Rose & Crown - Shorne — Restaurant in Gravesham

I'm sorry Rose and Crown, but you get 1 star from me. I looked at the menu before visiting, because I am vegan, and was looking for a decent choice of vegan food. I was impressed by the 5 vegan main course options, and had hoped that the soup of the day starter would be vegan as the only other option would have been a vegetarian starter without the sour cream dip...meh. However the soup turned out to be cream of tomato, which cannot even be turned into a vegan dish. So I waited in anticipation for the choice I had made, which was the vegan burger. Sadly the burger itself was a very dry bit of processed textured protein, possibly the worst vegan burger I have ever had! When our half empty plates were cleared away, not once did we get asked if the food was ok. If I had been asked I would have said, and would not have written a bad review. But sadly this seems the only way I can convey my feelings...

It's many years since I'd visited this pub, but we'd driven past quite a lot lately, so decided to drop in for lunch. There was a very friendly greeting, and we were offered the choice of outside, or in the restaurant (we opted for the latter). Service was prompt, and the drinks came quickly, but we were surprised how long the food was coming. That was because it was all (except the meat in my friend's beef and beer pie, apparently braised for six hours) cooked from scratch, and it was well worth the wait. Her beef, she said, melted in her mouth, and it had the most gorgeous puff pastry crust. My Hunter's chicken was also excellent. My one complaint (!) was that neither of us could quite finish the food, and we had no room for a dessert! We'll be...

Cosy country pub, friendly staff, lovely roaring fire in the winter. Quite old fashioned and un-modernised, mostly in a good way. The food comes in decent portions though the Sunday roast I had was and bit reminiscent of school Christmas dinners - a gasto-pub this certainly is not. Other dishes we had were solidly delivered pub favourites, with good options for kids. If you want a throwback to how pubs used to be - unpretentious, cosy, for locals but welcoming of strangers - this will fit the bill. If they could work on the food just a bit more it would be more worth a frequent visit or a...