The Coach & Horses Pub — Restaurant in Wealden

My son, his mother and I chose the The Coach & Horses from a short list of 'country pubs with a garden near East Grinstead', and visited on Father's Day. We apparently obtained the last reservation, having canceled a booking at a different pub after learning that the London - Brighton Bike Race would be disrupting access to the venue for its duration.

The Coach & Horses is truly off the beaten path, located in an older structure on spacious grounds, and, as we were to discover, divided into several cozy rooms. The original plan was to dine outdoors. It was a lovely summer's day, but at the very moment we arrived in the adjoining car park, a dark cloud blotted out the sun, very temporarily as it happened, and a cool breeze swept past. Consequently, once indoors, we followed the barman to our assigned table indoors to a room with three tables in a line against a row of windows.

While The Coach & Horses appears to be more dining- rather than drinking-oriented, the menu is limited, with the offerings being primarily traditional fare. Unlike is so often the case in pubs where ordering at the bar is the norm, a  waitress soon appeared at our table to take drinks orders, and when she returned we indicated we were ready to place our food orders. My ex- and I ordered the Sunday Roast (Beef), whilst my 18 year old son opted for the Fish and Chips.

The food arrived after the usual interval. The dishes were well presented - my photos don't do them justice - and the portions were generous; so generous, in fact, that none of us completely finished our meals. We all had good appetites - I had skipped breakfast, and we only arrived at the pub at a quarter past two. I would rate the food 4.5 rounded up to 5 for purposes of this review. Price were in line with the market. The service was excellent and personable.

There was only one fly in the ointment, so to speak, or rather a family of them that wouldn't leave us alone for our entire meal. All three of us were shooing them away from the time the food arrived, and if I had realized they were going to bother us for the duration of our visit, I would have suggested we move outdoors. I have no idea if this experience was a one-off or not, but could not in good conscience assign a 5 as an overall score on this account. Nevertheless, I wouldn't let it put you off a visit, as everything else about The Coach & Horses met the mark.

P.S. The apple cider recommended by the waitress was excellent. Can't recall the name offhand, unfortunately. It was one of two...

We had a nice meal here on Sunday . It was very busy and we had to book our table , which I think goes for most good restaurants in every case. The car park was full , both front and back , unfortunately a number of dog walkers were parking there to walk their dogs , so we had to park on the grass verge up the road . It was really busy inside and we had our table booked in the second session at 1430 hrs. I have to say in hindsight that it was a lucky decision as it meant we had longer to eat our food. I never like to feel rushed when eating but I won't hang around unnecessarily. There was a wait for the menus and in the meantime we ordered our drinks. The menu is varied, I think the Roasts are their speciality , but three of us went for the Fish and chips. I will say in advance , I like plain cooked tasty food in hood portions. I'm not adverse to sauces and spices but it must be plentiful. I think it nearly reached my expectations, not quite though. A few more Skin on chips , more peas and less batter on a bigger piece of fish that would have achieved another half star. However I would recommend the restaurant and the other meals I saw looked really good. The atmosphere was loud and busy , there was a good feel to the pub and the staff were excellent. We were attended by three females waitresses , they got the drinks order correct and the food order . I day this because that's not always the case in some pubs. The dessert menu was good too. Just enough choices but not overwhelming. The Sticky toffee pudding was fantastic and probably the pub's most popular dish. The rice pudding was excellent too , my wife's favourite. No photos this time as even I felt too self conscious to take them. To sum up , a very good experience and I...

Honestly...one of the best pub restaurants I have ever visited!

We chose to eat here as it was recommended via Alistair Sawday, and it did not disappoint.

The food, atmosphere, hygiene and service were all 5* when we visited last night.

We sat inside, by candlelight, and ordered 2 starters (the Rye smoked mackerel with buttercream sauce and the heritage tomato salad) and 2 mains (the beef burger with fries and the hake with toasted ciabatta and garden peas). It was truly exquisite! We both cleaned our plates (and we don't usually do that!).

My only mild criticism is that I didn't realise the hake dish would include bacon lardons - they certainly added to the flavour, but as an ethical pescatarian, this could have ruined the meal for me (I didn't allow it to, but 10 years ago when I was more strict it may have upset me). I may have simply missed this ingredient when reading the menu, and I didn't make the waiting staff aware of my dietary preferences, so I accept this was my fault and not theirs. It's just something for other pescatarians reading this review to be aware of. I have absolute confidence that they would prepare the hake dish without the bacon lardons if you asked. As for me....my boyfriend gleefully took them from my plate and demolished them himself!

We also enjoyed a medium glass of wine each - my boyfriend (who is very particular) loved the tempranillo and I had their Italian pinot grigio. Our entire meal would have been less than £60, but with the current government incentive scheme to eat in, it came to less than £40!! We tipped generously as they truly deserved it.

We will 100% be returning and can't advocate...