The Poachers Pocket in Medway

I burn a lot of calories in my job and I'm not a gourmet- I just want to get a lot of tasty fried food for a reasonable price, and I've found you can't go wrong at a Hungry Horse pub. We visited on a Saturday when the deal is any Super Special for a tenner- the chicken sharer starter was impeccably fried, the fried nachos are superb, and the main portions are huge as well, even the sea bass with garlic mash was far more than my mother in law could manage. I didn't have the stomach space for a Candymania puddng this time round but they're usually great as well. Just be warned, to do a big starter, a main course and a pudding you have to be a serious eater!

Lovely food & good prices, nee menu

Thank you from georges fish bar always friendly service best pub

Great Pub , good service , good staff. 👍

I would strongly advise against visiting Poachers Pocket / Hungry Horse in Chatham based on our recent experience. We had made a reservation for a birthday celebration and arrived after traveling over 30 minutes, only to be informed that our booking had been canceled without any prior notice. There was no communication to inform us of this change, leaving us stranded without the anticipated meal for our special occasion. To make matters worse, we were told that the restaurant was operating with only one staff member. The lack of apology and the unprofessional demeanor we encountered were deeply disappointing. The overall experience highlighted a severe breakdown in communication and customer service. If you are considering this location for an important event, you may want to look elsewhere to avoid similar frustrations EDIT: In response you your replay below Thank you for your feedback. We would like to clarify that we arrived on time for our reservation, which was scheduled for 3:45 PM as confirmed by our booking confirmation screenshot. Our reservation was made online, as we were unable to reach anyone directly by phone. Additionally, we did not receive any email or communication informing us of the cancellation prior to our arrival. We hope that this information provides further context regarding our experience, and we would appreciate an opportunity for the management team to address these issues directly. Thank you for considering our perspective.

I love this pub. I come here weekly. I have been coming here for a good few years now and have always enjoyed the food & the restaurant in general but especially the staff! Arron is one of my personal favourites, lovely gentleman, although they are all great he has always gone above and beyond when i have needed assistance. Definitely worth a visit for anyone considering xx

Very good atmosphere, friendly and welcoming! Had Sunday lunch which arrived quickly and hot, pigs and blankets was good size and the portions are big! Great value for money! Will definitely need a afternoon nap!

Friendly and helpful staff, good value for money.

Bar staff were really friendly. Great service. Food was amazing. Was a really good evening.

Great place great service fantastic prices Great for kids too. Can't fault it. Wish I lived closer but will definitely come again.

Fantastic pub and food staff are very friendly.

Great food and very fresh. Really enjoyed our burgers.

Attitude bad and food cold. Complained, got a refund, but then asked to leave and not return. And I never will.

all staff are really friendly, nothing is too much trouble

Attitude was very poor from the moment 7 of us arrived with many food items not available. When food arrived, it was cold, and we rightly refused to eat it. Food went back several times, but still returned cold. We asked to see the manager, and he said I am the manager he said i felt sarcastically." We were given a refund and asked to leave the establishment and not return. I felt we hadn't done anything to receive this kind of treatment. Most definitely, I will adhere and recomend you don't go. We went to the isherwood oak down the rd and had a wonderful meal and good service.

Always good food well priced warm atmosphere,great staff,never disappointed,our favorite local ,good selection of beers 🍻

We live locally and come here at least once a week foods always been great

Turned up for a tribute act who didn't turn up, however had a great night, juke box turned over to Take that/Gary Barlow songs, everyone singing, forget the singers, let's just have a theme night

Came in for few drinks with family

Lovely place, great service thanks

Brilliant night at the poachers! Considering the entertainment cancelled last minute, the staff put on a great night! Great music, great atmosphere. The entertainment planned was not missed thanks to the staff and the good night they put on. Thanks Poachers

Bar staff were very friendly. The waitress was very helpful and service was very quick.

Celebrated a birthday this evening with the family, there was 10 of us. Everything was perfect and the chef Scott even come out to make sure everything was ok !! Very happy with our service from all the staff and we will be back soon 😃

Toni is very welcoming, and all staff are very helpful full and can’t do enough for you

Very good service very nice all the time can have a good laugh and very polite.

Toni behind the bar, 10/10 fantastic personality!

Bar staff are very attentive and knowledgeable, with a friendly smile

Had a wonderful meal with my friends and Toni who took my order was so helpful . Thank you

Absolutely amazing such a amazing place to drink at

Amazing place to drink at everyone is so friendly I love the staff so polite and can always crack a joke

Toni is the best person i have ever met

We was regulars to this pub for dinner- it used to be absolutely amazing- however now its not so great. The food has rapidly gone down hill. Its nasty and cheap cuts of meat. Service..? What service? The lady manager is fabulous. The male needs an attitude adjustment talks you like you are something he's stepped in… and reading some other reviews im so happy we’re not the only ones who think this. Below is my bacon cheeseburger…. ‘Bacon Cheeseburger Served in a brioche-style bun with mayo, red onion and lettuce’ this is a ‘chef’ that has given up. Im very sad and very disappointed to say we are done with the poachers. :o(

Usually we have a great time here but this time a lot of meals had run out & service was only ok. Will go again though to see if this was a one off

Ordered a rare steak and got well done, waited 7 minutes extra for my keema stack and honestly it was soft popadoms and loads of chips with mince, very disappointed as we come here quite frequently

Booked this place for my brothers 18th birthday a week in advance for 13 people as we would normally come here for family meals only to turn up for the time of the booking and. Told that it had been cancelled as they can’t accommodate for 13 people when I explained that we have been there 4-5 times before and would sit in different booths I was frowned at and told no that’s not something we do and basically called a lier I’ll ad that at this time there was only a few people that was dinning so could not understand the reasoning I lol also add the normal lady that would normally be I assume as the duty manager was not there on this day I would normally recommend to my friends and family to go hear but after ruining such a special day for my brothers 18th I can only do the opposite

Sorry for the star rating because we really like Pochers Pocket.Had a Sunday roast but sorry to say it was very poor. Just about warm,meat very tough not able to chew, potatoes to well done. We were not the only customer's having a bad food day someone sent their meal back as being cold.My wife and daughter left most of the food as they didn't enjoy any of it.

Arrived at 6.30pm , no tables , went back outside and booked online for 7.15pm went back in and said we were told that we weren't able to have the booking as the kitchen wasn't coping with the numbers , were then told if we could wait until 7.30pm they could accommodate us bearing in mind there was only 2 of us ! Also you need to check your prices on beer offers , was charged £7 for 2 bottles of ice breaker and on your advertised drinks menu on the tables it clearly stated 2 for £6 . When we asked we were told the prices had recently increased!!!!!! I cannot believe that after not visiting for a while that the pub has become slightly shabby and customer care has gone down hill 🫤.

Went today,19th Sept, Lunch with 2 very special friends, food was absolutely spot on .Hot & service was good too.very welcoming & lovely atmosphere, couldn't fault it.We opted for the Fish,chips & peas, off the £6 menu, & it was amazing, excellent value for the money,& perfect portion size for us. Would highly recommend.

Banging PH . Friday visit is spot on .food smells good and looks amazing. Good price and availability on drinks. Lorraine seams to be the boss and is working hardest. 5☆

Just wanted to pop in to a local pub for some food and a drink... now wishing I hadn't bothered....way below expected standards. Dirty restaurant, tables need cleaning properly, as do the wipe clean?? menus, all sticky and stinky. Overall the inside of the pub is grubby, cutlery was a mismatch of about a dozen different sets, which again we had to search through to find properly clean ones, wouldn't even expect that in a greasy spoon cafe. I didn't notice if the council had done a recent food standard review, looking at the state of the restaurant I wouldn't hold much hope on the kitchen being much better. Staff apart from one are obviously in the wrong job, maybe not trained to deal with or speak to customers correctly? The quality of food was poor, scraping a 5/10 solely because the steak was cooked as requested. This is one local I will not be returning to, probably the worst pub experience I have had in 10 years.

Dont bother! I have previously rated the Poachers as 5 star, always been great but after tonight it's terrible. Not sure if this pub has changed hands but it's definitely gone down hill. Tables were sticky, menus stank, cutlery was dirty and the whole place felt grubby. The restaurant side (havent been in the bar side) needs gutting and re vamping. Staff were pleasant, apart from the manager (not the usual person we see) who didn't know what he was doing. We had an issue and which was not rectified, just a load of rubbish responses. Was due to visit here with a friend in 2 days, but we have decided to go somewhere else. Unfortunately this was our local but will not be returning anytime soon.

Children are loud sometimes too much but otherwise great place

Would give all five stars. Service lovely. We ordered chicken burger with lettuce onion and mayo however there was no onion or mayo.

Grate service and food was amazing

Fantastic value and service staff were so welcoming and nothing seemed to be too much trouble. Will definitely be going back

I'd nipped into the Poacher's last year on a dog walk but this year I booked a table with my aunt and cousin. Food was superb and service excellent. If you're veggie there are two burger options, which I can recommend (one is vegan, I believe). I managed to slip in a delicious pear and walnut treacle tart with custard, which was greedy but hey, it was a Saturday! A great spot that attracts people from all over. I'll be back again in a couple of weeks time.

Good PH .good large bar area . Food was very good and fast .Could do with more staff serving, so pay attention Greeneking to your customer service and staff. 5☆

Was waited on by a lovely young lady, who was very helpful and pleasant, a credit to you.

Excellent food, excellent service definitely recommend 👍

Food was lovely, hot and well presented. We came as a party of . Would recommend and definitely come again.

Good good very polite staff owners would definitely go again. Food was good and reasonably priced, All the family was happy with their food and the desert was delicious.

The gravy burger is the one! 🤤😉

We have not been here for a while nothing to do with the Poachers circumstances did not allow. Once again we had a fantastic meal and they are all so friendly and helpful. Will return soon. The Poaches is worth a visit you will get a great welcome. Best to book though.

lovely pub and such great service!

Great pub and really great service. Shannon was my waitress and she was lovely and very helpful.

Pros: - affordable and generally good tasting food. - kitchen is clearly very efficient and good at making up time when required. - bar well attended by staff. Cons: - front of house staff are as inattentive as possible, and seemingly vanish into thin air at a moments notice. - feeling very dated inside. Spent £115 across 5 of us this evening.. 4 adults and a toddler. Read the menu and order at the bar, warned there was a delay in food but no specifics as to whether thats a 15 minute delay or an hour, starters arrive in surprisingly good time considering the warning, however once plates were put down, thats the last you see of any front of house staff for the next long while. We had finished our starter plates by a good 20-30 minutes before I had to go and ask for our table to be cleared so that we could receive our mains as it seemed everybody had jumped on break or bar duty at once and left the restaurant unattended. From sat down to mains was a little over an hour due to the lacking service, having arrived and been seated minutes after 6, and mains coming out around 7:20. Important to note, the restaurant was moderately busy as you’d hope for any pub on a Friday night! Sadly, despite the new menu with some genuinely lovely food on offer, I wont be returning to spend anymore money here until problems like these are fixed once for all. Very frustrating when you’re visiting as a family treat and spending good money to receive such a minimal level of service. Worth noting that bar staff were great. So the issue seems to be in the restaurant.

Great pub. Staff extremely friendly and always willing to share a joke. From Manager, down to pot washer very professional. Staff and customers respected. Extremely well priced, good choice of Beers and food is great. Servings are huge and come out of the kitchen hot and quick. A great social hub for locals and out of towners, everyone is made welcome, and very soon making good friends, Any negative reviews are either from rival establishments, who wish to try and discredit far superior opponents or people with an agenda. You will not go wrong visiting here. Pop in have a meal, go around to the pub side and make some lifelong friends.

Very friendly staff quick service manager dealt with my query promptly and efficiently been a regular for years now and no complaints

Great pub friendly great food, lovely staff a real heart of the community pub. Highly recommend

Great place to socialise. Tony and lorraine are nice and friendly and welcoming.. They Don't have any trouble or rif raff in the pub. Missing pub being open. Can't wait to go back in xx

Lovely friendly pub, great staff and atmosphere, good food and large drink selection at good prices.Management fantastic - well worth a visit or two!

This pub had to close down during the euros because it is affected with rats the landlord Tony doesn't care about his staff and his customers because he smokes weed in the beer garden all the time this does not meet the Hungry Horse standards time for a new landlord and a refurb

Online says it opens at 11am everyday which it doesn’t. Got there a few mins before 11 was stood waiting until 11:45 and the doors still weren’t open so left. If I do get a fine I’ll be taking it straight down there as I couldn’t even get in to register absolute joke

rude ignorant dishonest arrogant staff that are extremely sexist towards men. ... would totally avoid.... nothing g good about this place. stas are revolting. food is disgusting.... service is slow.... place is filthy.... building is old one of the worst pubs ive ever been too

We were very disappointed yesterday evening. Now we have been coming here for years from young children, as we grew up in weedswood. And we know the owner Toni and have done for many years and we have never ever had any issues here in the past. The food is usually outstanding, staff are generally polite but yesterday evening we made a booking for a family meal. We came in to be standing at the door for over 10 minutes waiting for someone to approach us and sit us at our table, the staff acknowledged us several times but still made no effort to come over to us which resulted in us going over to the bar to find out where are table was. As soon as we walked in the pub, everyone just stared over at us like we were inhuman and I genuinely feel it was because my husband is foreign. We were receiving vile looks. We then ordered our food and drinks that came to £65. And when the food arrived we was so disappointed. We ordered a meal from the menu that didn’t state it had cinnamon on top on the menu, it was chicken and the chef had literally just threw cinnamon powder on top it was absolutely disgusting. We then asked if we could have the same again without the cinnamon due to an allergic reaction. Which when we ordered at the bar we was not asked if there is any allergies anyway, but even if we were it was not stated on the menu so how can we be aware. The manager on that shift then came over looked at us like absolute filth. And said we can’t do you that again you can have something from the pub classics which are £8 now we had just paid nearly £15 for the meal. So we refused, and he said that we should of logged onto the app and looked for allergic reactions before ordering never ever have I experienced such bad customer service and another lady in the pub witnessed all of this and came over to us and acted said good on you as she noticed the way we were treated. In the end my husband asked for a burger and chips and was up all night throwing it up anyway. My sister whom also asked for steak medium it was raw inside. Now we own 3 businesses which to one is a restaurant and never ever would we treat any customer in this way. Genuinely if someone isn’t happy with their food it gets replaced. Not every excuse made. We also added on our booking we needed one high chair that we never got The manager then went back over the bar complaining and speaking very high to the other staff looking over at our table which is very unprofessional and made us feel very uncomfortable at this point. The management is very very poor and so is the staff here now and it’s such a shame as I used to love this pub. And they used to be very respectful and welcoming. And in regards to the chef he clearly doesn’t know how to cook. So I am not happy at all with our experience. And I will be reporting to trading standards.

First time here for a long time and I had clearly forgotten how nice of a place this is! Staff are great and food is really good. Well priced and definitely worth of another visit soon!

Nice friendly place the food I had was good hot

Excellent value and great bar staff. Very busy pub that also offers a large menu. Pool table and large screen televisions.

One of the worst roast dinners I have ever had the displeasure of eating.items missing from the plate, picture didn’t look like the food at all.uncooked, wet, runner beans and over cooked carrots.hard mash potato and burned to death potatoes. Dry meat. The only decent bit was the Yorkshire pudding. Requested no gravy on one of the dinners to be told ‘it’s too late’. Had to order a new dinner and was asked if we wanted the original one we paid for. Of course we do, you’ll only chuck it in the microwave for the next poor soul. Customer service was appalling. No apology for anything. Bar lady was nice. Will NEVER eat here again and will ensure friends and family in the area know how bad it was.

Went to lunch with a few people and the food was was lovely and reasonably priced. The staff were lovely and made sure that our time at their establishment was the best ot could be.

Lovely staff and quick service, food was delicious and reasonably priced. Would definitely recommend! Toliets are lovely and clean too

Food is great, atmosphere is brilliant and my daughter loves here. All staff are lovely and friendly

A nice family friendly pub. Lovely staff and good food, all great value for money with excellent deals and offers on everyday.

I would not recommend it as I got charged 100 just to park there. I would never go there again. it's a rip of the food is ok, but I would definitely go choose somewhere nearer to go

Often come here for lunch with family or girls night for a few drinks and food is always lovely and good service too.

Visited last week for Breakfast with the Easter Bunny for the first time (we usually do breakfast with Santa at christmas) and this was a massive hit. The bunny was absolutely amazing with all the children, my girls thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Food was lovely and all such great value for money, thank you!!

Rude people, If you use vouchers they treat you like second class citizens

Nice and friendly. food was lovely

We went for the breakfast with the Easter bunny and my word was it amazing! The guy who dressed as the Easter bunny was brilliant! Phenomenal performance, he was excellent with the kids and it wasn’t just the once with just one picture he was about and everywhere and kept coming back to ensure the kids were behaving which was brilliant! 1000% recommend and if you missed out, you’ve really missed out! Doing it again next year! Oh the food was brilliant, kids either had pancakes or full English (obviously went for the pancakes) and they were bunny pancakes!! Simple but effective idea!!! Be warned though, when getting the full English for an adult you get a lot of bacon, I ended up having 8 rashes of bacon and the wife 3 and still had 5 left on the plate!!! Coffee was lovely, lovely brew! 100% coming back!!

Back again to our favourite pub restaurant can't seem to stay away the food is delicious and good offers on for most days. Lorraine and Tony the publicans at the Poachers are fantastic they aways have time to chat and make us feel really welcome. Then there is Sarah our waitress on most visits she is lovely and it doesn't matter how busy she is always finds time to make sure we are happy and the food is good. Obviously all this couldn't happen without all the other staff especially the chefs and kitchen staff. Definitely one of the best locally. We'll done all. We will be back soon.

Haven't been there for a while. The food was lovely.

This is a Hungry Horse pub and we had a lovely lunch from the 2 for £11.49 menu. The pub staff were well organised and the food came out nice and hot without a long wait.(unlike the Tiger Moth at Chatham !!)The pub was very clean with the tables being cleaned down as soon as they were empty. Visited the toilets and they were absolutely spotless which we relayed to the staff. Would not hesitate to recommend this pub and would definitely revisit if we were in the area.

Had a lovely dinner I choose the katsu buffet and sticky toffee pudding it was cooked really well good value waiter was a bit moody

Yes it's a hungry horse, and yes it could do with tarting up a bit, but the mixed grill is banging! If you want fine dining then you don't go to a hungry horse but I've been here 3 times now and enjoyed everything I've ordered, nicer to be out than ordering a take away 👍🏼

Friendly pub with good atmosphere and the prices are low but the food is really good. We'll worth a visit

Me and my friends meet up here every few weeks or so, great value for money on the food, always have a deal on, so if you're on a budget it's a great place to eat. Food was good, I had the pie it was massive and very tasty, also friends had fish and chips and scampi and chips, and all the plates were cleared so I'm guessing they all enjoyed their meals as well. Staff were very friendly, took the time to chat with us. All in all nothing bad to say, give it a try....

Nice pub. Only allowed booked tables.

I just love this friendly pub, I come here a lot at different times of the day with family and friends. Can’t fault the food and nothing is too much trouble if extra gravy, butter etc is requested. Very family oriented and Tony, Lorraine and their team make it the success it is.

Very friendly,polite and helpful staff..food very good

Was gob smacked family came to visit from Liverpool went to poachers for meal didn't know about having to reg car son charged £100 for parking l.felt guilty coz my family came to see me bloody disgusting l do understand why they do this but if I don't go the bar how r u supposed to know lm pensioner l told him to send me details as l wil pay as l felt bad for him

We usually go here around 5:30pm and it's reasonably busy but fairly quiet, however any later than that and it can get noisy. The food's generally decent and mostly served in a timely manner.

Nice food well priced and lovely staff

The pub is badly in need of a refit. Tables and chairs in the dining area are worn and a bit threadbare,it just looks a bit tired. There is a separate bar area which had a lively atmosphere, people not used to the area may have been a little intimidated. The food was good, we didn't wait long and everything was hot and tasted good. There are some great offers on food here and looking at the various notice boards it was the same case with drinks. Pitchers of cocktails for just £7.99. The staff were friendly enough but one waitress was clearly not sufficient and it was hard for her to keep up. There is a large outside area and a couple of playground items for kids. The pub has a decent sized car park,remember to input your car's reg. I to the screen by the bar or you'll get a parking fine. It wouldn't take much to sort this pub out,shame Greene King haven't taken more care to keep things in order

Good food and service at value for money prices. Could do with a spruce up especially the chairs but I suppose money is tight at the moment.

Very friendly atmosphere, quick service and lovely food. Just don't forget to input your car reg to avoid getting a ticket.

Friendly and very tasty food and I was only waiting for a short while 😋

Lovely breakfast & really good value for money.

Arrived at 6pm Friday but was not able to get in as they were fully booked all evening.

Great lunchtime food BUT NOW received a £100 parking fine 07/02/2024 from Britannia Parking in(your car park) 😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁

Food really wasn't anything to write home about. I had the Katsu banquet - chicken was 'ok' - the fries were old and limp. The rice was a cheap supermarket type and the Katsu sauce was from a jar. Not impressed at all - wouldn't even be recommending it to anyone