The White Swan — Restaurant in Sevenoaks

I have just got back from an unfortunately VERY disappointing meal here today. I was recommended this place by a friend who said the food was great, and as it is so local to me we thought we would try. However, we went in and first off the only menu was a Sunday one which just offered various meats with standard roast accompaniments, no matter o chose a steak as it said it came with chips and onion rings. My first mistake. Secondly we ordered some bread and olive oil and balsamic dip. And a lamb shank. It took 53 minutes for the kitchen to send out our order and we didn’t even get the bread and olive oil to pick on. We had to ask a very rushed looking waitress how long table 59 would be, and could we at least have our bread and dip. She went in and came out another 5 minutes later with two plates one with bread and oil and another with some kind of pate on it. I said straight away we hadn’t ordered it so she took it away and then reappeared 5 minutes later carrying the same plate and saying that we had in fact paid for it so it was ours. No refund or apology was offered so I graciously said ok, we will try it. It was AWFUL, really warm pate and the bread was dry. Awful. Now onto the mains; My steak turned up with peas which I did not order. It was also bland and unseasoned and was brought dry with no sauce options or anything. I ate a few mouthfuls and ate 5 chips and I honestly couldn’t eat anymore as it was just tasteless and chewy. The lamb shank was ok, the gravy with it had no flavour at all and there was no salt or pepper offered or on the table at all 🤷🏽‍♀️. We waited another 35 mins and no one came over to check or ask us if everything was ok. In the end. We got so fed up we left. I am incredibly disappointed, I never moan or put up reviews but I actually feel seriously unhappy that a meal for two cost me £65 in a mediocre setting and was flavourless. That combined with being charged for a starter neither of us would ever order in a million years and the fact we had to clear our own table and dust ash off of it gave me an experience I’m massively unhappy about. For a restaurant with apparent 4 stars online it was mediocre at best. And that is only because the lamb shank and a few mushrooms on my plate were edible and I was hungry!

I really would like to hear back from someone, and for you to morally do the right thing and have my ‘unordered’ starter refunded back to me at some point. I have no issue in returning in the future however I would like some assurance that the whole experience will be far better and that all the issues here are addressed to give me an incentive to...

The most disappointed we’ve ever been. For my son’s 9th birthday we looked for a family friendly pub for 11 of us on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. We found this pub on google and was drawn to the great kids play area! Being 40 mins away wasn’t an issue and we were prepared to make the trip as it looked perfect for my son. Initially booking a table seemed impossible and countless calls remained unanswered. Eventually I found the Facebook page with a WhatsApp number and called. We asked to book a table for 11 to be seated in the garden and was asked if we’d be having the roast..which was an absolute certain! Table booked. Happy days. On the day we arrived to find a bit of a neglected looking play area, a half deflated bouncy castle and soaking wet and muddy unusable ball play area sort of thing! My kids didn’t want to use it as it looked so dirty and they were in reasonably smart clothes for the occasion. We went in and said we had a booking and was told to just find a table outside. Which was just picnic benches and not actually any tables suitable for a party of 11 to eat at. So we sat inside. Straight away the tables were ridiculously sticky!! One even had arm hairs stuck to it which was immediately off putting to say the least! We went to the bar to get drinks and order our food, to then be told roasts aren’t available as they’re short staffed with only 1 chef. Rather annoyed we went back to the table to look at the menus. Eventually we all made our choices and went back to the bar to order….only this time to be told the kitchen isn’t taking orders as they’re again too busy!!! Absolutely fuming we decided enough was enough and went outside to google a better place to go and enjoy a birthday meal for my son at. Even this wasn’t possible!! We were absolutely bombarded by wasps!! Clearly there was an infestation somewhere and customers were all gathering there things to leave or go inside as it wasn’t possible to stay outside. Numerous half empty beer glasses on the tables certainly wasn’t helping as they were full of wasps! A quick toilet trip before leaving by the wife left a lovely memory as she was greeted in the cubicle by a large unflushed number 2 drowning in stale urine which looked as if it was left 2 weeks previous. We made a hasty escape to the cars and eventually headed back 40mins to sittingbourne to a local pub which catered for us above and beyond as we’d hoped this pub would have. This pub is in a dyer state of neglect and I most certainly would never be returning or recommending this place to anyone ever!! Totally wasted our time, and left a family of 11 bitterly...

A real mixed bag. Food = excellent Drinks selection = fine Service = inadequate Booked a table through the website and received a confirmation email but they didn’t have a record of it when we turned up - not the end of the world as we managed to get a table.

Was waiting for a menu for 15 minutes and eventually had to ask for it. Was asked for drinks order pretty quickly but they took 40 minutes to arrive. Didn’t have apple juice so got orange juice (can live with that), beer was good but hot chocolate was gritty with white bits floating on top. Ordered food and 10 mins after ordering, someone else came to tell us they didn’t have the beef short rib pizza so had to choose something else - again, not the end of the world but would’ve been nice to know at the point of order.

Food: Burger with halloumi - excellent Spicy chicken pizza - amazing Spicy chicken wings - very good Onion rings - very good Kids Hawaiian pizza - excellent

Once we’d finished the food, we asked for a box to take my daughter’s leftover pizza away. Asked three different people and after 40 minutes it still hadn’t turned up so just wrapped it in napkins to take home. Also asked for the ice cream which came with the kids meal. Asked a couple of times where it was but again, after 40 minutes gave up waiting. A real shame the service doesn’t match the quality of the food otherwise review would’ve been 5 stars without question. Great kids play area which kept a three year old entertained for the two hours...