Bull — Restaurant in Maidstone

After leaving the three star, the owner messaged me and asked for details, below is a copy of the review/email:

Good evening

Thank you for your rapid response.

I wasn't really going to do or say anything but I got a notification on my phone asking me how the Bull was.

In all honesty I stopped my fiance from raising a complaint and making a scene.

The ambience was brilliant, most of the staff was welcoming one gentleman was phenomenal. Black hair, stocky I didn't get his name but I couldn't fault him at all. Quiz night!! A lovely touch as well.

Food started rolling out after 30 minutes, lovely.

Nachos - the homemade/ fried tortillas weren't what I was expecting, I respect the attempt. It just didn't taste nice and was very oily. We couldn't finish it.

The chicken wings came out next and I was told there will be 6 or 7 wings per portion. I ordered two and the other party ordered one, when they came there were 9 in total, the gent I mentioned earlier sorted this out rapidly and brought a large plate of wings more than was expected!

Now the mains.

On the table we had 3 lamb shank roasts 1 turkey roast, macaroni and cheese roast, pizza and pasta finally rice and pasta.

The lamb was gorgeous. Truly phenomenal 👏 the hardest thing to get right was done wonderfully.

However, there wasn't enough Turkey, the potatoes had a very oily coating but were dry on the inside as though they were deep fried, untouchable. The cauliflower cheese was - on my plate 1 floret my fiance had 2. The gravy was tasty. The vegetables- carrots were hard, brocoli was cold and the peas were peas.

My boy wolfed the mac and cheese down, I tasted it and wished I chose that myself.

We ordered desert. All round smiles . 2 brownies, 3 ice creams a sharing platter, Eaton mess and the crumble with custard.

Only thing to say on the deserts is that the tart filled crumble was burned on the outside and there wasn't enough custard.

It's a lovely venue and I do plan to come back during the summer as its close to the park and you have outdoor seating.

I don't think I'll be doing Sunday family...

Visit 24/8/2024

We were a party of 4 with a booked table, which wasn't ready, despite being on time, so we had ordered drinks at the bar and sat outside.

When we went to our table, we had a delay for someone to take our food order, so we left our drinks on the table to go outside for a vape, gone all of 10 minutes, only to find our drinks were gone and another party placed at our table!

Finally, 15 minutes later, we were given our replacement drinks (which were all full).. and fair enough, the staff apologised. It was a very odd mistake to make, in my opinion.

A member of our table went to use the toilet, only for a fight to break out with other patrons - and for police attendance - which I don't blame the pub for.

However, by now, we were an hour into awaiting our food order, chased several times, only to be told due to a fight that had gone on.. more time went past (1 hour and 35 minutes) our food finally arrived.. all 4 of us could barely eat it due to porous cooking quality - that I wouldn't feed to my dog.

We eventually gave up trying to order from the restaurant as others were seated after us/served before.. it felt more like our table was a burden to the staff. Yet, we had been polite and respectful over issues with the service - or lack of.

This was a birthday meal for myself, and being a regular, I wouldn't recommend the bull inn anymore.

This isn't the first issue I've had with the food/restaurant side. The last few visits, food has been below their normal standards and what seems to be a lack of care from the staff.

Even trying to pay our bill, our "replacement" drinks were charged! Which by now, enough is enough.

Just waiting on the bill. It took 40 minutes.

It is with regret to leave this review as previously always rated this place, but now, I'd rather go elsewhere. It is such an ashame as being local/on the door step, I generally would have over looked minor issues, but this visit was...

My wife and I had been going to the Bull 2-3 times a week since 1996, until moving to Canterbury in 2021. Always enjoying the,beer, food and atmosphere promoted by the good humoured staff, most of which I, even now, class as friends. Since moving away we have still frequently visited,(my father in laws favorite),when visiting my father in law. However the last 2 visits have been pretty abysmal. The atmosphere more inner city drinking hole, staff giving the impression that they had more important things to do like "vaping". The beer,(Abbott), was well below par, for an otherwise great beer. Then we come to the food! I know the Bull is never going to be Michelin starred.We ordered the basic but British staple, Fish and chips. Now to put you in the picture, I am an ex head chef, executive head chef, development chef and area catering manager for some national and international companies, including the pub restaurant trade, over the last 50+ years, so I have some knowledge of what I am talking about. I know most of the menu is pre- prepared, cooked and packaged in a factory style kitchen elsewhere, but at least get the few dishes you cook on site right. Deep frier oil should be strained and replaced regularly, basic kitchen protocol. What was served to us was pretty dire, to say the least, photos attached. Because this was my father in laws treat for us this time, we didn't want embarrass him, so refrained from complaining. The experience doesn't end there, the chef,(!!!!), and some kitchen staff then came out of the kitchen to go to the bar...basic food hygiene course...