Fuggles Beer Cafe, Tonbridge

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This is a very nicely presented pub and cafe at the top end of town, not too far from the castle. The place comes across as a mix between a relaxed cafe bar, craft beer emporium and popular local’s boozer, helping it to draw a good range of customers if our Sunday afternoon visit was anything to go by. The single room interior is bare boarded, with a mix of dark painted and exposed brick walls. The left side has been covered in what appeared to be blackboard paint, with an intricate drawing and some nice brewery artwork across it. Meanwhile, over to the right there is a bare brick wall with some shelves full of glassware, bottles and cans, several blackboards detailing upcoming events and some modern art and enamel brewery signs to add some colour. The bar appears midway along the right-hand wall and has a curved counter and high shelved bar back with the keg taps along a central unit. A couple of nice padded bench booths stand under the large front windows, with simple tables and chairs through the bulk of the room and a drinking ledge with high stools to the left. More breweriana and random bits of art can be found further into the room and a set of shelves have been stacked with board games. The ceiling is a nice feature, boasting some large decorative tiles suspended in panels of varying sizes. A lounge jazz soundtrack played quite loudly on our post-lunch visit and we noted that food was available in the form of toasted sandwiches and bar snacks. Unusually, the pub was still operating a table service only policy, so we were invited to find a free table and peruse the beer menus before someone came and took our order. This was quite handy, as they have a wide selection, including three cask ales - Deya Since Records Began (£4.80), Tonbridge Coppernob and Macintosh Best Bitter. I took a pint of the former, which was in excellent shape and a very tasty drop. There were also no less than fourteen craft keg beers plus one non alcoholic option and three ciders. The keg brews were from British small batch producers such as Gun, Elusive, Vault City, Pollys Brew Co and Kernel plus a few from further afield such as Pohjala, Stiegl and De La Senne. My other half, who is not normally one to opt for a beer, couldn’t resist the lure of the New Bristol Salted Caramel Cider Toffee Imperial Stout - a 10% abv monster that was every bit as delicious as it was sickly. I really loved the sister pub to this place, in Tunbridge Wells, and was worried that this branch might not live up to those expectations, but I thought this was just as good, if not better. It’s a welcoming, tidy, well thought out bar with a great selection of well kept beers and good, knowledgeable service and it would be my first port of call the next time I’m back in Tonbridge.