The Gardeners Arms in Gravesham

I did a trial shift here a while ago, and it was a massive waste of time I was there for a few hours and they never even got back to me to tell me if I had a job there rude af

Good old fashioned pub. There was a TV to watch if required but also had a pool table and darts board.

First time visiting this pub after hearing such great reviews , food (Sunday roast) and atmosphere was really good,. would defiantly recommend . Would have been a 5 star review. Only downside was our welcome when we first arrived and the service by the short haired blond barmaid unfortunately she was so un welcoming and quite rude. Maybe give her a few tips on hospitality apart from that was a lovely Sunday lunch.

Brilliant pub with great live music, well worth a visit

Great pub great food and a really good atmosphere. Friendly staff and regulars and some great entertainment.

The food was very good , the atmosphere was flat . Shame really as only pub in that part of the village

Just had the most amazing meal here with new chef Frank. Absolutely outstanding!! French cuisine at its absolute best in the most unassuming of places. Highly recommend a visit to experience a lovely friendly pub with the most delicious food! Thank you!

Lovely friendly atmosphere and scrumptious food. We try and get there at least once a month for Sunday dinner.

Friendly staff,lovely Sunday night drink.great local pub.

Great very friendly local food looked amazing

Just had lunch. So fresh & tasty The young man who took our order was very nice & helpful and Daisy our waitress was amazing. So attentive & friendly. A credit to the placeplace

Popped in for some beers but saw they do cocktails…. Ordered an espresso martini (made by Fifi… an absolute star!)… they were delicious. Great atmosphere, would recommend.

Just had a meal with the new chef, best meal we have ever had here. Had fillet steak and sausage and mash. Fantastic quality and portion size. Cannot recommend enough. We are also listening to an amazing singer and guitarist on the open mic night. Decided last minute to pop in and have had such a great night. Fifi our waitress was lovely and the pub is a hidden gem.

What a lovely place, service with a smile - very nice, had the creamy pasta is perfection"😋 nice drop of wine and desserts. Thank you, will come again.

Loving afternoon lunch in the restaurant side, pork fillet was lovely. Would recommend. Racing UK shown in the bar so will be back!

Had our hen do buffet at the pub organised by Sarah. Just wanted to say how everyone really enjoyed the food, atmosphere free jukebox and overall just awesome. Thank you so much for hosting this for us!

Lovely friendly people good prices and good quality food

Great landlord and land lady that make you feel really welcome. Cosy sections to sit in. Great range of drinks. We didnt eat but the menu looked great and definitely would.

My wife and I had Sunday lunch here and it was astonishingly good, especially for pub food. The price was very reasonable and the atmosphere here perfect. Will definitely be back.

Poor Experience overall, the beers were flat, I believe this was down to all the glasses being washed, so we’re still warm. I ordered the Gardeners Burger, and some Jalapeño Poppers for a side dish. The burger was very undercooked, and was quite tasteless, the pulled pork made the burger impossible to eat as it was so soggy, I did speak with the chef about this, and hopefully this doesn’t happen for everyone. The chips were very good, the jalapeño poppers were okay, I would say they are more like cheese balls, didn’t really get any jalapeño, the buffalo sauce was a nice addition to these. I have pictures of the drinks and food but have no idea how to upload them to this review.

Had a lovely Sunday roast & few drinks, good food, good vibes and always a warm & friendly place to be.

Recently visited the Gardeners Arms in higham, what a lovely friendly pub, staff were great. Food was amazing, I will definitely be returning and bringing my family and friends, great little pub.

Great food, very decent guinness, staff are friendly and a nice cozy atmosphere. A really nice place that I’ll definitely frequent. 5/5

Sunday afternoon live music, great atmosphere, good food and a great crowd of friendly people. I think this man has sussed this game straight away and some. Okay. So visited here tonight and found a comfortable and friendly array of customers and staff. Then a gentleman came in, greeted me very politely and sat down. While watching him it became apparent he was the new landlord of the establishment. What then unfolded was a most enjoyable evening listening to him and his staff along with what were obviously regular customers from before he took over and since. I heard him enthuse about the plans he had for the place which were all stated in a manner that was to benefit the customers, old and hopefully new, not for himself and his new playtoy. He has a new chef starting on the 2nd of October and the plans he and his chef have for the menu and the type of pub he invisages, if they half come to fruition, will make the pub a place much worth visiting. The chap seemed genuine as well as friendly and the way he dealt with the younger customer and the old die in the wood drinkers, was a thing to behold. If I can encourage anyone to visit here, not only for themselves but to make a decent sounding man and his families dream come true, I would consider this reveiewing on Google a far greater tool than I thought it was. It is now just a very pleasant local, yet welcoming to strangers as myself, pub but with his ideas and the wonderful staff that were here this evening, could really be a palce worth visiting for its food and atmosphere . Lovely inside and a very well thought out and attractive garden/terrace. Good luck and well done. I hope to visit and eat here very soon. So revisited to be greeted by the new landlord, well, both landlords Hayden and Sarah, sadly, the chef didn't work out on the 2nd, but very wisely they didn't allow him to start as he seemed a little less appropriate when he turned up to discuss the new menu. Coincidentally the night I returned here the new new chef was here to sort out the new menu and although unnecessary, introduced himself to the customers, including myself and appeared to be a very pleasant chap who comes from a good chefing background and start next Wednesday, so although disappointed not to be able to eat, very pleased that a poor start was declined and a delayed but hopefully good start was decided upon. So again, I will return as I was again made to feel very welcome and truly think this is a wonderful local type pub that can also eventually attract some less local food loving clientel that will add to the already pleasant surrounding and to Hayden and Sarah business. So, visit three, first night of the new chef, wasn't hungry but felt I should try something, so, to keep it simple I had the scampi minus the chips, but with the trimmings. As I have said alongside the picture of the well presented food. It is easy to ruin scampi, no matter how simple a dish, but hard to make it taste as good as this did.. And again crisp fresh salad and peas that, well, tasted like peas. I feel my reviews seem like I have some link to this place, well I truly don't. I travel for work and sadly, eat out most evenings. Local pubs are usually cliquey and a little uncomfortable for me, this place is the opposite, to the point I now take work near here so I can visit. New chef, well done.

Best fish and chips! all freshly made even the chips tasted amazing. Great selection of ales and lagers. Great service with a smile not to mention. Will definitely be returning.

Had an absolute lovely meal here last night. Would definitely recommend.

Lovely village pub, great service, great beer and great service.

Good I only went for a drink But food looked ok

This footsore, lonely Canadian had a tremendous welcome from staff (John and Sarah’s daughter) and patrons, especially Yul and Sam! Absolutely delightful pub and and can’t say enough good about it!

Nice village pub. Good range of lager

2nd visit and 2nd time order was wrong and even after emphasizing with the staff what was required the kitchen still got it wrong Top it off they had no more burgers Won't be dining their again

I've eventually found my local Shepherd and neame pub. Nice pub,

Great little pub after a 15mile walk! Landlord was super accommodating and even offered to drive us back to the station after it started really raining. Will definitely be back

Thursday 21st April 2022. My wife and I were walking the Charles Dickens and Higham circular walk, details of which we found on the Kent CC website. The Sir John Falstaff pub mentioned in the walk wasn't open until 1pm surprisingly (it was 12.10pm when we got there), so we made our way back to The Gardeners Arms which we'd passed earlier. The pub wasn't overly busy (basically empty) so we ordered food and drink. They seemed to have run out of many tap beers including my favourite 'Spitfire', so we settled on Master Brew, being the only one available (my wife had a bitter shandy). We both ordered scampi and chips with a side of onion rings. I seem to remember the Scampi was £8.99 - pretty good value we thought. It took a while to turn up and annoyingly, it was one of those meals that turned up as a little 'bucket' of chips, a little 'bucket' of peas and the portions weren't overly large once tipped onto the plate. That said, we did find it adequate - appearances can be deceiving! The 'three times cooked chips' were a little bit too oily for my liking. The staff were charming, helpful and polite and the tables and facilities were clean and in good order. We didn't really take any pictures of the pub, other than the beer photo. The church is the one frequented by Mr Dickens and apparently, he had his own pew! Verdict: The pub is not local to me and I doubt if I'll ever go back there unless I do the walk again. However, I would recommend it to fellow walkers as a pleasant refreshment stop and as an alternative to the Sir John Falstaff.

Very friendly staff.....good food. My first visit here ...but very impressed. Would definitely return .

I couldn't find any reason to rate with stars less then five. I live in Higham but never bothered to visit here. We always drive to far places like Maidstone, Longfield etc for weekend dining. Decided to give it a try here. Food was awesome and yummy. Very friendly staff members. I ordered Lamb Chops which was served with tender peas and chips. Chips was little oily which can be forgiven compared to the delicious Lamb and tender peas. I will be a regular visitor here at least once a week. Hand picked choice of ingredients. Thanks.

Had Sunday roast , it was really tasty

Very nice pub we were made to feel very welcome nice range of drinks. They also do food at certain times.

My parents and I had a lovely lunch today at the Gardeners Arms, after a morning walk around Higham village. We found the environment welcoming and cosy, and staff were friendly and attentive. The food was delicious- we all ordered the deluxe burger- and fantastic value for money. Dogs are also welcome, which is another bonus. Will definitely be visiting again soon!

Looking up my family history of the name "Cook" in Higham and paid a visit to this great local villiage pub ( my dad would of drank a wee whisky or two!) Hence Living literally across the road in 1952, pub has heaps of history, a very warm welcome and chat from Sarah, John and Poppy, who were very helpful in in my quest, nice ambience, great home cooked food , highly recommend

Better than it used to be, great chatty and happy faced staff, superb cooked veggie brekky.....beautiful

Nice little pub , staff where really nice . Only had a few pints didnt try the food

A great little find in Higham. Food absolutely amazing and staff friendly. We keep coming back.

Good food service excellent. Will be back soon

Fantastic local pub with great atmosphere . John and Sarah have done wonders to the Gardeners and they and their staff always give you a warm welcome.

Under new management and a much nicer chilled places to go for a drink

A fantastic service pleasant and friendly would recommend to anyone and everyone

Such attentive service from the girls and guys. Shame its ended again cos of covid :-(

NICE FRIENDLY ATMOSPHERE GOOD STAFF

Recently been done up and under new management. Good selection of drinks and small garden. Food not currently available

New landlady is what this pub needs. Old school land lady, warm and welcoming and makes a point to know her customers.

It was a fantastic evening with great people

This pub is closed and has been since the 11th October. I went there last Friday 25th October to have a pre- wedding drink with some of my guests and I found it closed. I tried to talk with the pub but no answer from my phone call. So I rang the brewery Shepherd Neame and the lady I spoke to said she would call me back in 5 minutes. But alas she didn’t return my call. And after investigation I found out from social media that the pub was closed and had been since the 11th October. There is not any notices to say that it has ceased trading and the website is still misleading everyone.

We had a super lunch at The Gardeners Arms today. Good food, good friendly staff and good company.

2nd trip here with my partner and his elderly mother. Food is absolutely gorgeous, best Sunday lunch in the area in our opinion. Service great, staff very friendly. Highly recommended.

Our local.. such a lovely pub now there’s new management. Toni and Kevin are really friendly and so welcoming. Food is always lovely!

Spent another enjoyable evening in the Gardeners! The new chefs food is top notch, Toni and Elaine looked after us superbly and the live band were really good. There was a great crowd in as well. I love my local pub, Keep it up :)

Intentamos comer algo en este pub: el sol brillaba en la calle. El pub estaba oscuro y olía muchísimo a tabaco. En la barra dos señores “interesantes”. Todo sucio.La camarera nos dio un menú y, tras unos minutos intentando averiguar si había algún plato hecho allí, no congelado. Nos rendimos y fuimos sin consumir nada

Nice friendly environment, food looked good

Attended a wake here recently the couple behind the bar were very pleasant

Lovely food, reasonable(ish) prices but service & attention to detail is somewhat lacking.

Delicious food and friendly atmosphere - can't beat the Pate!!

We stayed in one of the twin rooms and were instantly made to feel welcome. The room was really charming; filled with thoughtful little touches that made all difference. Cushions, blankets, a set of towels & bath mat; tea, coffee & even latte packs with kit kats. I would definitely stay here again, what a lovely hidden gem that’s a 10min drive from Rochester.

We really enjoyed our stay here, rooms are lovely and very clean. The hosts are very friendly and extremely helpful. Such a beautiful place. I would highly recommend it.

Great place great beer friendly rykerswaste

Lovely Sunday lunch at this pub.nice staff and a warm friendly atmosphere.

Arranged to call here with a walking group and ordered our food in the morning so it would be ready on arrival. This worked so well: the tables were ready and once we had purchased our drinks the food was served. This meant we had time to enjoy and digest our food- and have another drink!- before setting off to complete our walk.Thanks to all the staff for being so welcoming, helpful and efficient and for feeding us so well. Everyone enjoyed their food very much.

Thought it time I updated a previous review.The pub is now so much better and back where it should be.Always a warm welcome from the lovely Landlady and nothing is too much trouble.The atmosphere now is that of a village pub and not the previous village of the damned!The food is very good and tasty.Most weekends there is live music and there have been some great bands performing - keep them coming :)Only thing I would say is to advertise them a bit more as I never saw Fridays band advertised yet they were probably the best yet. (Head Games playing some great 70's and 80's music if you want to look them up).So to Toni and your team - keep it up!

After several years of not using this local pub - ten friends met up for lunch and although I didn't want to go, I now can't wait for visit the pub again.I ordered Sausage and Mash which was served with Kenyan Beans. The sausages were absolutely delicious, some of the best I had and apparently gluten free. All the meals looked lovely and were presented well. Steak and Ale Pie would be a good edition to the menu.I highly recommend The Gardeners Arms for a luncheon - you won't be disappointed.

I am Mexican and I really enjoy my stay in this very warm and traditional English pub, the owners make me feel very welcome and the food was amazing the same than the service, my room very comfortable, clean and with all the amanieties , with an amazing view of the little town. I would highly recommend for a long term stay .

Visited for the first time in over a year. Now completely refurbished. Much better. Friendly and helpful staff. Good food. Will definitely go back again.

Must congratulate the new owners in providing a great atmosphere, they have seemed to work out the dynamic of locals and a great family lunch or dinner out . We were greeted straight away and sat down offered drinks in a speedy manner and explained the specials of the day . We came on a week day there were people drinking at the bar and seating down to eat . Our food was tasty hot and good portions. My burger was especially tasty and homemade. Will defiantly be coming back again.

This was probably our sixth or seventh visit to the pub over 7 or 8 years .

Great Sunday lunch would definitely recommend. Very busy, I’m glad we booked. All four of us were really happy with our lunches

Fantastic new owners They have definitely brought the place back to life again and is now a fantastic village pub as it should be Always great Intertainment too I’ve also noticed the restaurant is getting very busy too

My wife, daughter and I today visited Gardener's Arms for the first time having lived in the village for just over 5 years. Have heard some positive comments round the village following take-over by the newest owners just before Christmas so decided to give it a whirl in support of hoping the village finally offers a decent pub with good food.

Had a really good Sunday roast. Thumbs up

Christmas Dinner was absolutely great, even catered for my mum who is gluten free, highly recommend, great service , great food , big thanks to Kevin and Tony

Lovely pub, very welcoming and really good food.

Thank you Toni and Kevin for giving us back our local pub. We love it and we will see tou very often!

Nice family friendly environment. Also serve food.

We came here as a group of 12 for the first time and we loved it! Literally THE best roast i've ever eaten out. The portion size was so generous i couldn't move after (and i couldn't manage a pudding which is unheard of!) and it just kept coming! More potatoes were bought out and more cauliflower cheese - this was so tasty and not many restaurants include this with their roasts now! Food was hot and all served together which for a big group is a hard task. Staff were all very friendly and attentive. We will definitely be back!

Lovely atmosphere lovely bar staff and most importantly lovely food!

Quiet country pub. Really friendly staff and it's a heart of the community. We were headed to a wedding close by and we felt very welcome.

New owners seem to be making an impression, food was great, staff friendly and atmosphere relaxed. Room was clean with beautiful views!

Last went there 2 to 3 years ago. Went back today. What a transformation, it looks so much better. Tony and Keith very nice people. Definitely will go back again.

Great food, great customer service , very warm and welcoming, highly recommended

About 3 weeks ago, we tried the Gardner's again as we live nearby. We thought we would try the steak night on a Saturday. A little bit of a weird experience to say the least. When we both asked for the steak, we were not asked how we would like it cooked, so as the waitress walked away I caught her and said that I would like mine rare/medium and my husband wanted his medium, and the waitress seemed a bit confused. Once the meals were received I could see why as both my husband and my steak's were exactly the same, well done, and it seemed as though that was the only option the chef could accommodate or they had been cooked beforehand, albeit they were edible. What was more weird, was the fact that the onion rings advertised came in a side bowl and were literally just an onion cut into rings, no batter etc which is what you would expect with your steak. No peas, just large tomatos and sauces were not offered either but both was on the advertisement. There was no wine list, so our choice of red was one and this cost us over £20!

Can feel a bit cliquey but a nice turned out place with some good clientele.

Nice quality food at a reasonable price. cheerful staff. Nice play place to sit and have a beer.

Superb friendly atmosphere. Sarah and the rest of the staff are brilliant and nothing is too much trouble. The food and drink are brilliant. Highly recommended for a great night out !!!!!!!!

Lovely food, huge portions, reasonable prices and nice atmosphere. Thanks to the Manager Sarah for making us feel so welcome !!

Met old friends at the Gardeners Arms as a central location for a meal and a catch up. Very pleasant surroundings, interesting décor and good menu. The bonus was that we were able to sit in the garden and eat as the sun came out for our visit. The starters we had were huge, the mains were even bigger and the quality of the food was really good. Having read some of the reviews one wonders what people expect nowadays. We all had an enjoyable meal in good surroundings with pleasant staff.

Just had lovely lunch and plenty of it, fab!

Went for family meal to celebrate mother's day/birthday Saturday 10th. Lovely pub which I believe the restaurant has just been relaunched with completely new and different style menu. Received a nice welcome from the Manager who was very friendly (owner apparently on holiday). Our waitress was Britney who was very sweet if a little inexperienced. Sure that will improve with busier times😊Food was really tasty and well presented and good value. Good wine. Worth another visit 😊

first time ever in here. first impressions are good . feels very gastro type pub . Mediterranean menu was unusual but enough choice . Starters at 7 pound too expensive inc soup! mains very at a tenner . Waitress very friendly and good was to a good standard. Only one point. on the starter of Greek trio , toast or warm the pitta?

A really lovely afternoon spent with old friends.... chose The Gardeners Arms because it looked great and had mainly good reviews. Staff were absolutely lovely and with the log burner going out was a lovely setting. We all agreed the roast was really good.... fresh veg and crispy potatoes and the beef was nice and pink. What's the secret with your gravy ??? it was lush. Tasty home made desserts. The lemon tart was to die for.... everyone else had the crumble... we'll be back to try your normal menu. We only live in Chatham but will tell our friends that dine out to come and try you.... well done to the whole team especially Tracey on the bar..... see you all again

Fairly new owners. Great little village pub. Menu is diverse and a little expensive. Beer is lovely and staff friendly.

The Valentine’s offer tempted us out and we were not disappointed. The tables were attractively set for the occasion; good choice on the menu plus a cheese board to finish and a good selection of wine- all included in the price. The steaks were generous in size, cooked perfectly according to our preferences and delicious. So pleased we took up the offer and we will be returning to try a lunchtime meal.

Friendly staff well kept village pub with a great menu and welcomes families children and dogs if kitchen not open get a nice bunch of people who are friendly and make u feel welcome