The Artichoke, Canterbury

Pub SignMan left this review about The Artichoke

The closest pub to Chartham station, this is a pleasant, two bar pub with a nice timbered interior boasting plenty of old exposed brickwork and traditional rural pub décor. The left-hand room has a bit of a Public Bar feel to it, with the main servery along the rear wall behind a nice dark wood counter with a plain bar back decorated with various blackboards listing cocktails and other such drink options. There’s a dartboard in one corner and a tidy fireplace by the front door, which I imagine could make this a cosy spot on a cold Winter’s day. A modest amount of seating can be found in here, mainly to the front and left, but the majority of the pub’s seating options are through the door to the right-hand room – a more expansive dining-style area with lots of tables and chairs, including one table that appears to be an old well with a glass top. We visited on a warm Spring afternoon and took advantage of the pub’s small grassy beer garden which offered limited picnic bench seating and had a huge version of the pub’s menu printed on a side wall. The menu was newly launched on the day of our visit and, perhaps rather over-ambitiously, the pub was also catering an event at a neighbouring venue, so there were insanely long wait times for the food, with a lot of unhappy, hungry customers in the garden watching plates of food being carted over to the nearby venue with no sign of their own meals. I think we can chalk that up as a one-off, but it did stop us from ordering food despite the new menu sounding very good.
There are three handpulls on the bar, but only one was in operation during this visit, dispensing Shepherd Neame Master Brew. The bar staff were pretty hard working, clearly feeling the strain of the mad food situation, and they served up a decent pint of the Master Brew which went down well in the sunny beer garden after walking out here from Canterbury.
This felt like a pleasant enough country pub with a nice traditional layout and friendly service. I definitely didn’t see the place at its best, as the kitchen meltdown had a big knock-on effect and clouded our experience of the place. The limited beer range wasn’t much to get excited about either, but overall I came away with a generally favourable impression and wouldn’t want to deter others from giving it a shot.

Date of visit – 30th April 2023

On 29^th November 2023 - rating: 6
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