The Leading Light - J D Wetherspoon in Swale

The food was poor, the atmosphere was terrible, and worst of all, as the front and rear doors were wide open, the entire place stunk of cigarette smoke. The food was pretty poor. The chips had obviously been cooked in a large batch, and we seemed to have gotten the end of said batch, as although the chips looked pretty crisp, they were soft and flaccid. The burger itself was not bad; however, there was very little American mustard, and the ketchup in it was more like a relish than ketchup. I can't say that it was particularly hot either. The onion rings were ok, although they were oozing fat, hot fat at that. They looked great it was just a shame that they had been cooked with fish as that was all you could taste. Ok, it was Friday early evening and pretty busy, but that does not excuse the lacklustre food, which arrived in less than ten minutes or indeed the stench of stale cigarette smoke that hung in the air. Yes, it was hot, so they had all the doors open, but still the smell was awful. ?The management should be ashamed at that, I'd not recommend it...

A fantastic place to go, I always enjoy visiting... Would highly recommend it to anybody!

Mixed Feelings on a Monday Evening Visit, I must say my first impressions were not great. The atmosphere felt quite lacking; it was cold, dark, and rather depressing. I understand that Mondays can be quiet, but the overall vibe left much to be desired.As for the staff, they came across as rather non-descript—neither welcoming nor unfriendly. They seemed to be just going through the motions.When our food arrived, I was a bit unsettled by the condition of the dishes. I ordered the tomato soup, and to my dismay, the bowl was chipped. It made me wonder if the chip had just occurred or if it had fallen into my soup, which wasn’t a comforting thought. The condiments also left much to be desired; they were grimy, sticky, and felt dirty.On a positive note, we did enjoy our food despite these issues. However, the overall experience was marred by the state of cleanliness. I left wondering if the kitchen was maintained to the same standard as the dining area.Would I return? Probably not. The cleanliness concerns and the lack of a welcoming atmosphere make it hard to recommend this place wholeheartedly.

Ollie the bar man is a top bloke, 11:45 at night he’s rushing round collecting glasses. Couldn’t fault him, give him a pay rise, his work ehic is top notch

Lovely homely place with affordable food options. I recommend always

Awful food awful atmosphere. Won't be going again

Nice location few minutes walk from station. Plenty of space and seating area. Lovely staff who trying to give good and quick service. Always great value for money in Wetherspoon. Although very grim seating area as soon as you entered around bar counter. But good seatings at the back and in garden.

It's the worst witherspoon i have been to. Dirty Service, what is that? Do yourself a favour and don't drink at this dive

You always know what to expect good food good prices

I was amazed to see the crowd and satisfies with the food I ate . Hygiene 💯 %

Awful pub one of the worst Wethersppon pub i have been in

Nice location few minutes walk from station. Plenty of space and seating area. Lovely staff who trying to give good and quick service. Always great value for money in Wetherspoon. Although very grim seating area as soon as you entered around bar counter. But good seatings at the back and in garden.

We stop here on our evening social ride on Wednesday's. Can't get better value. We take turns in buying rounds and can afford to do so.

It's a spoons, get what you pay for

Was packed due to Rugby on TV, made up our own table of 3 and ordered via app...... my steak should have been medium-rare but was well over cooked :(

I have visited at least 40 wetherspoons pubs all over the country and eaten in 90% of those. The food quality at this version of the chain was mediocre at best. This wasn't helped by no pizzas on the menu and no Korean chicken basket either. To be fair to the front-of-house staff they were helpful. They are just not working in a particularly nice environment. The food quality needs to go up. Soggy scampi, barely cooked chicken wings, soggy chicken bites basket. I won't be hurrying back

Had large breakfast hash browns frozen two days in a row proper shit and dirty

A Weatherspoons pub with a good breakfast. Four real ale hand pumps are normally available. A small paved garden is to the rear.

Very busy pub and the service from the staff was very good

Regular Spoons with same menu as others and overworked staff. Dirty plates everywhere.

Very pleasant staff who are generally very helpful, nice surroundings. Nice outdoor area to the rear of the main area. Newly added tables and chairs to the front of the premises. Standard Wetherspoons menu, but, normally well presented and staff helpful with regards to condiments, etc. Generally well run, clean and pleasant place.

Go to love a spoons: "Do you take Amex" "don't know" "it worked" "where are you from if you have an Amex" "ummm..." 😂

Was quiet but friendly. Nice @ cheap .food was well cooked . Nice place to visit.

Wine glasses thick with lipstick so they are not washed half Every glass had lipstick on it glasses ate not washed or checked

Nice food and friendly bar staff with a good manager, unlike the manager of Weatherspoons Chatham.

It's a Spoons. Good selection of 4 ales at great prices (£1.49p) when we visited.

Fast service and nice little cosy pub

Open fire at Christmas time good for and drink what's not to like

Nice place food not very hot. Drinks cheap and. Chips are just warm and not hot even when you ask for hor chips.

It's always nice to have a hot breakfast and refilble coffee sitting next to the fire during these cold mornings.

Typically one of the wetherspoons chain in decor and atmosphere, not a bad breakfast but not up there much different than a greasy spoon, refillable hot drinks is a bonus and the staff are friendly and courteous, not really my scene sharing a room with someone drinking alcohol whilst I'm eating my breakfast, relatively clean and tidy and good value for what you get

Just a Lager top today-good vibes!!

Best value for money Cheap good food and an excellent choice of beverages

The food is nice and it’s a nice place to eat. It has an outdoor food area as well. The food comes out piping hot. The staff are kind. Very kind. It’s a pub so people will get very drunk and start fights. I’ve seen it before.

It's a spoons what can I say The food was OK and reasonably priced but plated up with all the finesse of a bricklayers mate The beer was good as it always is

Lovely and relaxing here service was outstanding I had gammon egg chips and a nice pint of ale all for £8.80 at 4.30pm.The decor is lovely as well good atmosphere here

Needs a good clean nice bar staff though.

Superb ales, the absolute best prices. The food is a necessity as we have to eat in between ales.

Been here many times with lots of faults. Today me n my partner came 18/09/24 15.30 and compliments to the chef Who made our mixed grills, Today was perfect throughout. Well done

Quick service, friendly, food hot, great atmosphere

Normally very good this time terrible, large traditional breakfast, about 9.30am , food was undercooked, especially the hash browns and eggs ( despite I had asked for well cooked ) , it wasn't really hot. I sat near to the kitchen and the person cooking in the kitchen had loud rap house music playing which was very annoying . Generally, apart from the young lady who took my order the staff walking around taking food from.the kitchen to clients seemed uninterested. Obviously I'd picked a bad day, something had slipped.

Oh dear! There is a stale smell and grime that says the pub never gets a proper clean! Especially the little cubicles where the fabric bench seats are soiled, shiny, and smell so bad we had to move seats. So did the couple who arrived after us. Come on, spoons, this is no way to run a pub.

Food was nice and good value. Staff were friendly too

Great value, good service, food nice.

Called in here during hop festival. Two apple crumbles with two small pineapple juices in plastic cups for almost £17.. What a rip off !

Very busy because it was the hop festival weekend great value food and drinks

Food was average for a spoons. There was a few drunk people sitting at the entrance as we walked our young family through to the seating area. We sat outside as it was too busy inside, but was surprised to find staff on breaks swearing and talking to friends on a nearby table as well as having to walk through vape/cigarette smoke to exit the garden.

Excellent Service. Great Wetherspoons Served Food. Superb Garden Courtyard.

I found the Wetherspoons in Faversham to be incredibly well run with friendly staff, the food was timely and well presented. The back courtyard garden is an oasis delight with hanging plants. Nothing was a bother for the staff and I highly recommend a visitor to Faversham to go there

Me and mini me went for lunch date. She went for a ham and cheese panini with chips and I had an American double cheeseburger. We also had a portion of onion rings. I had a carlsberg as carling wasn't available and mini me had a Pepsi. Drinks arrived speedily and the food wasn't far behind. The bottom of her panini was rather greasy but looked good, My burger looked amazing but wasn't as tasty as it promised. The chips are second to none and the onion rings just as good. We enjoyed our time sitting our on the terrace so much we had one more drink each before leaving. It's a Spoons, so it is what it is. You get what you pay for and at lunch time it's a great place for chilling 😎

Great value for money, we ordered on the app, very quick response. Tasty breakfast, refill tea/coffee. Can't fault it.

It's a 'spoons' pretty much all the same

It's a wetherspoons! It's a national treasure! What else is there to say.

Manager was rude and unprofessional. There were several errors on the food order.

I've been working in the area and eaten here many times in the past 10 years - but no longer! Last weeks curry was very poor. Today I ordered steak and kidney. I waited an hour and after chasing got something that ha been reheated a few times was dried up and served COLD. My last Spoons meal - ever?

Good place for cheap drinks in Faversham, staff are njce

Poor WiFi could not put an order through .

The only place still open late in Faversham on a night out. If they had music it would be better. But the staff are friendly and the prices are cheap.

Can get very busy around lunchtime and of an evening.

Another good value Wetherspoons

Good place, cheap, friendly staff. Very large inside.

I really like this place for lunch, it is peaceful and the food is traditional.

One of my childhood dreams has come true… after standing at the bar being completely ignored as customer after customer that got there after me was served, I realised I’ve become the invisible man !!!

Had a giggle n8ce cheap place for a few cold ones

Lovely pub, great building, history of the area inside. Friendly staff and great selection of food and drink.

Take your own antibacterial wipes to clean the table.

It’s a spoons, great value food and drink and atmosphere too

Extremely busy with possibly insufficient members of staff to serve, replenish etc. Food was lovely but most of all staff were relentless in their efforts to keep customers happy, they didn’t stop! Well done to all who were working 19/05 👏🏻

Good not only the place there but even the neighbours aswell

My visit was midweek, and I only had a beer.

Saw some bad reviews and yes it was quite roudy with younger people but food and drink were excellent so no complaints and would deffo come back 😉

Read so many bad reviews however we had a lovely hot breakfast.

After reading the reviews I thought you have to make your own mind up. Glad we did lovely hot breakfast.

Just the perfect place for a quick catch-up with friends. Good price.

I’ve always said that you know what you get with spoons, but today completely changed my opinion. Walked through a door (in which the windows had been removed and a man was aggressively smashing it with a hammer) on a sticky carpet, sat on sticky chairs to eat at sticky tables. My feet actually got stuck to the table leg. There was thick dust and dirt literally everywhere. We asked one of the waitresses for a cloth to clean the table, but she just came and ‘wiped’ a dry cloth over it - even this got stuck 🤣 We tried to pick up the menus, but these were stuck in the sticky remnants of the pints that had been spilled the night before and were stuck to the table. There was limescale on the hot water dispenser, leading to a scummy cuppa tea- at least the tea bags were Tetley… Highlight was when I went back to the bar to ask for a hot drink, and after paying was told that the barman couldn’t find a clean cup. He came back after wandering around with his head in the air and said “this one’s been used, is that alright?” When I replied and said it was not, he said “do you want me to wash it?” (He went and rinsed it under a tap) - I could not bring myself to argue with such a deluded person so just sat back down without my coffee, despite paying for it. The food tasted fine, but I’m now sat at home awaiting an inevitable bout of food poisoning, as I’m sure the kitchens are just as filthy as the rest of the place. My Dad said he can only imagine we had a similar dining experience as to what we would have had in Beirut. Safe to say we won’t be returning.

Visited the pub on a Friday afternoon. Plates and glasses left on available tables. We ordered on the app, our food arrived in 15-20 minutes after originally going to the wrong table and I had to ask the fella for our drinks. He went off and came back with the wrong drinks before returning with the correct ones. We had a bbq chicken bacon panini and a buttermilk chicken burger. Panini was dry and was hunt the chicken, burger was ok. We thought let’s have a coffee and a hot chocolate. One machine was not working and the other one dispensed hot chocolate without the chocolate. Staff seemed to be busy talking to their friends and looking at their phones rather than doing their job

One of the most grim Wetherspoons/pubs in general I’ve ever been in. Sat down with full view of the men’s toilet door (maybe turn the tables to face the other way as women don’t tend to exit the toilet still putting themselves away?) Place looked like it hadn’t been cleaned properly in months. Carpet was covered in crumbs, flakes of I don’t know what, dirt, mud, you name it. Dropped something, bent down to pick it up and saw the state of the table legs with added banana slice. That’s been there a while. Dread to think what the areas you can’t see (the kitchen and behind the bar) look like if this is what the places you can see looks like! Horrible atmosphere in there. Unwelcoming.

Good price but had a few slow points in the service throughout the night

Wandered in on the way from train to the bus. Lovely old decor in an airy kind of way with lots of beers on tap. Friendly service at the bar. Nice atmosphere with a goodly number of patrons.

Curry night - great value and delicious though somewhat oily poppadoms & nan bread!

Really small for a spoons, but nice enough. Nice and flat so fine if you have mobility issues. The coffee machines seem to have a problem quite often

It's my second time visiting the pub and I'm sure it won't be the last.

Odd crowd in here but we liked it. Quite a small quiet Spoons but it was Tuesday at 4pm when we arrived. Food was better than a lot of other Wetherspoons. Plates were hot which made a pleasant change. We both had burgers & we both said you could tell that whoever prepared them actually cared. I was hoping to learn a bit more about the history of the building but the food menu cover gave minimal info. Service, location & general appeal were all good. Spoke to 3 members of staff during our visit & they were all friendly, helpful & polite. Take note about your staff members Tim. No parking on site but public car park is a 4 minute walk costing £2.60 for 2 hours. Wetherspoons number 34 ticked off our list.

Surprised by how good the portion sizes were for food just after Xmas.

Cheap and cheerful just as you want a spoons

It's good for a drink. Nice surroundings....hard to park...food is not their fault I suppose as with all Spoons has gone downhill

Very British pub in a nice town

This pub is AMAZING! As I walk in I am greeted by the alluring aroma of damp canine. Lucky for me I find a seat amongst the sea of crockery, tissue and glassware display, obviously a popular exhibition in such a renowned establishment. I sit, and to my good fortune realise I have a prime view of its patrons! Oh you beauties! Hungry, yes please! Upon perusal of the menu, I was delighted to find the only available thing on the menu was the mouth-watering burger! Mmm (pictures to make your taste buds tingle attached). After an hour to get a know and feel for this historic tavern, my meal arrived with a flourish. (My partner thinks it was dumped, I say flourished for presentation) To sum up this pub is number one (star) in my books! Tell your friends (To get a tetanus shot before coming)!

Not a bad spoons as they go and it's a good use for an old building with some nice features. Food and drinks by the fireplace is an afternoon well soent. Quite lively with a good mix of customers

Management don't help, I asked for the TV to be put on at 9.30 and he said we don't usually have it on in the morning, usually means they can, the one in herne bay has it on all the time, he just couldn't be arsed

I ate here with friends. It was really easy to order on the App and we were all happy with our food and drink as well as fast service. Thank you

It's too small! Not enough seating either, You need a bigger property wetherspoons,

Great friendly staff and fab food. Christmas market day today and the poor staff were rushed off their feet. Sadly not all customers were pleasant. HUGE THANK YOU FOR ALL THE HARD WORK YOU DID THIS MORNING.

Last three days this pub has been freezing. It would help if some form of apology was posted on the doors. Lots of regulars upset, staff wearing extra clothes to try and keep warm.

Typisch Engelse tent. Prima ontbijt voor goede prijs. Kan weinig niet goed aan zijn.

All good. Friendly people all good

Always pop in when I'm working in Faversham. Great staff and fast service.

We had to visit Faversham around 9:00am and was looking for a wetherspoons for breakfast which was the easiest option as we don't know the area the building was impressive and at that time in the morning not to many people about but the food was good and the staff very friendly

Not a bad spoons could do with a bit of a make over

I’ve visited 196 last count and I should have walked out before I ordered drink let alone food !!! The whole place is run down , the carpets worn and stained , the floors filthy , tables tatty and uncleared . Our food as a couple arrived with a 10 min gap , no apology just something about frying an egg . The food was literally thrown on the plate , terribly presented and cooked and when I mentioned my chicken wing was a meatless bone I was told some are like that So I persevered and requested an actual chicken wing , such a Karen eh ??? I got another meatless bone dumped unceremoniously on my table . I never write bad reviews , but today I’m taken aback