Imperial Arms Pub & Courtyard Bistro — Restaurant in London

Just left the Imperial Arms after taking my daughter for her birthday lunch and to say I was not impressed would be an understatement.

Ordinarily, everything is usually fine in this pub. By the time I left today, I was absolutely fuming, due to the fact that my daughter overheard the staff slagging me off in the kitchen from the ladies toilets and the adjoining door being left open. Accusing me of attempting to get food for free.

After ordering the 'King Prawn Fish & Chips' the food arrived with no king prawns and was just in fact standard fish and chips. When questioned with the waitress, she said there was an issue with the order at the kitchen end and would we like to wait for it to be redone. Baring in mind we had waited a long time for the food to come already, and my daughter and grandaughter already had their food, I said I would just wait for the king prawns seperatley - she said okay.

After finishing our dinners, we had still not recieved the prawns, I questioned it with another waitress who said 'oh she has forgotten to order them, wait there'. The original waitress come back saying that we 'King Prawn Fish and Chips' was not actually fish and chips but king prawns and chips and the other fish and chips on the menu, that was marked cheaper was standard fish and chips. An issue with the menu as this is not clear at all. We were expecting fish and chips with a couple of prawns for the extra price. Even if we misread or misheard, which we didn't and the staff agreed that, the wrong order was sent on the pubs behalf.

Anyway, we expressed our disappointment to which the waitress agreed the menu needed to be changed and she would speak with management. She then said she would get us some prawns to apologise for the confusion.

Whilst waiting for these, this is when my daughter went to the toilet and heard them slagging me off. She came out the toilet and informed the bar staff that perhaps their staff want to be careful slagging off customers and their walls are very thin.

No one came to apologise, no one came to explain, everyone acted completely oblivious despite it being raised with multiple staff. The manager said he had only just arrived so didn't know much of the situation but yet we know he was informed and had been working the bar for quiet some time at this point.

I usually love this pub and its food. Today, the service was disgusting. I will not be eating here anymore nor recommending it to others.

I hope no one has the same issues here. Very sad...

May 2024 - This was a repeat holiday to Chislehurst and we were not having a good visit - so much so we were not going to return to the town. After a trip to the Caves, we stood outside the Imperial Arms Pub debating to eat lunch there or not. I am so glad we did! Amber greeted us as soon as we walked into the door, and the pub landlord started cracking jokes from behind the bar. My partner and I are huge fans of traditional pubs and this did not disappoint. I had the sampling of the Argentinian Empanadas with Chimichurri sauce and even though the waitress misheard and gave me Pumpkin and Corn instead of Beef, they ended up being my favorite of the lot. The parking lot is small, but we were walking. The beer/cider offering is not the most varied, but I found something to session. The décor is dark, but inviting. We were already sold on the place and decided to come back for dinner, when the waitress asked us if we were in town the next day as it was Fish Day. Literally, they do fish one day a week, when it is fresh! How could we resist? For dinner, my partner had the Burger and I had the Korean BBQ Chicken Sandwich - gone in 10 minutes and I had to wash my hands! It was as flavorful as it was messy. We had the Chocolate Torte for dessert. We returned the next day for a farewell Fish meal. When the waitress set the menu down, I was like, "We are definitely having the fish," to which she replied, "No - there is a whole menu of fresh fish dishes." I perused with my heart set of fish and chips until I hit the last items listed - Griddled Haddock. Now, there was a lot with this description that made me leery, Samphire [never had before] and crisped potatoes sitting in a broth [crispy in liquid :/], but I had trusted the chef to this point, so I went for it. I have eaten in NYC and London and all over the place, but this is one of the best dishes I have ever had. It was so amazing that I asked to see the Chef. Weird - but they had delivered 3 amazing meals, so I wanted to give thanks!. The Chef was not the tall guy in a big white hat that I was picturing, the "She-f" was a lovely lady in a t-shirt, knocking out amazing dishes in a small kitchen. Simply Magic! Was an amazing experience all around and a great value for money. We will definitely be back to Chislehurst for the sole purpose of eating at the Imperial...

Beautiful old pub with lovely food! We sat in the external courtyard surrounded with flowers... And a cute, nosy boxer watching from his garden up above! 😂 Sydney was our wonderful, friendly and vivacious bar/waitress. The perfect blend of attentiveness, information and patience she ran up and down the stairs to the kitchen to check ingredients and availability for our friend and was graciousness itself- deserving of 5 stars already! Our party had-Thai chicken curry (friend had allergies this was g/f & milk free) Old Hill steak burger-"oh wow this is good! I think this is one of the best burgers I've had in a long time!" and the Korean Chicken burger-looks bizarre on arrival but "oh yum! So tasty! Oh the sweet crispy onion topping.... Mmm! I would definitely a) have this again b) return here especially for this!" It was just the right degree of 'a bit different' and with the v tasty variety of flavours and textures ie the Asian slaw. All plates completely cleared-not a regular occurrence!

Desert was a sticky toffee pudding: light and not too sweet- our friend had never had it before (due to allergies but it was g/f and Milk free) declared "This is the best desert I've had in a loooong time!" (ice cream was separate due to milk allergy as sharing desert-bit full! Lol)

Everyone in, and serving was so helpful & friendly- and v welcoming. Pub at weekends also has a Bistro also open: giving 3 dining options. Limited Parking on a slope.

A mobile got left- staff were fantastic, contacting us by email to let us know.

A new favourite destination for us! Massive thank you to the Imperial arms team-from front of house to chef... a winning...