The Butcher's Block Pub — Restaurant in Tonbridge and Malling

My wife and I took the opportunity to visit The Butchers Block this week during the daytime after Easter on a well deserved day off without the kids.

We decided to start healthy by going for a walk for a couple of hours in Shorne Wood Country Park and work up an appetite, which I'm glad we did! We arrived at the pub at 12:00 and there was already an 8 party group ordering their food and drinks at the bar.

We were welcomed and greeted and we waited while the nice lady served the larger party, giving us a couple of menus to look through, and allowing us time to decide on mains while we chose our drinks.

The food options were amazing. We had seen most of the menu on the website and realised that they offered a lovely range of food. My mind, however was already made up before I got in the door... I was there for the steak!

We were seated at a two person table by the window, which had lots of space on it, so none of this cramming you in on a postage stamp and having to play plate Jenga!!

We were advised on the daily specials and I chose the scotch eggs with black pudding on piccalilli while my wife had the prawns. Both of these were a lovely starter and set the bar for the rest of our meal.

For mains my wife chose the fillet and I chose a 16oz rib eye which were both amazing... no gristle or chewy bits, and extremely nice cuts! For sides we went with the triple fried fries and onion rings, which were fresh crunchy and tasty. I had to leave some of the rings though, because I nailed all the steak!!!

My wife chose dessert having previously chosen a sensible main meal... for some reason I wasn't hungry by this point!! She went with the millionaires short bread and salted caramel, which I did have a little taste of. It was yet again lovely...

I honestly couldn't fault any of the meal or experience, and cannot wait to come back. Thanks to all involved, from the butcher to the chef to the table staff, thanks for making such a lovely first impression... we will we back. I might have to wear tracksuit bottoms though, or something with at least an elastic waist...

Poor customer service. An issue with the online booking system meant my booking came through with no time, I had booked 2 weeks in advance for an occasion. No call to query and then the manager was unable to assist in offering any alternative option other than another day, unhelpful when its for an occasion. Extremely disappointed so will not be taking my custom there in the future or recommending to anyone.

Response to owners comment below;

You were clearly not informed of the correct details by your manager as there are many errors in your below response, so let’s clarify.

Firstly, I had entered my card details on the booking form, you received my booking for the day in question although no time was showing on the booking form so my table had not been reserved in the restaurant. This is what your staff member advised on the phone, hence my question as to why I did not receive a call from you to query this? Of course I had selected a time when booking, I just couldn’t remember the time I had chosen. I have just reviewed your online booking form and it doesn’t allow you to move forward without a time being selected………

I tried calling numerous times on the day, from 12pm, to confirm the time of the booking for the evening but the line diverted to the answerphone. That’s fine, it was a Saturday so appreciated your staff would be busy in the restaurant. However to be clear, I did not leave it until 2 hours before to try confirming the time.

Who advised you I continuously spoke over them??? The manager that you questioned as to why you had received a bad review for poor customer service… I can assure you this was not the case and would encourage you to listen to the call if you have this facility to confirm. This will bring to light the poor attitude and unhelpful responses I received from your manager.

I would recommend you are sure of the facts before providing such a dismissive response. My suggestion would be to also review your online booking system to understand how this can be improved going forward so there is no reoccurrence of...

First time I'd ever been here and was very pleasantly surprised. Apparently it's actually appropriately named...... I've been told that the chef either undertakes the entire butchering process for the meat on offer, or was formerly a master butcher.... I'm not quite sure which. Sorry! Having said all that......... I had a beautiful lunch here with my hubby and daughter! As it was a lovely day, weather wise, we chose to sit outside. The patio area was nicely laid out with the car park just behind. At the end of the car park is a small grassed area with additional wooden picnic tables and beyond lies a background of beautiful countryside scenery. I chose the 4 cheese macaroni, which arrived sizzling hot in a skillet and accompanied with a garlic bread side dish. Although delicious, it was way too much for me.... so you need to ensure you're absolutely starving if you expect to finish it! My husband had the Beef, ale and blue cheese pie, which was accompanied with the LARGEST and crispiest chips I've seen! It's so freshly made that he had the option of excluding the blue cheese.... which he didn't! Even though I'm personally not a fan of ale, I had a taster and actually really liked it! For me, the element of the blue cheese actually mellowed the taste of the ale. So, for the first time ever, I actually liked it! My daughter had the Steak ciabatta. The steak looked amazing. No gristle, or fat... just pure, tender steak The staff were amazingly friendly, helpful and efficient. ❤️ The food was beautifully cooked and presented. The food here are definitely NOT "microwave quickies" ! Everything was freshly made and cooked, so expect to wait for an appropriate amount of time. It was definitely worth...