful and worth the money . This time however was a let down . The bagette I ordered wasn't as advertised and was nothing like before. It was half the size, not nicely presented and looked as if it was just thrown together. I noticed a sign saying the kitchens were closed from the following day due to maintenence work, maybe this explained why the lunch was so sparce and not as before, if not the reason then the baguette portion and presentation needs to be worth the money and improved or present it as it was before . On the plus side this is a clean ,family friendly country pub with a large beer garden equiped with plenty to keep the children happy .

The food came out and my mate and I just looked at each other!! It was so shocking we paid for our drinks and asked if we could return the food as "poor" and left. The landlady said no one had ever complained before today! This was nothing better than a supermarket "part cooked" baguettes with a bit of ham and salad. We wished we'd taken a picture! The baguette was apparently 14" long, cut in half. This must have been a man's 14"The salad was iceberg lettice with a 1/2 a small tomato and a tiny amount of grated carrot. There was also crisps whixh we decided it probably was one one small packet between the two of us??!!

A colleague and I popped in for a beer and lunch and have to say it was a very pleasant surprise. The beer was just right and the chicken breast burger and mexican burger we had were delicious!

Lovely place and the staff were second to none. We had an absolutely brilliant night and the disco and Elvis singer were fantastic. If you want to book this place for large functions there are rooms available and a massive dining room for weddings and birthdays alike. Buffet was good and all fresh.

I had driven past The Hawkenbury Inn pub a few times and kept thinking that we must try it soon. We walked there from home, in Staplehurst, which took about half an hour along the main road but it was lovely on this fine Spring day :) When and walked in we were instantly greeted by the really friendly and helpful staff. There was a big birthday party going on, yet we were still served straight away and were never neglected, even though they were busy! We had a really yummy freshly cooked roast dinner that came with all the veg on the side etc, and it wasn't that even expensive!! A starter and a main for £9.95, what a bargain :) Excellent portion sizes too so it really was great value for money! The pub had a nice atmosphere, it was clean, had friendly staff, great quality food, and a good choice of drink! What more could you want from a lovely village pub. Definitely going to go back soon thank you :)

My mother's 70th, waited an hour before our food arrived. We asked why it was taking so long - apparently my mexi- burger was delaying everything (?) I've never seen a roast dinners served with one potato before, in fact half of one potato. We asked for more potatoes and were told they'd be another 20 minutes. Well after waiting for an hour this is a bit poor. My mother's salmon seemed to not only be over done, but stone cold. My food - way too salty. The woman serving (manageress?) might try smiling occasionally rather than treating us as an inconvenience - quite surly infact.On the whole, exceptionally disappointing. The place has the look and feel that it was going to be good but failed to deliver on all levels. Never saw those extra potatoes.

Fantastic food. Good value for money. Friendly welcome and good service. Will be going back. Would recommend to friends and family

Visited this restaurant about a month ago on a Monday night.The special offer for Monday nights is buy one main meal and get second free.My cousin and I both opted for the lamb shank. I have to say it was the best I have ever had along with mashed potato loads of mint gravy and vegetables done to perfection.Could not fault meal and would definitely recommend.

We ate food here 3 nights running whilst on a cycling weekender. Simple but varied menu, nice local cider available. They certainly did cyclist portions. Very reasonable too.

Visited the Hawkenbury on a regular basis with my family and each time we visit, the roast dinner gets better and better.The two ladies are super friendly and nice which makes the meal and outing far more pleasant than other restaurants in the area.If you like a good roast dinner that serves a decent portion, this place is the place to go!

I was so disappointed with our experience on Sunday?There were 31 of us booked for lunch on Sunday 30th, to celebrate a 90th birthday.We had preordered our meal over a month ago. When we sat for dinner we were bought our plates with meat, potatoes, Yorkshire pudding and parsnip already flooded with gravy. We then asked for our vegetables!!! The waitress snapped at us that she had to get other tables dealt with and our veg arrived 20 minutes later and the rest of the meal was stone cold!!!! Simply unacceptable for a preordered meal.When we had decided on our desserts, we wrote down our own orders and a member of our party delivered direct to the bar and then waited another half an hour for our desserts! With elderly people in our party this experience was very unpleasant for all.We had originally planned to eat here on Christmas Day, but after the experience on Sunday, I would not want to ruin our family Christmas as family members will be coming from Australia. So disappointed and such a shame.

We popped into the Hawkenbury for a family adult lunch on Saturday. We arrived at about 12.30pm, and were the only ones thereMenu was quite varied - portion sizes were good - homemade chips. Most of the party had burgers, which were good. I had the chilli, which was quite bland and very disappointing.What really let the Hawkenbury down was the waiter - he was obviously going out for a cigarette in between serving us, and he stank like an old ashtray.........was not pleasant.A little disappointed, as could have been so much better.

Really enjoyed my meal here, they have really good portion sizes at great prices. Although I had the Mediterranean chicken and it was no where near what I thought it would be and I didn't enjoy it. Needs a better description! But everyone else's looked great and the nachos were loveeely

Went to the Hawkenbury for Sunday lunch, the food was excellent, however the overall experience was let down by poor service, 4 staff on duty but only 2 appeared to be working at any one time!

Went with my husband for a meal on a Tuesday night, we had previously been here in April 2013 with a large group of friends and were disappointed with our experience - incorrect orders and service abit lacking, however they now seem to have turned things around.The food was very good and served piping hot.The pub was fairly quiet (as you would expect for a Tuesday in Jan.) and we got good service.Our dog was also welcome (in the bar area). From what we hear new owners took over the pub at the beginning of 2013, I guess they needed some time to find there feet. They have a nice garden area and we will definitely be returning in the summer.

We stayed in one of the lodges B&B for 3 nights, great value, very comfortable with a decent shower.Breakfast was first rate so was all the evening meals and the Saturday evening Bar B Q accompanied by a cracking live band was a an added treat. Our hosts Jonathan & Alison were superb & couldn't do enough for us I highly recommend a visit here either to stay over or just visit for a drink and a meal.We have booked the lodge again for next years 2014 Kawasaki Triple Rally cant wait!

Four of us went for our daughter's birthday. We have been many times before when they lived just down the road but this time it was a thirty mile trip to an old destination but we weren't disappointed. Good choice of ales in the pleasant bar and a good menu in the restaurant which was quite full. The only criticism is that the tables are quite snugly arranged and there was a family of 7 in for a meal (good) but badly behaved a noisy children (bad) but hardly the pub's fault. Luckily they left before our starters came. The food was excellent and the steak was one of the best I have had. The chips were almost too hot to eat and of the family cut style rather than "fries". We had a good wine for £14 and the bill for four including the a couple of rounds in the bar came to £114 for three courses and coffee. Good call - we'll be going back.

We stayed at the inn for a long weekend, huge thanks to the landlady and her fabulous staff for making this a fantastically enjoyable weekend, they could not do enough for us in all matters. The food is delicious, huge breakfast and if you have to snack the cheese nacho's are just fantastic. We stayed in the rooms at the back of the gardens which are very spacious are super clean and quiet, you also get a nice patio with tables and chairs so you can sit out on your own if you wish. No complaints at all and will be very happy to return, have already booked for next year.

Went to hawks bury for my brothers wedding was a fantastic day food was great service brilliant stayed in a small self contained room at back of pub grounds was great well worth the money briiiiiiiiliant

Had a fantastic meal with some business colleagues at the Hawkenbury. The menu was very interesting and varied and the food served was absolutely delicious. We had a very relaxing night and enjoyed the surroundings. If you are looking for great quality food, a good choice of wine then the Hawkenbury is for you. We will indeed be back and with great rail links into London I would be happy to base myself there instead of crazy London prices. Highly recommended.

A massive thanks to the owners and staff of this country pub. They could not do enough to help on our special day, and considering the venue had already hosted 2 weddings on the previous 2 days we were really impressed by their hard work and friendliness. The setup was made easy by their room decorating accessories and they organized delivery of obscure real ale for the party. Many of our guests were very impressed with the wedding breakfast and evening BBQ. The chef cooked for 90 sitdown guests plus more later on, and we had many positive comments about the food - both on the quality and the portion sizes. Our overseas guests loved the character of the place. The Hawkenbury wins hands down over other venues we considered, and we hope the pub thrives in the future.

As a subcontractor, I travel up and down the country experiencing both the best and worst of accommodation, The Hawkenbury Inn is amongst the best places I have had the pleasure to stay in, beginning with a warm and friendly welcome from staff and customers alike, the accommodation again rivals the welcome,with a clean quiet and comfortable chalet, with the best showers for miles around, located away from any passing traffic at the rear of the pub. Once inside the premises a wide variety of food is offered on an extensive menu, and promotional nights offering steak , Indian , Mexican and 2for1, all of which is well made , well presented and a good sized portion of food. A well stocked bar and variety of beers and lagers finish off a thoroughly enjoyable stay, which lasted for many weeks when initially we were expecting a chain hotel experience

I was going to be working in the area for a while, and was looking for some accommodation . Luckily for me I was pointed to the hawkenbury inn. The food is top notch, and I highly recommend the sea bass. Everybody gets a warm welcome and the rooms are very comfortable. All in all , a great place to stay and I know I will return.

Coming regularly to the UK on business I decided to get out of the London tourist trap and discover a little english countryside life I discovered the Hawkenbury Inn near Staplehurst.The rooms were sizeable, good value and comfortable. The food was exceptional and comparable to typical South African portions, large and filling. Traveling up to the city is about an hour train journey well worth the effort. The clean country air is a plus and walks in the countryside exhilarating. Definitely worth a visit.

We had been to the Rum Car open day uo the road , and decided to stop off and have lunch at the Hawkenbury , the staff were extremely helpful we had the roast lamb and Angus Topside both of which was excellent plenty of fresh veg and piping hot and extremly good value

My husband and I needed somewhere to stay near Headcorn as we were meeting old friends from that area to celebrate my 40th and we live in Hythe. The Hawkenbury ticked all the boxes! I was greeted by one of the family that run the pub on arrival and asked what time we would like breakfast and then shown to a lovely room with a sunny courtyard with seating in the converted stables at the back of the gardens. For a very reasonable £65 a night including breakfast it was quite obvious that a lot of thought and effort had been put into the room to ensure that you would have everything you would require for a good nights stay. We had a lovely meal in the cosy restaurant with our friends that evening and we were looked after so well by the family that run the pub, when they got wind of the fact that I was celebrating my birthday they brought out a cake with a candle for me. After a great nights sleep in a very comfortable bed we strolled over to the pub to be greeted with fresh orange juice, cereals and our choice of tea or coffee. Followed by one of the largest, tastiest full English breakfasts I think we have ever experienced! This was the first time we had visited this pub and all in all it is a great, traditional family run pub. We look forward to returning with the dogs next time!

We were staying nearby for the weekend and saw a leaflet encouraging us to try out the local! Decided to go for lunch on a stunningly hot day - 4 adults 4 children. When we arrived at the traditional pub we were almost put off by some hippy style painting on the front of the pub. It just looked wrong in a countryside setting. On walking into the garden a man (presumably the chef) walked past us looking decidedly moody. We wondered for a minute if he was going to tell us he was closed as the place looked deserted at 12pm. Shortly after we sat down a girl kindly brought water for the dog and someone else inflated a bouncy castle. The kids were delighted. When we went inside to order drinks and pick up menus there was a man slumped over the bar, drunk, stoned, asleep we couldn't tell. The place had a definite 'atmosphere' which felt oppressive and a bit threatening, but the children were hungry and we didn't know the area so decided to risk it. We sat with drinks in the garden and watched as various vans and 4x4s turned up, people got out, went inside, came back out and drove off again. Just what is going on in this place? The food arrived and it was beyond terrible. Baked potatoes with dark grey interiors, obviously cooked and chilled many times over. The same for chips which were stodgy and grey! Tuna swimming in so much mayonnaise you couldn't taste the tuna. The king prawns didn't look fresh, smelt funny and couldn't be risked. Even the dog wouldn't eat them! The only thing they managed to turn out ok was chicken nuggets. It was so disappointing as it wasn't a cheap meal by any means. We waited ages for a member of staff to appear to take away the plates but we eventually decided they didn't want to face the music.

Went to this pub for mothers day as it was the only place left that wasn't full but had my reservations as when I'd been there previously it was nothing more than a pub full of gypsys and tarmac workers with the food in the restaurant being straight out of a microwave. Behold when I went there I was spot on....food that was poot to average at best- straight out of a packet and the place overrun with road workers and overly loud scores of gypsys with all their kids running riot. It has got so bad the owners even got attacked by three of them when they tried to lock up for the night as they didn't want to leave. Still, if you are into drunken brawls and don't fancy a drink, the carpark is usually quite entertaining after 10pm.

We booked a table in their restaurant to be on the safe side but when we were shown to the table we had to knock the remains of food and crumbs off two of the chairs (despite us being the only diners). The service was haphazard and we had to go to the bar twice to ask for a dessert menu (and in the end gave up as it was so long in coming) even the bill was added up incorrectly and we had been charged for food which was inclusive on the menu. Throughout the meal we had to endure listening to 3 other people who were also using a table in the restaurant to hold a meeting to discuss their private legal affairs (not really the place for this sort of meeting - might have done better sitting in their car in the pub car park)

nice pub, clean and friendly, nice big beer garden, good selection of beers, we all found the food to be really nice, 6 of us went on a Sunday dinner time and we all had a different choice of meal, I had the ribs and they were excellent, the service was good and all our meals came out together which couldn't have been easy as we all had a different choice. we didn't think it was overpriced considering how big a plate full we got and the quality of food. 6 of us went and left happy with what we had and 6 of us will certainly be going back again. we allso liked the fact that the beer garden is so big that the tables are far enough apart that your not tripping over the one beside you and you can have a conversation in privacy. got a nice play area for the kids to play in so that keeps them happy. all in all got no reason to complain and we have visited again and will no doubt visit a lot more times again.

We went there for a Christmas get together and it was the worst food we had ever eaten it was cold the meat was as tough as leather and the vegetables were over cooked

Decided to pop in with family for lunch as we used to live in area and it had a very good reputation back in 2005. Really disappointing. Pork belly served with seasonal veg!!! Pork was clearly off as yellow in colour , served on a very watery jus and Deepfried new potato slices. Dish was returned immediately. Kids meal of burger and chips. The burger was so dry , in edible. The only positive was the ham , egg and chips, but you Cannot go wrong with that one!!!.The icing on the cake had to be the very rude man, possibly the owner who decided to have an argument with his staff in front of customers about setting off a fire alarm. Etiquette would have been to take them out the back, not throw insults in public view!!! He clearly lacked people skills and I am surprised the staff did not walk out. General cleanliness was very poor, ladies toilets clearly not cleaned, at 1230 lunch floor was filthy, walls covered in cobwebs and sink had years of built up dirt and grime. It makes you wonder what the kitchens were like.Overall a very expensive pub with very poor food and service standards. Would not go back and would not recommend. Child's menu total rip off.One positive comment, the young waiter and lady behind the bar were good, however clearly embarrassed by whole episode.

Having just read the other reviews perhaps we experienced an off day. The menu selection was very wide and tempting, but I was put off by the white table cloth being less than clean, it looked like on a quick glance it would have been ok but sitting there you noticed it wasn't. Ants walking around the table didn't help my feeling of cleanliness either. The staff were very friendly and helpful. Sadly my roast chicken was a leg and just a bit more, with no breast meat at all, and was very tough, which may well just have been the cut of meat. Our other diner was disappointed with the roast beef, which although plentiful was overcooked. It was a real shame that our experience was like this, as we would have been delighted to have enjoyed it.

We have now been to the Hawkenbury several times and absolutely love their Sunday lunches. They always have a good selection of meats and they come with a wide selection of vegetables. Portions are generous and very competitively priced. The service is excellent and on every visit the owner has always taken the time to come over and ensure that we have enjoyed our meal. Anytime of year is a good time to visit but when we've been there in the summer there is a great garden with climbing frame, skittles and even a bouncy castle. It's a great way to enjoy a drink and know that your children are safe and entertained. Looking forward to our next visit already.

My wife and I have visited this pub about 4 times now.We have always been greeted with a cheerful smile and very attentive caring staff.The menu has a very good varied choice and the price range is sensible, there are also some excellent "specials" on offer.The interior is warm, cosy and attractive.Excellent place to while away a very pleasant hour or two.Superb Christmas theme again this year.Must have taken a lot of effort.Excellent range of beers too !Lord Gibbons

Three of us went to the Inn for Sunday lunch the welcome from the staff and the speed they attended to us was very impresssive. The "ownwe" also came over to say hello. In other pub/inns we have visited they normally just make an effort to welcome you but not here they meen it. Our order was taken and all alterations to the set meal was carried out with no bother. The food was all local produce and tasted fresh. Tables were cleared quickly once you had finnished your coarse. there was no need to rush your meal no one hovered around they just left you to enjoy the experiance. Highly recommend.