The Black Horse in Tonbridge and Malling

Wrote this review over two years ago. Best Sunday roast in the area. Fabulous belly of pork with crackling, home made yorkshires, fresh vegetables and simply the best roast potatoes. All brought be together with delicious gravy.

We booked a table for eight and was well looked after by the bar staff and chef Lizzie. The starters were very generous portions, especially the deep fried Brie. We had the beef, pork & mixed roast, all of which were delicious with stuffing, pigs in blankets, cabbage, beetroot, roasted veg, mash, roast potatoes & yorkie puds. Will definately be back.

**Tripadvisor Review: Sunday Lunch Experience** As a local who has visited this pub quite a few times, I decided to return for Sunday lunch and was looking forward to it. Upon entering, I noticed a few patrons at the bar and just one other occupied table, which made me a bit concerned initially. However, the atmosphere quickly picked up, and within an hour and a half, it was bustling with energy, which was fantastic to see! The food was delightful; we truly enjoyed our meals. I will say, though, that I found the portion of lamb a bit on the smaller side—one slice just wasn't enough because it was so delicious! While we had a lovely time, I believe a few adjustments could enhance the overall experience: 1. The table mats could use an update, as they felt quite dated. 2. Our table had a sticky surface that could benefit from a thorough cleaning. 3. It seemed like there was some ongoing decorating, which might explain why the dining area felt a bit lacking in vibrancy; a fresh coat of paint could really uplift the space. 4. The plastic flowers on the tables and windowsills felt a bit out of place. Something a bit more trendy or even simple greenery would be a great improvement. Overall, I appreciate the welcoming atmosphere and the delicious food, and I look forward to seeing how the pub evolves. With a few small changes, it could truly shine!

This used to be one of the best hidden treasures around when Rick & his wife used to run it, i used to come here a lot, however it is well worth a miss now! It is run down & tired especially the garden full of weeds & dead plants in hanging baskets outside, with cables hanging everywhere to a tiny streaming tv on the wall which always seems to be showing jerky pictures. No usable wifi available either. The real ales are very poorly maintained, so drink these with caution ! Service is very good when they have the young barmaid is working, but as for the landlord or so I was told by the locals the boyfriend of the landlady who is rarely seen seems very lazy and it is clearly obvious that he does not want to be there at all apart from to drink and go outside for a smoke. It seems to have attracted the wrong crowd as they say of recreational smokers and users. Such a shame for a great local asset to decline so quickly since these owners took over. Hopefully this is only a short phase in this pubs history and it will be restored to its former glory in the future.

Great place to go well worth a visit

Lunch (on Sunday) was disappointing as the food seemed poor quality. My Greek cheese and beetroot tart was in pieces and burnt and the soup unappetizing. My wife's roast chicken was okay, but not great. We won't return.

Great Sunday Roast had plenty of food hot and tasty new chef has started and food has improved again would recommend 100%

Beautiful roast dinner in this lovely country pub. Beef was cooked to perfection. Would highly recommend visiting this pub.

A bit off the beaten track. We visited at lunchtime. Food and service were OK. Sat outside and the place just felt a bit tired and rundown and in need of an uplift. Some of the outside tables were broken and needed replacing. There was also no means of securing the parasols, which as it was breezy kept blowing away and was a bit dangerous. Probably won't race to return.

Well what can you say. We have always used this pub for meals with family as they have a good snug that can accommodate us all. Went with family and friends to celebrate a birthday. The food was not good. Ordered sausage and mash with the gravy on the side. the sausages were cremated and swimming in gravy. Asked for another, this time I don’t think the sausages had been in the pan, they were still white in colour. The other main meals were bearable. Asked for profiteroles, received 3 for £5.50. Obviously they had been put in the microwave as the cream inside was now like hot milk. We did complain and asked for our money back, not an apology or refund was given. We will not be returning.

Really poor, waitress admitted they had taken too many bookings, but this was for Fathers Day so it felt like quite a lame excuse. Crayfish cocktail starter, was told it was prawn cocktail instead which was fine, but came out with just mayo dumped on the top, Pate was tasteless. Meat on the roast was too tough to even cut. Yorkshires had run out, was then given one they had managed to cook, but when served it was raw and slimy inside. It then took 20 minutes to get the bill and a further 20 to pay.

Absolutely lovely country pub restaurant really friendly staff and customers nice atmosphere highly recommended if your near

We are Bellringers at St Mary's Church opposite and went here for a our annual Christmas Meal. Lovely, Wine and Beer very well looked after.

Food is really delicious - loaded fries & crispy thin fresh homemade pizzas are fab! Friendly welcoming service and good crowd/customers. Just be lovely if they gave the garden a little tidy/spruce up to make it a really lovely peaceful place to enjoy to amazing grub! X

We have visited this pub on so many occasions, it was one of our favourites, but my oh my how things have changed with the change of ownership. Such a disappointment with the food and the surly attitude of the 'manager' when we tried to complain. I have never been in a restaurant and sent back 4 plates of totally inedible and untouched food. We were warned there were no king prawns and were ok to accept the alternative small prawns but to send out tiny pre-cooked and then re cooked prawns in the most watery curry sauce is unacceptable, and then to be told that a crusty bread roll is 'fresh from the bakery (on a Sunday?) and is acceptable as a burger bun, beggars belief, they also managed to send out a Yorkshire pudding which was burnt to an inedible black and crisp texture on the outside but was still wet and raw on the inside!! We ate nothing from our plates and sent everything back untouched. The attitude of the manager was the icing on the cake - absolutely the worst we have ever received. We paid for our drinks and left - still hungry and hugely disappointed.

Made the trek along country lanes to visit this pub based on the decent rating. Wish we hadn't. Really poor. Most good reviews are from over a year ago, which I'd suggest was the last time the place was cleaned. Garden was also neglected, tables covered in bird poo etc. We won't return.

Had the winter ploughman’s for lunch, and it was unbelievable, so tasty and seriously good value for money, will definitely visit again.

High chair filthy and gad to clean before baby could be seated. Sandwiches door stop bread like a,cafe and had difficult finding tasteless prawns, Chips overcooked and cold. Ploughman's well, cheese minimal, gammon overcooked and small sausage roll???. Sausage and mash was edible. Worth it well don't usually do reviews but had much better and cheaper in a lot of places. Also charged a service charge to boot. Bill over £100 ok including drinks but food substandard. Visit again - no way. Won't waste money.

Thank you Luke and the team! Great weekend. Welcoming pub with lovely food and beer. Music great, turn up the music Friday 😜 corner table great. Will definitely be coming again

Lovely pub visually, possibly just caught them on an off-night, slow service and forgot our starters. Were apologetic and did compensate us though

Good pub Avocado on toast had hardly any Avocado which was a shame. Other people in the group ordered different items which were much better.

Saddened to write this review. We live in the village, and used to pop in to the pub quite often. It would be the place we would go to for dinner / lunch if friends and family ever visited. However since the change over from the previous landlords it’s gone down hill very fast and I’m now embarrassed to take anyone there and won’t be coming back. We have been a few times since the change over hoping it was a one off or a bad day, however it’s not. Firstly atmosphere has changed, you are lucky to even get eye contact from the new owners, both awkward and not very welcoming, most of the time they seem to be attentive to friends. The whole pub is dirty. It doesn’t look like it’s been cleaned since they took over. The children’s high chairs are shockingly dirty and haven’t been wiped in months, pretty much everywhere you look is dirty, piles of rubbish, ashtrays full bottles on the floor the list could go on. They seemed to have changed the coke to what tasted like panda pop from a kids party and I had to ask for a can!. The food is the biggest disappointment. Cold, lack of taste, and there is no way a chef could knock up what they serve. This pub used to have the best quality food, but it seems the changes made to drinks and food are to cut costs and you can tell!! The drinks and food are bad!! I would always try and support a small local business over a chain, and would prefer to pay more for good quality food, but it seems they spend more on “live bands” than the basics of a pub which are good drinks, a clean and welcoming atmosphere and good pub food. I ordered a Philly baguette thinking this could not be messed up. I’ll let the photo speak for itself! A slither of tough cheap steak. A tiny slither of onion, barely any cheese, and this photo was the improved version after sending the first back!! The ONLY good thing left about this pub are the original bar staff who are lovely, and work constantly as they seem to be left by themselves to run everything! And clearly need more support but they do there best! There are plenty other things that have ruined this pub but I’m trying to not make this a rant! , but this pub needs a good clean, better quality food and maybe more support for the bar staff that are saving this place!

Had a few good meals here this year so we booked for Christmas Day and we weren’t disappointed! They worked so hard, the food was fabulous (vegetarian option was best one I’ve ever had!!) and the atmosphere was lovely. Thank you so much to the team, and see you again in 2024!

Came here for dinner as a group of 6 just before Christmas. The food was tasty , with decent sized portions and a fair price. We all enjoyed our meals. The waitress was friendly, attentive and polite, and took time to chat with us during the evening. A fabulous experience.

We found this pub purely by chance as we were trying to arrange a friends' get-together before Christmas and it was pretty much central to all of us. What a lovely place! The food was delicious, big portions of hearty pub grub (the liver and bacon was scrummy!) at sensible prices, our waitress was attentive, friendly and professional, as well as happy to have a laugh and joke with us. It was a shame for them that they weren't busy so close to Christmas, but good for us as we had plenty of time to chat and didn't have to worry about making too much noise. My only quibble would be that the menu offered to us was not anywhere near as extensive as the one shown on their website, but we still had enough to choose from. We had a fabulous evening.

We stopped off after a long country walk, the pub was full of people chatting at the bar or eating roast dinner (which looked delicious!) ... we will definitely be back!

We visited at lunchtime and the pub was quiet, the baguettes were delicious and we couldn’t fault the food. We did have to wait a short while for it but when it arrived it was clearly worth it. Unfortunately the locals at the bar when we arrived were quite off putting and gave the typical glare when we walked in. However my husband has been coming to the pub for almost 30years so would not be deterred and I am thankful for it! Unlike previous reviews I can only give positive reviews on the staff, they were so welcoming, attentive and friendly.

Would have been an excellent roast dinner, however it was freezing, making it uncomfortable to eat. On entering the pub, we were ignored till my daughter said we had a table booked for 7 people, however the table was laid up for only 6. The waiter did not know any of the drinks sold and therefore had to keep going back and forth to ask and she didn’t put one of the orders through so my husband ate his meal on his own.

Avoid, terrible inattentive staff, slow food, slow service. We had heard good reviews so thought we would give it a try, never again.

Food much improved. It's so good to have the pub in the village

Not great! We booked a table and came for lunch. The venue is somewhat quirky with an eclectic selection of unmatched chairs. Staff were a tad inattentive and frankly quite distracted. I agreed with staff that I would have their three meat plate, but asked, and it was agreed to have lamb not pork. I specifically asked for rare beef and no gravy. When the plate arrived it was coveted in gravy, so it went back. Next plate arrived, there was plenty of lamb, a bit too cooked for me, sadly the knives weren't sharp enough to cut through the fat/gristle. The beef had absolutely no hint of pinkness despite my specific request for rare! The vegetable was ok, Swede the best. Potato would have benefitted from more colour. Not a great experience slow and a little inattentive service that sadly wasn't worth the wait overall. Went elsewhere for dessert.

Flew 4000 miles to have dinner here and it was amazing. Dan and his family made a family and friends reunion perfect. Totally recommend this restaurant and can't wait to return. Thank you so much!! Sarah and Joe

We booked a table and came for lunch. The venue is somewhat quirky with an eclectic selection of unmatched chairs. Staff were a tad inattentive and frankly quite distracted. I agreed with staff that I would have their three meat plate, but asked, and it was agreed to have lamb not pork. I specifically asked for rare beef and no gravy. When the plate arrived it was coveted in gravy, so it went back. Next plate arrived, there was entry of lamb, a bit too cooked for me, sadly the knives weren't sharp enough to cut through the fat/gristle. The beef had absolutely no hint of pinkness despite my specific request for rare! The vegetable was ok, Swede the best. Potato would have benefitted from more colour. Not a great experience slow and a little inattentive service that sadly wasn't worth the wait overall. Went elsewhere for dessert.

We stumbled across the Black Horse in Stansted when we wanted Sunday lunch with friends as a group of seven. What a hidden gem we found, we had a mix of roasts, burgers, and kids' meals across our group, and they were all fabulous! Plenty of meat, loads of vegetables, yorkshire puddings, gravy, and great roast potatoes. Not to be big headed I cook a great roast, and it's hard at times to get a good one out, but the Black Horse nailed it. We'll definitely be back to try the other menus available!

Fantastic Sunday roast. Food was delicious and well portioned. Staff were very accomodating and friendly and a credit to your pub.

The food was average pub food, certainly doesn’t match the photos uploaded by the owners. The food that arrived also didn’t match the menu. I don’t know how this pub has a rating of 4.7. Perhaps it’s gone down hill recently or they had a different chef today but we certainly won’t be visiting again.

I’m really saddened to write this review but … came in for dinner as the pub was highly recommended. I received a warm welcome but it went down hill from there. In the dining area was a couple with a child who was watching cartoons on a tablet. The sound was so loud it over powered 8 people at another table and the music. One of the couple turned down the tablet initially after I gave them a stare. My food came and tasted lovely but the deeper I went into the stew, I realised it was cold in the middle. By this point the child had turned up the tablet even louder. I couldn’t stand it, I mentioned it to the waitress and she just shrugged. I would have mentioned the food being cold but I couldn’t stay there any longer with the noise from the cartoons. I needed to leave. In my opinion it’s the staff’s responsibility to ensure an equal and positive experience for all their guests. Sadly, this didn’t happen.

Out of the way pub serving sunday lunch. Food is excellent. Roast beef was very good. Friendly staff. On the downside, tables were sticky and the gents toilet were poor.

Good menu choices to suit everyone. Nice eating out in the garden. Friendly and efficient staff. Food delicious and served in a timely manner.

I had high hopes but unfortunately the food was over cooked and very overpriced for a local country pub. My friend had the special pie and it didn't come with vegetables so she had to pay extra. All the pubs locally provide vegetables withh a pie. This was a real shock. My burger was also over cooked, and my fies were cold. They were also skinny fries when I asked for fat chips (both were available) At over £15 per meal I would have expected more unfortunately.

Smaller and quieter than we were expecting, but what a great little place this is. Friendly staff, the roast dinner was delicious, and we will definitely be back again. Highly recommended

Stopped here for a drink halfway round on our ramble. Friendly staff, reasonable choice of beers, lagers etc. Outside seating area. Made a nice stopping place for a short rest.

Really lovely pub - great food, big portions and not too over priced. Everyone catered for (our party included kids, vegans and veggies) looking forward to visiting again

1st visit here. Great pub, good food and lovely staff 👍 Will definitely go again when next in the area.

One of the friendliest pubs I’ve been to. Staff were wonderful and helpful. Food was generally good and clearly freshly cooked. I think the fajitas could have been more flavourful and generally I would expect sour cream and salsa but only got guacamole which left it a little plain.

Sadly after waiting 30 minutes our lovely young waitress had to tell us that they didn't have any sausage rolls or sausages. After another 40 minute wait we finally got our food. 1. The fish was all grease 2. The burger must have come from the kids menu 3. The cheesey chips were chips with so.e cheese on top 4. The patatas bravas were boiled potatoes with to.atoe sauce on top. When we asked for the bill there was several items on it that we did not have. Will definitely not be going back.

The pub had character and bar staff helpful and friendly. Menu looked ok as well but I only had a coffee.

Nice to be back after 40 years. Great place for lunch.

Had the Devils Horseback…it was absolutely delicious! One of the best starters I’ve ever had. Hats off to the chef

Wonderful pub to make the trip out to in beautiful scenic part of Kent. The roast was delicious and service was a brilliant. Has a fantastic sized garden for kids to run around and explore safely. An extremely well run country pub that I cannot recommend enough. Worth all five stars. *****

A really lovely pub, service was warm, friendly and helpful. Food excellent- the BLT on brown is to die for. Good value for money it was a great find - well worth a visit

I went for lunch at the Black Horse and sat down in the garden it was quite spacious and there was two football goals at the end. For lunch I had the soup of the day (which was mushroom and loaded fries. The soup was delicious) and was served with a generous 4 large slices of bread. The loaded fries were excellent. As it said in the name the fries were loaded, plenty of bacon, crispy onions, melted cheese and bbq sauce. Over all I think it definitely deserves 5 stars, it’s well worth a visit if near by.

It is a lovely pub, right off the beaten track. Food was excellent, but we couldn't take our coats off as it was rather cold inside the pub.... no heating!

A wonderful place with helpful staff and a food menu with many dishes for discerning taste buds!

What’s happened to this pub restaurant? It took awhile to bring the attention to someone that we had arrived for our booked table and then was told to go and find a table. Waitress was good and got our drinks and took our food order. I had the chicken skewer that was not too bad but it was missing the corn on the cob. My friend had the fish pie but asked for it to be returned because the crumb topping was burnt. Another one arrived but it was not what you would call fish pie. Dry fish in the base of a small dish with no sauce and just a thick crumb topping. No mashed potato. When we asked for it to be returned to the kitchen the waitress said no one else had complained. After awhile another one arrived that was OK. Don’t know what the chef was thinking. Also please Black Horse, don’t let your dog into the restaurant whilst customers are at the tables. It kept jumping up whilst eating. Will not be returning or recommending again. It was a lively pub with a good atmosphere but not good for a nice meal out. When the bill arrived we asked for the fish pie to be taken off which should have been done without asking. I was nearly finished my meal before the final fish pie arrived.

Stopped off here for a late lunch. Best meal we have had in a while. Mains where full of flavour, ice cream heavenly. Even catered for our son's dairy allergy. Staff very pleasant. Highly recommended.

Great roast. Probably one of the best in the area. Potatoes were really nice and crispy. Quaint place with nice atmosphere and very friendly staff

Lovely family lunch around the fire. Great food!!! Warm pub and even warmer welcome.

Brilliant food (had the satay chicken kebab) and friendly staff. Lovely to walk into a pub with a fire going as well 🙂

We visited on Sunday for lunch and can highly recommended the food and friendly service, roast beef and pork belly are perfect. Definitely be back soon

Lovley family run pub tucked away in the heart of kent. Very good value and quality food. It's a must to visit . Had a lovley kebab.

Very nice in a classic and picturesque setting.

Amazing food and service, great value for money and superb welcome. Private dining area was awesome. Will be going back

Today we celebrated my 50th by booking the private dining room for 15 family members. I cannot recommend The Black Horse enough. The environment was lovely, staff were excellent and attentive yet discreet and the food was obviously made using high quality ingredients and was delicious. It was a big order but everything was perfect. The food all arrived together, orders were correct and a last minute request for extra roasties and a jug of gravy was no issue at all and with us within minutes. I highly recommend to anyone a visit to this friendly pub for a nice meal. We will definitely be back. Thank you to you and your team for helping make my birthday special xx

A great local town pub feeling, the kind of home cooked food you look for in pubs, tasty and hearty. Friendly atmosphere and staff, it is a great place to visit when going on a weekend stroll in nature.

Lovely pub well tucked away in beautiful surroundings. Was nice to see and try a local ale I’d be wanting for a while. (Iron pier brewery) Had the mixed meat roast.....was delicious! Would definitely go back!

Good food and good knowledge of Ingredients

Nice pub with very good service and the food was neatly prepared. Very good!

Fabulous Sunday roast with a delicious dessert of waffles and bananas. Friendly atmosphere and the service was first class.

We came in connection with a larger wedding. The inn had set up an extra tent in the garden, and it worked perfectly. The food was traditional English pub food and the service was fantastically sweet and fast - we never lacked for anything. The inn is very authentic and cozy, so don't miss a visit here if the occasion offers - or if you just need a genuine and original English pub visit

Nice pub with friendly staff. Seems to be popular with the locals. Pleasant garden although the play equipment is a little run down.

Very nice Sunday dinner. The new owners are doing a very good job.

Great food and presentation. Really nice staff and great outdoor space for kids.

Amazing pub & garden. Food aways good & staff friendly.

Visited mid wk for sandwich & was pleasantly surprised! Good choice of sandwiches served with salad & chips & portions were quite large. Opted for strawberries & cream pavlova for dessert, but needed more strawberries! Removed 1 star as lime & soda was almost flat, & it was chilly sitting at indoor table as front & back doors were open causing draught, despite requesting 1 door shut. Reasonably priced. Would recommend

They really pull out the stops if used for a venue

The Black Horse changed hands recently; this was our first opportunity to visit for lunch. The pub is still being refurbished with some builders' materials in one area of the large car park. We were warmly welcomed, and the service was exemplary throughout our meal. The food was delicious, and the portions were large. The meal was excellent value. There is a good selection of real ales; the Iron Pier Pale I had was clear and bright with a good head. If you do not know the local area, your satellite navigation may lead you down some narrow country lanes; be careful. However, the journey is worth it.

Under new ownership , still as good as before

We were excited to try the newly refurbished pub. Really sorry but apart from the toilets I didn’t really notice much difference. The Sunday roast was good but I am really sorry to say the service was poor. We had to ask for everything. No-one really appeared to care if we were there or not. Won’t be rushing back.

Lovely pub food and very good staff

We visited The Black Horse for our Sunday roast and have absolutely no complaints what so ever, the food was delightful and the staff were all so happy and welcoming. The landlords of the pub are always present and very accommodating which was a nice touch. We will definitely be coming back here again!

We had a really nice meal here. Good to see an actual pub doing food rather than a restaurant that happens to have a bar! Could definitely imagine returning with some mates for a session as well as food with the family. Apparently Sunday lunch is knockout so we’ll be trying that next.

Went to the black horse on saturday for mums birthday lovely atmosphere the new owners are lovely and friendly defently going to be our local pub food was gorgeous defently worth the money

The new owners vik and Dan were so welcoming. Great family and dog friendly pub with top notch food, excellent service and wide selection of drinks! Loved the chapel down gin! Will definitely be regulars there!

We had a beautiful Sunday roast, perfect and very tasty. Staff were really friendly and helpful. Lovely garden for the kids to have a run around. Beautiful setting with a great garden for the summer and looking forward to the open fire in the winter!

Poor service and poor food. Shown to the dining area and then left standing for 10 minutes. Indifferent waitress service and a restaurant full of noisy screaming kids. ☹️ Beware the ‘specials’ menu. They are not special and don’t change. ☹️ As for the food:...

Went here for a Sunday dinner, great pub and great food! Stayed for another pint and will definitely ne going back !

Nice pub good food best roast dinner 👍

Good pub lunch; well-kept Larkin's.

Only put one star as you can't select zero!! Absolutely disgusted!! With this place had a table booked for 7 o'clock turned up and the whole place was closed, after calling them they said it was due to covid-19, understandable yes but no email or phone call to let us know😡 will not be booking here again!! Went to the Moat instead!! Very nice place friendly staff great food highly recommended 👌

A very decent Sunday lunch. Good value for money and excellent service.

Tasty Sunday Roast, friendly staff and nice location. We’ll be back :)

Superb little recommendation , great food in this little quiet country pub

A great little pub. Friendly atmosphere & good food. Came in here before waiting to board our flight. Then realised I'd got the wrong Stansted! Damn!! Oh well. Easy mistake to make. Joking aside, it's well worth a visit.

Lovely pub excellent food & friendly, helpful staff

Good food great beer all delivered by friendly staff, with the added bonus of being dog friendly. 🐕

We booked in for dinner, arrived earlier than the time we had booked, the staff were welcoming and very helpful. The whole place was very clean and tidy. Our food was hot tasty and well presented, my only regret was not using many years ago, going forward i will be returning 100%. I have recommended to quite a few now and no one had given me any negative feed back.

We visited this absolute gem of a pub / restaurant, safe ample parking and no hunting for a space, we had booked for 7:30 arrived early staff were friendly and helpful. We ordered food, it was delicious and plenty of it. Good value and clean...

Great food, nice location. Great family garden, great service

Nice food reasonably priced and very friendly!