Bullfinch — Restaurant in Sevenoaks

Just quality....excellent food, attentive service....will defo be back!!!! 14/08/20 - Visited The Bullfinch today to celebrate our anniversary. First time we have ventured out since Covid lockdown. Checked the revised menu online and observed Sirloin steak on the menu. On visiting the restaurant found steak was NOT on the menu to our disappointment. However, we made the best of it and changed our selections. Having selected dessert and awaiting delivery to our table, we were again presented with a dessert menu.. and advised the waitress we had already ordered. Just small things, but they make a difference when out enjoying a meal. Not overly impressed when presented with the condiments....alright, I get Covid....but surely they could be better presented other than small paper sachets for the salt and pepper and mayonnaise in a McDonald's dip sachet. Come on Bullfinch, don't let your standards slip. Will visit again, but really expect better. 04/05/22 Visited the Bullfinch today to celebrate another birthday. Sadly, the experience wasn't great. It appears the menu has been depleted, even some items listed on the menu were not available....we were the only ones eating!!!!! How can they have run out??? We booked a table for six adults, early evening....the waitress guided us to a table away from the main area, which was ok...nice and quiet, but left scratching our heads as the place really was empty. We ordered starters, which were noted. Five minutes later the waitress advises they have none left. Three of us changed our order with one of my family not bothering at all !!!!! Not great !!! Then one of the main courses wasn't available, yet another change!!!! Service wasn't great, on the slow side.. and we waited a considerable time to reorder drinks. Then to top it all....the chap hostng the Wednesday quiz, decides to move chairs and bring in a table, at the same time we were eating!!! Surely, this should have been set up prior to any customers eating???? When the food finally arrived is was enjoyable, but the chaos pre-meal really tainted the visit. Sorry Bullfinch, won't be...

Disappointing Experience

I visited today, and unfortunately, I left feeling disappointed. I ordered the Milanese chicken with fries, and it was clear from the first bite that the fries had been cooked in old, rancid oil, well past safe usage. The taste of old, degraded oil was unmistakable, and hours later, I can still feel the unpleasant heaviness lingering in my stomach.

The Milanese chicken itself was just acceptable, but the accompanying rocket salad was limp, wilted, and sad-looking with three nearly transparent parmisan flakes; hardly what you would expect from a gastropub that presumably prides itself on quality.

There was no salt and pepper at the table.

Small details like that matter when the rest of the experience is underwhelming.

The portion of fries was surprisingly small, adding insult to injury given the poor quality.

Another frustrating point was the service at the till. I stood waiting to order and pay, but although several staff members saw me, no one approached or acknowledged me for quite some time. It’s basic hospitality to ask if a guest needs help, especially when they are clearly standing at the payment point. To be fair, when engaged directly, the staff were generally pleasant and polite, but the overall impression was disorganised and inattentive.

In short, this place did not meet the standard I expect from a quality gastropub. The issues with food quality (rancid oil), the sad presentation, and the inattentive service are serious enough that I would think twice before returning.

I'm honestly tired of these places that flood their menus with fancy, overblown words, selling you a dream of craftsmanship and quality, only to deliver something small, tired, and completely underwhelming. It's all smoke and mirrors. If they put half as much effort into the food as they do into the descriptions, maybe the experience would actually live up to the hype.

The atmosphere is nice and the garden is lovely, apart for the obnoxious smoker near the non-smoking area where we...

We are local residents and my husband frequently visits while our daughter attends local classes. We attended yesterday for the Mother’s Day lunch as a group of 7 and had a very sub par experience.

We had pre booked a table for 7 including paying a deposit. When we arrived we were given a table for 6 (in a largely empty pub as we arrived at 12). When we asked for a larger table they just stuck another chair in the end and squished everyone else up.

Onto the food and drinks… We ordered drinks for the table - all arrived apart from 1 which we had to order 3 times over a 15 minute period for someone to bring over. Waitress took half the food orders before going to get a waiver for my husband to sign when he declared he had a dairy allergy. He had intended to order a starter too but when she came back 10 minutes later all the other starters had been brought out so he had to eat alone- a soup with no spoon served, which we then had to spend 10 minutes getting someone’s attention to bring one over.

The Mother’s Day set menu was £30 for 2 courses and very limited. 3 of us ordered halloumi and it was 3 small pieces , no salad and some chilli jam- I wouldn’t have paid more than £5 for that (if that), which then leaves £25 for a small fish and chips.

The main courses were a mixed bag. One had a pork belly which was so salty it was inedible and served without the advertised apple sauce. When the waitress brought the fish and chips out she declared them the “small fish and chips”- before clarifying this was the full sized main for the menu. It was a handful of chips and 2 small pieces of fish. It was meant to come with peas- none of these were served. The beans serving for the kids meal amounted to 2 teaspoons. Overall, the food was incredibly overpriced for what it was.

It’s a very disappointing experience. We have been many times and would not go...