The Chaser Inn in Tonbridge and Malling

My friend and I were celebrating our birthdays and booked lunch at the Chaser Inn we were greeted warmly and were given a table in the 'Churchill Room' the Xmas decorations had just gone up - it looked beautiful! The staff were attentive and friendly and the lunches we ordered very good the skinny fries excellent! It was a great lunch and venue and we wouldn't hesitate to recommend to anyone looking for a cosy, full of character pub to visit Thankyou to the Chaser!

Love this place, it’s on Shipbourne common,with great walks from the doorstep. It’s a hugely popular pub, the Sunday lunch is fabulous. 3 separate dining areas , all quite different. The main restaurant has impressive high ceiling. The courtyard area ( roof comes off in the summer, there is a wood burner going in the winter). And the pub bar area, very traditional pub. ( dogs aren’t allowed in the restaurant) The host seemed exceptionally welcoming.

Fabulous pub, food excellent staff friendly and obliging, we haven't had a meal here that wasn't thoroughly enjoyable.

Great breakfast on a Sunday morning.

Lovely lively pub, really good food and service.

Fabulous dog friendly Country Pub, an ideal watering hole after a walk in the local countryside. The pub has a wonderful atmosphere, and the staff and management are friendly and attentive. It has a good selection of food that will satisfy most dietary requirements, and a well stocked Bar featuring local Beers. A family favourite, and well worth a visit.

Staff very friendly. Made to feel welcome. Excellent location and pub. Food very average I am afraid - would need to be a lot better for me to return.

Fabulous Sunday roast. Very generous portions, beautifully cooked. Very friendly cozy pub

Loved this place. It’s a huge pub, cleverly split is to 3 very different areas, the courtyard, the bar and then the restaurant. We went for Sunday lunch, arrived to find cars already parked 1/4 mile up the road ( there is so real parking at the pub )this was at 12.45 the pub was buzzing, we were lead to our table in the restaurant area( quite a grand hall actually) but as it was a bit chilly we asked if we could move tables nearer the fire. The host was hugely accommodating, suggested we might want to move to the courtyard ( very different vibe, full and buzzing ). We did as it was much warmer. We all chose roasts. With an extra side of roast potatoes( what a good idea that is!) They were top notch, super home cooked roast potatoes. Additional gravy on the side. The roast beef was nice and pink and lovely and tender. A good variety of veg, although I’m not keen on mashed swede, would have preferred more green. But I’m sure next time I could request that, as they were so accommodating. The place is run like clock work and the proprietor is hands on and a super nice chap. We will be back ( if we can get in as it gets booked quickly ).

The atmosphere is amazing. However, food is never great.

Went with friends for Sunday lunch. Wish I had read the reviews. As other people have said it was poor. Overcooked potatoes, poor meat and no flavour. Very disappointing to be honest. I expected so much more. Will not be back. Shame as good location. Up your game.

Excellent country pub. Open fire, great service, great atmosphere, great food.

Great large country pub, the staff are especially helpful and flexible, big garden, great beer, good food, excellent.

Visiting my partners parents for the first time. We decided to take them here to the Chaser Inn for a family meal. And what a great decision it was!!. We had a very warm welcome. The staff were absolutely phenomenal!!!, so friendly, polite and extremely professional, nothing was too much trouble, the service they provided was second to none!🌟. The food was of the highest quality and tasted superb!!🌟. The decor and atmosphere of the Inn is amazing!, with a beautiful garden perfect for the summer. The Chaser Inn is now without doubt our all time favourite place to visit now when we come to Kent. We cannot recommend it highly enough, everything was just perfect!!!🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟. A huge Thank you to all of the staff, Bar, Waiting, Chefs, Kitchen, Cleaning and to the Management you have an amazing team and you have the perfect formula!, a big "Well Done!!" to you See you very soon!🫶

Beautiful pub with a delicious Sunday roast!

This was our second visit to the chaser we were not left disappointed so sorry to say we will be back again the Sunday roast was very good and tasty to boot. I just would have liked it a little more pink as described on the menu but delicious non the less. The young waitress was attentive and polite sorry I can’t remember her name other wise would have made mention of this in the review.

One of the best Sunday roasts I’ve ever had! Crispy potato’s and super tasty cauliflower cheese and all the sides! Generous greyvy portions which is always a plus. And perfect Yorkie! Portion of the beef could have done with one more slice (only came with 2) but it was super tasty and cooked to perfection. Pork was equally delicious, good portion size and a really generous portion of crackling We had a lovely seat in the front room for us and the dog

Love this pub especially for Sunday Roast, very atmospheric with the open fire. Lovely selection of food. Service is slow as standard so don't go hungry!

The pub is located next to a church, which has access to lovely walks. I had a pint of Tonbridge IPA and the Arnold Bennet omelette which was superb. The Sunday Roasts look appetising and the Veggie/Vegan options will please my wife.

Such a great dining experience and Lottie looked after us so well. Would recommend the Sunday roast!

This place looks beautiful. The food looks beautiful......however as good as the dishes looked we was a bit confused as to the lack of flavour it was just very boring and lacking something. Shame really as the place is in a great location.

Great place, even accommodated for my crazy carnivore diet, great staff very polite and friendly, will be back again, in fact looking forward to it :)

Called in for lunch on a Friday, plenty of seating both inside and out. Good menu with plenty of options. The majority of the food was spot on both in taste, presentation and quality, the only disappointment was the Homemade pie of the day, which had very hard and dry pastry (probably been under the heating lights to long) despite the copious amounts of gravy used. When this was mentioned, the only comment made was “oh sorry about that”. Would return but avoid the pie.

We stopped by for a drink and decided to order some lunch . Food was not great. 2 Ham , egg and chips were ordered. Eggs look like they had just been reheated. Hard and rubbery, ham cut way too thick , chips took up the majority of the plate. Com on, this is basic cooking, up your game. Overall with 3 drinks for £60 I thought it was pretty poor and mediocre at best. Won’t visit here again. Change the chef!

Great meal and fantastic beer as always. Wild boar burger with goats cheese. 2 pints of Larkin's traditional.

Turned up on a Sunday lunchtime without a booking, fitted us in no problem. Food great but ask for more veg if having a roast, not a great portion but still gave this 5.

Fantastisk gastro pub in the Kent countryside. The food is superb. Top quality, a good range of choices for all and good.pkrtions. The building is beautiful, with a chapel attached which has been expertly converted to a restaurant, with an open fire for cold winter evenings. The service is excellent too. The staff genuinely care that everything is just right for the customers. This has to be a top choice for dining in the Tonbridge area. We've been several times as a family and have never been disappointed.

One of my all time favourite pubs, super dog friendly and very toddler friendly 🙂

We popped in for dinner but were put out off after paying £18.50 yes that’s £18.50 for a pint & G&T. How can they justify these prices, it’s a total ripoff. We used to love popping in every couple of months but we will not be returning.

Very disappointed and disappointing Went with my family for lunch Nice day, chose the terrasse We were asked to pay in advance « as we were on the terrasse ». À 10% tip was automatically added. Ok. Then the service became just not respectful. Tried to warn owner but obviously she backs this behavior from her waitresses. Will not go back and felt ripped off for the tip

Very popular country pub. Exceptionally dog-friendly.with special dog areas. Not cheap but good value

Nice restaurant in a lovely place and good food.

Sunday lunch was good. I was worried by the reviews in advance as I had booked for my60th birthday with family and with two veggies and a vegan was inticed by the decent choices for us. I think maybe we were lucky because it was the Sunday of the Wimbledon final so was pretty quite but we had good service and generally food was good. Lovely to have a choice of a vegan and a veggie 'roast' - both very good. the chicken was q let down as it was an overcooked large leg - too much for my mum. I was told the beef was good. Extra vegetables supplied quickly when we asked and plenty of gravy. The roast potatoes were not great, but not awful. Overall a good Sunday lunch as Sunday pub lunches go and the vegan/veg choices makes it worth returning for us. we have been before in teh week and enjoyed it very much. You just have to park up on the common.

Great Sunday lunch! Friendly service! Nice surroundings.

We arranged a big family party at the Chaser and booked the courtyard. The Chaser was perfect. Duke and his team were great and supported the event so well. Highly recommended.

Great service and excellent food ! !

Issue was food took over an hour to be delivered. First, when ordering drinks the waiter did not allow us to order food at the same time (very bizarre) and we had to wait 10 minutes to come back for the food order. Once the food was nearing an hour late, we asked where it was - the first waitress never came back. Then we had to ask someone else to get the manager. The manager came out and said we're very busy and we were informed that food will take a while before we sat down (we were not informed). Then she said those with bookings had priority - seems pretty ridiculous to me. If you sit down somewhere you don't expect to be inferior customers. And funnily enough, we did book, we just changed tables because we wanted to be outside. The food itself was alright, but I was a bit disappointed with my chicken breast as it was smaller than a single one you'd get at Sainsbury's. They gave us a free drink at the end which was a good gesture, but there was too much wrong to be ignored. Even the menu warns that they cook good food not fast food, something I've never seen on a menu before, which suggests slow food is a known problem of theirs.

Lovely pub in a lovely location. Staff were very friendly and professional

I used to go here many years ago so it was nostalgic to return. Parking is still an issue but once there the reception we received was warm. As we had two dogs in our party we were going to sit in the garden, but the English “summer” pushed us into the courtyard - a semi covered sheltered spot “inside”. Service was very attentive from the start and very helpful throughout. The food was very good. My curry was perfect and the girls shared the two fish cakes main dish. The hot dog and chips was vg too. Drinks were reasonably priced apart from £4.50 for a bottle of tonic water!!! Scandalous price,! Coffees were excellent. And it worked out at £30/head.

Great food, great staff great company ,lovely pub beatifull garden all round good experience thanks guys

Great location, avergae food and service. Not what it used to be.... but unfortunatly where is these days!? When you are paying these prices, it has to be better than you can do at home.

Great food highly recommended 👌

Great place for family Sunday lunch

Had a lovely evening meal there.

Love the food. This location is great. Garden dining is highly recommended.

I had the roast beef for a Sunday lunch. It was EXCELLENT. The pub is very nice. The staff were very polite and accommodating. There is parking, but it was closed. However, there is parking in the road opposite. Highly recommended.

Beautiful pub! Been visiting on and off for many years. Food and service always lovely.

We visited The Chaser Inn yesterday. We were quickly shown to our table which was positioned in a beautiful room with high ceilings & large windows. The room was titled the church room. The waitress immediately took our drinks order & service throughout the meal was prompt & efficient. We both ordered two roast dinners, one with chicken & one with pork. I was a little disappointed with my meal... although the chicken was cooked perfectly and there was plenty of it , the potatoes were dry & hard & the Yorkshire pudding lacked flavour. The price of £18 plus for each meal did reflect the size & quality of the meat but unfortunately the rest of the meal did not live up to my expectations.

This pub was super busy and bustling, it was great to see. Plus delightfully charming.

Had yet another lovely meal here. As usual the staff are amazing and the girl that served us was very friendly Food was spot on

Visited here on Sunday with family, for 1.30pm but was very disappointed The food was ok, I had Ham, egg, and chips which was not great. Service took a long time, I know they were busy at that time. The girls who served us were very pleasant.

Expensive drink but great views!

Great food, lovely setting, good service

3 portions of chips, one glass of wine and a fruit juice - £45 spenny..... Burritos are a shame... Used to be good value... not so much now

I had the chicken salad and for £16 I expected freshly cooked chicken with some seasoning \ a tasty dressing. But it was cold pre-prepared bland chewy chicken and a very artificial prawn cocktail sauce. My friend got the burger and he said it was very bland. He had to chew each bite a million times because the meat was so chewy and tough. Again - £17 or so. The menu is huge so I imagine this is why nothing is fresh.

Really disappointed with our roasts today. The roast potatoes tasted odd, the Yorkshire pudding was tough and chewy and the veg wasn’t great either. Love the chaser because the food is usually really good. Such a shame. Not sure what happened today, but have really been put off.

So went to the chaser today to meet up with a family member who was touring with 2 of his friends on motorcycles. We sat and waited to be served. Young man took our order went inside then came back out and said I have to ask you to pay before your meal. No one else had been asked to pay before hand. I said to him why and also said I'd never had to pay before hand before at there or the little brown jug. I'm sorry but that was discrimination at its best I presume because we are bikers. Food was good though.

Really nice food decent portions + amazing view. Courtesy staff really enjoyed

Went to celebrate a family member’s birthday. We arrived at midday and two of us ordered the Sunday Roast beef. Turned out to be one of the poorest Sunday lunches I have had in many a year. The beef was thinly cut, tasteless and fatty. The roast potato’s were hard as if they had been previously cooked and re heated. The Yorkshire Pudding wasn’t much better - also hard. For £22 a meal it was a complete waste of money and embarrassing. The 2 stars were for the vegetables - 0 for the rest.

Beautiful country pub staff are welcoming polite helpful food & beautiful farden looks good lived local most of my life and 1st time I've Neen in there as was at a wake for a friend's funeral at the church next door

Table outside on the terrasse, the sun and the good food were a great experience.

Great food and service. Good place with a nice outdoor area.

Such a pretty area. Went to have the Sunday Roast. It was perfect.

Great Sunday roast. Very nice staff who were attentive and professional. The mixes roast was fantastic

Plenty of seating, nice atmosphere, friendly staff, great selection of beverages. Menu looks great, will try some food next time.

Great location and good staff. Food was somewhat disappointing. Starter was OK, main course was good, but dessert was not great. Would welcome a few more vegetables or salad served with the main course. The look of the meal was bland and very beige. My dessert sounded very interesting, but considering it was Lime and Kiwi, it was very sweet. Also, the skin was still on the Kiwi slices. Perhaps peel them in future. My friend ordered the sirloin steak and this turned out to be very fatty and tough. Not good. But as an evening out, we had a good time.

Really nice location good veiws Food is great value and good quality

A run of the mill roast, I've had better but I've also had worse. Great location, and service.

The Chaser Inn is a very. Lovely and interesting pub for anyone visiting, with a really great atmosphere. Unfortunately, this is where the positives end and the not so good things start. It is clearly very popular and filled to the rafters with people enjoying a social occasion. It is a huge establishment with lots of people to cater for, which I think is part of the problem as they clearly cannot cope with the amount of customers they have there on a Sunday in particular when everyone is wanting a nice roast dinner, but instead get a meal that is very sub standard. If you are paying £25 per plate for a roast dinner you’d expect it to be of good quality. Our party of four all had the same experience, with horrible quality meat that was largely undercooked with large amounts of un-rendered fat on the plate which honestly turned my stomach. My roast beef in particular was virtually pulsating on the plate and I had no choice but to send it back as it was completely raw in the middle. All the food was clearly served in a hurry and dumped on the plate in a big pile of mess. This was a birthday meal but apart from staying to enjoy the atmosphere and surroundings, we left feeling very disappointed. They need to have a rethink in the kitchen about the quality of the food they are sourcing (the pigs in blankets were the cheapest cocktail sausages you can possibly buy and also grossly undercooked) and actually cook everything properly and not just to mass cater. Not at that price! If they get those things right, it will be hard to beat, but I suspect they will not even care when they are still raking in the money from it being a but social hub. I hope I’m wrong about that.

Be warned the carpark has now been cut off only for staff use! No consideration for paying customers. I’ve never visited a pub which has closed off a carpark for staff use with no alternative before. There is no nearby parking. We parked down a road across the way, parking on the verge. Unfortunately this ruins the beautiful local countryside views and creates a muddy verge. We ordered a coffee and needed to wait so sat at a table near the bar. A middle aged lady loudly exclaimed how she “couldn’t understand why anyone would sit inside on a day like today” to her middle aged mate as they walked past us…..nice 🥴 The staff seemed nice but unfortunately there was a herb (or something green) in my coffee and I didn’t feel like drinking it once I’d fished it out. The other drinks were fine. The tables were clean and tidy. We sat listening to a group of men being a little vulgar. My husband asked the group to tone it down, which they did. The men knew the staff by name and seemed like locals to the pub. It wasn’t the atmosphere for us. It did seem like going back in time to when sexism was normal. There is a decent seating area outside but I’d had my fill of listening to local sexist views.

Excellent pub dining. I had large Cod & Chips with peas. It was huge and very well prepared.

Had a lovely birthday meal for my wife. Food and service were excellent. Highly recommended ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This food was incredible, along with the service which was excellent too, they are always there to help.

We went for a family Easter lunch. It was OK but not brilliant. Service was friendly. But food was average.

Lovely place , great food and staff ❤️

We could not sit in our preferred area as there was a quiz night on so we sat in the jockey room. Nice but it got too smoky thanks to the fire… The fish and chips were great as usual.

Lovely atmosphere in this truly great old, large British pub. Great bar and booze selection. Certainly the food was better last time we came - around 5 years ago. I would say maybe this is geared up more for a Sunday roast than impressing with it's standard fare; but the portions were good, price a little high. Lovely and friendly staff. The menu states good food not fast food but I feel like 3 hours for 2.5 courses is possibly crippling the landlord more than it's bothering us. Definitely some improvements to be made to the food offering in order to pair this pub to it's location, building and bar offering. This chain would do well to consider not painting this place with the same brush as the rest of their estate.

Had a meal on Good Friday lunchtime. The pub wss busy so we had to wait about 50mins for our food and my children were getting fed up by this point. I ordered the burger at £18 which was very disappointing , it tasted like a frozen packet burger and not even homemade. Another member of our party had the fish pie and mentioned it was very dry and not great. I was warned by a friend that the food had gone downhill and should have listened. Such a shame as the pub is great and in a fab location , just go elsewhere for food. Sort your kitchen out.

Booked our table for Easter Sunday today! Lovely warm welcome on arrival and seated immediately. We opted for traditional roasts, my son and I adored the garlic studded roast leg of lamb and my partner had chicken. Extremely generous portions, meat was sooo good. I honestly could not find fault with anything! Ample seasonal veg to share. Make sure you book to avoid disappointment ❤️

Absolutely lovely. Great food and amazing service. Vege/vegan choices were great too. Have booked to go back at Easter

Food was not that great. And the prices for some of the meals were quite steep.

Great meal on a quiet Monday night. Food was delicious, reasonably priced, atmosphere was great and the staff were friendly and helpful. Will definitely return.

My family took me for Mother’s Day lunch! It was amazing! The staff couldn’t be more helpful and attentive. The roast dinner was lovely! Even gave my daughter-in -law a take away pot! Very very impressed and would defo go back!

We had a lovely mothers day meal here. Really beautiful setting and friendly staff. However they may have been busy as we did not receive the water we asked for. There was also inconsistency with the lamb shoulder as my portion was dry but my partners was moist and the potato dauphinoise had far too much garlic. Other than that the food was lovely.

The Chaser never disappoints. A great visit as ever to The Chaser today. A family group of 9 plus the dog, we were seated in the cosy conservatory. The staff, as always were great - attentive and available without being pushy. It was my Mum’s birthday and the team were very accommodating with making it a special one, thank you. Food was great, plentiful, tasty and hot. The Chaser really does continue to tick every box.

Wonderful food and such helpful staff. My husband is in a wheelchair and the staff could not have been more welcoming and considerate. We will be back!

Beautiful old fashioned pub, set in the heart of the Kentish countryside. Roaring fires leave a delightful smell as you walk through the very large venue. When I went, it was busy, but having booked I was shown right to my table. The food was excellent and well priced. I would highly recommend for anyone in the area, if you fancy a long walk in the countryside and then a cracking lunch in a beautiful setting, you'd be hard pushed to beat The Chaser.

Visited the inn at the end of a long muddy walk, stopping by for much needed refreshments and food. It’s much as I remember from years ago. Lots of wood fires, bookshelves and pictures on the walls. A great pub with a decent menu and drinks options. We enjoyed the food (monster fish n chips 🤩), the service was good and the atmosphere friendly and informal, with dogs and children welcome.

We have not visited The Chaser for a few years and we loved it. Has it changed hands? We were quite disappointed as we were seated in a cold unwelcoming large room on our own. The heaters were then turned on when we queried the temperature. When you visit an old pub you expect to sit in comfortable surroundings. Two of our party ordered ham, egg and chips. We were told they had run out and therefore not available. It seems very odd to run out of staples like ham, egg and chips. This is such a shame as we will not visit again

Lovely place for a meal. Price's not to bad. Warm and clean. Service was excellent! Would recommend and would return again!

Lovely breakfast as always! The staff are super kind and attentive. Good selection of board games to play at the table while we waited, although the service is fast so the wait is never very long. Highly recommended!

Slightly above average prices. Larkins £5.20 pint. Steak pie is excellent though. Can be busy. If your passing worth trying for a table.

Beautiful lunch here today. After a dodgy start in the car park, due I think to a misunderstanding. We were jn the staff area and were trying to turn around. The only reason we were in this area as two cars had blocked the exit point of front car park so we had no where else to turn. Anyway, it was sorted and we parked across the road no problem. Menu was amazing. Food home cooked fresh and absolutely top class. One of us had the steak pie and the other chilli wrap. Waiting time was excellent, and the pub had a wonderful ambience. Thank you for a lovely time.

Despite the Chaser Inn being absolutely packed I can not fault the service or the food. The staff were all excellent. Because it is such a popular venue car parking is at a premium but spaces for can found with a short walk.

We like going to the Chaser almost our local lovely food, dogs welcome atmosphere good open fires. Our only niggle was the last two times we have been, staff keep ask if we need more drinks when it quiet obvious we do not need them. 5 times we were asked between 2 staff, it breaks conversation when clearly they could see we still had drinks.

We decided this year to eschew self-catering on Boxing Day and head out en famille (11 of us) to The Chaser for lunch. This decision was made with some trepidation as we had no idea as the quality food and service likely to be available. Fear not !! The Chaser has significantly increased staff levels such that our table was ready for us at 2.00pm and a delightful young girl was ready to take our drink orders whilst we perused the menu. Sensibly the food offer was identical to a normal weekday and so the kitchen was not overstretched with festive specials. The Larkins real ale (£5.20/pint) was perfectly served and was delicious. I opted for the beef chilli (£15.95) with various sides of relish and tortiilas so was a proper Mexican feast. Several of our party (ages from 15 to 82) had the battered cod (XL size £21.95) and chips which attracted much praise for the excellent light and crispy batter plus superb chips. Credit to the kitchen and waiting staff for managing to serve all 11 of us at more or less the same time on hot plates and with hot food. Top marks to the Manager and his team - a really great effort which was much appreciated. Total cost with service was £301.68. We will certainly be back next year

Lovely New Year’s Eve luncheon Excellent service from our waitress Zoe.

Really disappointed with the food , 4 mains between us and all were not great, pastry was undercooked on the pies. Burgers very poor.

This used to be one of our top restaurants, but unfortunately, their food was disappointing yesterday. The restaurant atmosphere was good, and the garlic bread starter was delicious. Considering how busy they were, the service was good. Reading the menu paints a picture of exceptional food to follow. The description almost made me order the burger instead of my usual Sunday roast. My oldest ordered the burger plain with just the meat and the bun but could not eat it. The homemade beef burger could have been more tasty. Believing him to be overly picky, both me and my wife had a bite but could not eat more than one mouthful. My beef roast was described on the menu as "always pink unless asked for otherwise.". Unfortunately, what I received were two small flat bits of rather chewy, not pink at all, beef. The roast potatoes were rather bleak and not roasted in any shape or form but rather baked until brown in some places. The gravy was nice and managed to help the situation. My wife had roast chicken, which she could not eat. It was very plain chicken. She loves cauliflower cheese, but this was also unpleasant. The table next to us had a very tasty-looking casserole, which might have been a better choice.

Just stopped for a quick pint while on a big walk. Lovely, welcoming spot.