The Eagle Tavern, Rochester

Plainly furnished single-bar pub, with bare boards and limited decor in an 'ale house' style. Rear patio beer garden under the castle walls. Regular live music advertised. Five handpumps, offering Doom Bar, Harveys, Ghost Ship, Tribute and Proper Job (£3.30) on my latest visit. Overall, one of the better options in Rochester's High Street.

The Eagle Tavern is a high street pub in Rochester that opens daily at noon and closes at 21:00 on Mondays, 23:00 Tuesdays through to Thursdays, Midnight Fridays and Saturdays and 20:00 on Sundays. The interior is open plan and writing on the wall boasts that this is Rochester’s premier live music venue. There was no live music during my recent Monday evening visit, but a radio station complete with adverts was playing in the background. I counted three plasma screens that were all switched off and I didn’t see any advertisements for live sport. At the rear of the pub is a beer garden with a smoking area and a decked seating area. Standard draught products are available from the bar that also supports five hand pumps. These were drawing Young’s London Gold, Sharp’s Doom Bar, St Austell’s Tribute, Well’s Bombardier and Adnam’s Broadside. I found the service to be friendly and the handful of locals at the bar all seemed harmless enough. I wouldn’t have a problem if I found myself in here again.

The Eagle does its best to please a varied clientele. There are the pre-clubbers at the weekend, the jazz set, daytime workers, and many others at different times. On a recent visit to the midweek jam night, I found the landlord (?) to be very knowledgeable about his beers and ciders, and willing to discuss them. One of the better pubs in the dismal Rochester scene.

The Eagle has improved substantially since Roger's visit. There have been no structural changes, although it now has 5 ales on. I had a pint of something claiming to be Hobgoblin, which didn't taste like Hobgoblin and was much too dark, but it was a decent enough pint of whatever it really was. Wooden floorboards and furniture give the pub a little character, as do the labyrinthine basement passages one needs to navigate to find the lavatories. A raised area in the corner of the bar is used by regular live music acts, including jazz bands. The staff are a little amateurish, good food is on offer and the pub has now earned a place in GBG, so it's now worth lingering a little longer than before and I would definitely include it in a city crawl.