The Old Rectory — Restaurant in Tonbridge and Malling

Hmm, this visit was a mixed bag... Admittedly, we arrived at 6pm on a Sunday, but they're open until 10.30pm, so I'm not sure that explains the issues we had. Between the eight of us we placed two food orders, one through the Green King app and one at the bar. Although it wasn't that busy, our meals took quite a while to turn up and then the meals ordered together didn't turn up together, leaving people waiting while others got on with their meals. It was a case of having to, as the food wasn't that hot, even though our waiter was holding the plates with a cloth. One item was totally the wrong thing, as it was input incorrectly by the staff member at the bar, so there was a further delay waiting for the replacement. Another, when it did turn up, was missing the side dish ordered with it, then two were delivered, once it had been pointed out. Then there were the inconsistencies between identical meals, for example, some of the "Signature Fish & Chips" had buttered bread, some had unbuttered bread. Also, all dishes which were listed as having onion rings didn't have any and no explanation, apology, suggestion of a replacement or offer of a refund/discount were forthcoming. The fact they had run out was only mentioned when their lack was queried by us. There was a problem with my latte,.as they had run out of milk. I was happy to have a black coffee, but one of the staff, possibly a manager, offered to go across the road and buy some from the convenience store. It's a shame they didn't pick up some onions rings while they were there... When desserts were ordered through the app, I went to the bar to request a different flavour ice-cream on the "Chocolate Mocha Tart", not a problem as the bar staff member went and told the kitchen immediately. The problem was this dish was then served immediately and the others on the order took a long time to arrive and the two "Triple Chocolate Brownies" were replaced with two "Chocolate Fudge Cakes". Then, another portion of "Chocolate Mocha Tart", with the original ice-cream option turned up... They did let us keep this, "as a gesture". Don't get me wrong, it wasn't all bad, the venue is good, it was clean, calm and pleasant, the staff were friendly and helpful and the food was, generally, very tasty, if a little colder...

I had booked for a Sunday Roast for two of us. On arrival the lovely hostess welcomed us and showed us to our table. My husband placed his order at the bar. The barman taking the order was very friendly. We observed every patron being served at their tables, with a 'is there anything else you need' followed by a short visit a while after asking is 'everything okay'. Sometimes on more than one occasion. So a very attentive service. It started to go wrong when I politely asked an older member of staff (a woman about my age sixty-ish with blonde hair) if she could check how much longer our meal might be (having been there 45 minutes). She went to check and came back with our meals, telling us there was a 30 minute wait. When I responded 'we weren't informed of that, she told me 'there's a sign by the bar'. She didn't ask if there was anything else we wanted, and walked away. She also didn't come back until we were nearly finished and that was only to serve the lovely couple at the next table, asking if they 'were okay?'. Having caught our eye, she then asked us. I said that we hadn't been given Yorkshires as per the menu or asked about anything we might have needed, like horseradish sauce. I said maybe it was because she was busy. She said she was. She offered to get some Yorkshires but we stated we had nearly finished, so I said 'no thankyou' to which she responded 'okay, sorry about that' and turned her back on us and proceeded to talk to couple next door. They commented after that she was rude and dismissive of us following our polite enquiries and said to us that they would not be returning again either. The couple the other side had noted her rudeness too. As we left, the hostess who had greeted us, wished us a lovely afternoon. It is such a shame that the lady that served us, let your establishment down, because the ambience, the other staff and the food...

So we have been going on and off to the old rectory for the past 4 years. As said by others, it really is a magnificent building and does have a nice atmosphere. What really does let this place down is the service and the food. There has been a change of management and there have been some improvements. You can have a great meal and great service, which is also reflected in some of the reviews. The problem is that this is very inconsistent and for every great meal, you are going to get a few mediocre ones.

We did attend for dinner tonight and our drink order was taken at the table by a very polite waitress. After 30 minutes we still had not received our drinks. We overheard the staff informing another table that there was a one hour wait for food due to a shortage of staff. This does happen and is unavoidable which I understand. However, it would have been good to known this when we sat down and we also booked the table late in the afternoon. They would have known at that time about the staff shortage and shouldn’t have taken the booking. Also informing us upon arrival would have allowed us to make an informed choice and saved us wasting half an hour as we were hungry. Two other tables tables left before ordering as they were unhappy with the wait time/service and we decided to leave as well.

Every now and then we do go to the Old Rectory and are reminded of the reasons why we stopped going. We will probably be back, but not for sometime. It seems such a shame, but there are better options available locally (within the same chain) such as Wealden Hall...