The Forge, Whitstable

Basic beachside food / drinks shack, with earnest exhortations about not taking alcohol off the (limited) premises comprising a few basic tables with a view of the boats perched on the shingle. That said, there is a pretty good selection of Whitstable Brewery craft beers (e.g. Sundowner west coast pale ale, £3.25, half) plus a couple of ciders on the nine keg taps, and there are at least seven canned beers available too.

Not really a pub, just a beach bar that mainly does food to eat in on the outside terrace (there isn’t an inside) or just sitting on the sea wall. There are tables and chairs on the terrace but these were cramped and noisy. The young staff weren’t terribly polite, but to be fair they did have to deal with a lot of badly behaved grockles. The best bit was the view at sunset, looking over the Swale and out to the Maunsell Forts. No real ale, just craft: Sundowner, Wrack and Ruin, and Kentish Lager. View aside I didn’t really enjoy this visit, but I’d come back for takeaway fish and chips