Smugglers' Alehouse, New Romney

Official site of Smugglers' Alehouse - www.smugglersalehouse.co.uk

This is an archetypal micropub. It's a shop conversion on the fairly busy New Romney High Street; has a trio of tall tables/tall stools and just a couple of normal tables and chairs; and obviously has no music, TVs or fruit machines. Indeed the use of electronic devices is banned with those flouting the rules invited to donate a quid to charity. Telephone calls have to be taken outside of course. There was a rack of newspapers by the door. So far, so good. There were three ales on when I visited early on Tuesday evening - Darkstar Partridge (£3.10 a pint); Kent Brewery KGB (£3.20); and Church Brewery Black IPA (£2.50). As we walked in the landlady was rubbing out the price of the Black IPA - which we thought was an immediate price rise! - but I guess she must have reduced it to £2.50 a pint, which is remarkably good value. The ales were on stillage in a back room, which we ordered from the landlady, who brought them over to our table. I don't know whether that level of service extends to when the place is busy.I didn't see any sign of food. This is a typical micropub. If you like the concept then there's no reason why you wouldn't like this one. My companion and I certainly liked it. The beer quality was excellent as weel as being great value, and in order to encourage a local business to succeed we obviously had a couple of pints before moving on.