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From the
https://www.kentonline.co.uk By Secret Drinker, 27 January 2020.
Secret Drinker reviews the Royal Oak and the Queen’s Inn, Hawkhurst, Cranbrook.
I ended up doing a head-to-head this week after visiting two pubs just a
stone’s throw apart in Hawkhurst, near Cranbrook.
Anyone stepping into the Royal Oak and the Queen’s Inn will be struck by
the similarities between these two sizeable village boozers.
They both offer rooms for those seeking a sleepover, they both have
trendy, bleached beams and are furnished with high-backed wing chairs.
The bar staff in both are dressed head-to-toe in black, they both have
open fireplaces, they offer many of the same drinks, both smell of food
as you walk in and even their addresses only differ by a single postcode
letter.
So, you might think there’s not much to choose between them – you might
think that, but you’d be very, very wrong. One is a delight, the other
as dull as dishwater.
The Royal Oak Country Pub & Carvery, to give it its full title, had
absolutely no life about it and felt like the lobby of a quiet Premier
Inn.
The atmosphere was as flat as the Harvey’s Sussex Best and the false log
walls at both ends just added to the boring sterility.
The switched off staff stood refusing to chat to anyone but themselves –
the only time they looked animated was when they went outside for a fag
in the front car park.
Despite the carvery, to the left of the front door, the overpowering
aroma was burnt fat and the open fire grate, with stacks of logs, showed
no sign of having been lit in recent times and just added to the frosty
atmosphere.
However, take a short stroll along Rye Road and you will come across the
well-lit "Queen’s Inn."
At the Royal Oak there is a small entrance porch leading into the pub
from its car park at the front.
The toilets, for example, were clean and fresh at both pubs, but both
the ladies and the gents at the Oak are long overdue for an upgrade.
With stripped beams, wing-backed chairs and tasteful lighting the Royal
Oak’s bar could be a lovely place to relax.
In the Oak people sat in corners quietly and spoke only in hushed tones,
almost as if they were afraid to be overhead. The only exception was a
woman sitting at the bar drinking pints of Kronenbourg concentrating
constantly on her mobile phone.
I’d been in a full 15 minutes before I realised the child in school
uniform playing quietly at the table behind her was her daughter.
Sadly, from what I witnessed, the only time she acknowledged her
daughter’s presence was to shout at her unnecessarily and tell her she
would be unloading six bags of shopping when they got home.
Many of the interesting features at the Royal Oak have been retained and
well maintained, but this is a pub which, with the right staff and
customer service, could be so much better.
Hardly anyone was eating in the Oak, although looking through the shared
corner window that led to Chinese takeaway next door it was doing a
great trade.
Although the "Queen’s" is undoubtedly more cosy and welcoming, the
"Oak,"
with hops hanging off its beams and comfortable high-backed chairs could
be a decent pub.
The ladies toilet in The Queen's not only boasts trendy basins and a
choice of hand cream, but also the opportunity to sit awhile and chill
out.
Sadly it is the staff who really let it down, they’d much rather be
talking to each other, checking mobiles or smoking than looking after
customers.
Contrast this to the "Queens" where the big, bearded fellow behind the
bar, could not have been more welcoming or attentive.
Geographically speaking these Hawkhurst inns are cheek by jowl, but
they’re miles apart when judged on pub appeal.
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