The Honest Miller, Ashford

A traditional white weatherboarded pub in a remote village at the foot of the North Downs. I’d been here a few times early in my beerdrinking career, as it was a destination pub. Unfortunately, a fire and the demise of Fremlin’s put paid to all that. To the casual eye, the subsequent reconstruction seems pretty perfect, though I can’t really recall the original layout. The bar faces one on entering, with a couple of drinking and dining areas, together with a longer space to one side.A decent fireplace, some rustic decorations, hops above the bar. Food seems to be an important part of things here, though I didn’t partake on this lunchtime visit. Three beers on handpump: Harvey’s Sussex Best Bitter, Sharp’s Doombar and Butcombe Bitter, which was, surprisingly, new to me:a decent malt led saloon bar stalwart. Outside, a fair sized garden, complete with an assortment of animals. Dog and walker friendly.

Traditional-looking village pub, given something of an interior makeover recently which somehow seems a bit too organised. Pleasant beer garden. Two real ales offered, and the Sharps Doom Bar went down well.

Popped back - the landlord remembered us from our visit of five months ago. Now has three ales on, and the food also is top notch. And the service is friendly, welcoming. It's the sort of place you want to go back to. Were this a food-reviewing web site, we'd be talking 11/10. But with only three ales, I can't in all honesty go over 8/10. 7 March 2009 Now under new management. The landlord seems to be quite a character, and couldn't be more welcoming. A party of seven of us had a smashing meal today. The service was a tad slow - but the food is clearly home made and worth the wait. It's a village pub and so has a "locals" element, but we were made very welcome. There's a pool table, but it lacks the "youth club" feel that so many pub pool tables have. Two ales were on - Doom Bar is a regular. Today's guest was Pride of Pendle - the landlord takes pride in rotating his selection of guest ales. This is somewhere I shall be adding to my list of places to recommend.