The Britannia, Rochester

Now residential.

I visited the Britannia one afternoon the week before Christmas and found a compact pub that was busy with small groups having their Christmas party dinners. I found the staff to be friendly and managed to source one of the stools that line the small bar. Just behind the bar is an extra small seating are and there is a patio garden up some steps at the rear.The bar is stocked with standard draught alongside Cobra and Amstel that is only available by the schooner. The three hand pumps were drawing Seafarers, Caledonian Elf Esteem and Goacher’s Light Ale. There was no music playing and there is no television. I quite liked it in here and would have no problem returning if passing.

This smart, compact pub is a five minute walk from Rochester train station in the opposite direction to the town centre. The interior struck me as a British take on a Dutch/Belgian bar, with smart carpets instead of bare floorboards. There are half panelled walls and two sides of the pub have large, partially obscured windows bearing the pub's name, in front of which are attractive brass rails with integral lamps. There are two rooms, with the front room housing the bar in the rear left corner and decorated with various pictures of ships and a large clock mounted on an intricately carved wooden backboard. The rear room is essentially a small, mirror-lined snug with very limited space and minimal seating. A door at the rear, beyond the toilets, gives access to a paved garden area. I was the only customer during my weekday afternoon visit and was treated to the sound of Gold Radio, which churned out all the 'classics' throughout my stay. There were three hand pumps, each offering a Kentish brew - Gadds No 7 (£3.00) and Rye Pale and Goachers Fine Light. My pint of Gadds was okay, if not on top form, and was served to me by a friendly barman who kept himself busy the whole time I was there, despite the lack of other customers. As I was approaching the pub, a group of, presumably local, office workers were emptying out and I figured that such young professionals would be the pub's target market, but they have struck a nice balance and it's fair to say that the traditionalist would probably feel comfortable enough here as well. A good alternative to some of Rochester's more 'spit and sawdust' ale houses.

This early 19th century pub was originally called the Ordnance Arms until adopting its current title in the 1980’s which is, as others have found, a little offputting to general pub goers. The corner entrance has a few steps up into a lobby in the main bar which consists of a smallish single L shaped room with a small snug at the rear. The décor is neat and tidy with lots of marble effect paintwork, venetian blinds, brass rails, large clock, shallow arches, small marble top tables with chunky candles and a chain of blue fairy lights around the ceiling edges. Background piped radio was churning out a dose of 60’s/70’s chart hits and, on the whole, the place had a pleasant if slightly sterile but safe ambience. The pub is widely noted for its ales although only 3 hand pumps were evident (Bombardier, Goachers Fine Light Ale and Old Dairy Red Top). They are part of the LocAle scheme although I wasn’t too keen on the Goachers and can’t be certain whether it was the beer or the pub but given the pub’s reputation I would hint at the former. As for the Café part of the title, I didn’t get the impression that the food plays a particularly big role as I saw no menus and there was a conspicuous absence of daily specials blackboards giving any hint of what food they do or when they do it. Situated just a few minutes walk from the railway station going away from the town, it isn’t an obvious draw for visitors to the city but pub enthusiasts will certainly find some rewards by disregarding the pretentions of the pub name and taking a minor detour to pay it a visit.