Grasshopper on the Green, Westerham

Blessed with an idyllic location opposite Westerham’s small village green, this is a cosy two bar pub that has retained a bit of a rural feel. The pub comprises two roughly equal rooms either side of a centrally positioned servery, connected down the right-hand side. The bar has a plain tongue and groove panelled counter front and pleasant dark wood bar back topped with several blackboards detailing various food and drink options. Seating is a mix of banquettes and basic chairs, all around the perimeter, broken only by a stone fireplace to one side. The rear bar offers a few more tables but has a slightly more basic feel to it and was a lot darker due to the limited windows at this end of the building. The walls have been decorated with a few old photos and paintings, but these are drowned out by promotional bits and bobs, plus a fair bit of England flag bunting from the summer’s big football tournament. A door to the rear right leads out to a driveway which looks like it would have led to the old stable block, but now takes you past a couple of new houses, to a small car park and a beer garden which had a few picnic benches but wasn’t all that great, and it was quite the trek having to go back and forth to the bar from here. More clued-up customers had taken their beer out to the public benches on the green out the front, although whether this is encouraged by the pub, I can’t be sure. I believe they also have a first-floor dining room with quite a bit of formal seating, but I didn’t get to explore on this occasion. Sadly, the handpulls were all unclipped when we arrived, and with no interesting craft keg options either, I ended up trying a pint of Cruzcampo, which was wholly underwhelming, but at least went down well enough on a hot summer’s afternoon. There were quite a few people milling about the pub when we arrived, and the staff seemed friendly enough to a bunch of unfamiliar faces. I really wanted to like this place, which has a great location and the potential to be a real destination pub. However, I was let down by the lack of cask ale and underwhelmed by a dated interior that was cluttered with promotional tat. If they can get some decent beer on the bar, this is still well worth a look when passing through town, especially now that Westerham’s micropub has closed, but I wouldn’t go out of my way in its current guise. Date of visit – 27th July 2024

Official site of Grasshopper on the Green - grasshopperongreen.com

Official site of Grasshopper on the Green - grasshopperongreen.com

Attractive old pub, situated in a fine position as the name would suggest. Retains three separate bars, one small and traditional, another slightly larger but plainer, and more of a lounge / dining room further back. Also has several sunny tables at the front and a rear beer garden. Four real ales available from a total of six oddly unclipped handpumps: Shepherd Neame's Whitstable Bay Pale, Knowle Spring from Timothy Taylor, Greene King's celebratory Jubilee and the local Gresham Hopper from Titsey (at tourist prices, £5.00).