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Submitted on Sunday, 25^th August 2024
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The Royal Oak, Dartford

57 Spital Street
Dartford
DA1 2DX

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Served areas

Dartford Central

Reviews of The Royal Oak (Average Rating: 6½ of 10) Add Review see review guidelines

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Royal Oak

Basic Shepherd Neame pub, traditional in external appearance but the front bar and side / rear seating areas have been given quite a modern (if plain) makeover fairly recently. Sadly, no real ale served from the bank of five handpumps these days, so resorted to a keg Bear Island pale ale (overpriced at £5.30) for my brief stop. Only positives: some decent reggae / ska tunes being played, and a friendly landlord.

On 22^nd December 2022 - rating: 5
[User has posted 8679 recommendations about 8678 pubs]

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Alan Winfield left this review about The Royal Oak

The Royal Oak is a nice looking pub that is on the edge of the town centre.
Once inside there is a single room with the bar facing,the floor is bare boarded,there are normal tables and chairs and wood backed bench seating to the front and settees on front left side,there is a pool table down two steps to the rear left,the TVs were showing sky sports.
The pub is a Shepherd Neame tied house,so i was well pleased,there were three real ales on,i had a drink of Shepherd Neame Master Brew which went down a treat,the other Shepherd Neame beers were Whistable Bay and Spitfire.
A very pleasant pub to have a drink in.

Pub visited 22/10/2016

On 2^nd January 2017 - rating: 7
[User has posted 6113 recommendations about 6113 pubs]

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Roger Button left this review about The Royal Oak

Dating from the late 17th Century, the Royal Oak is one of the oldest pubs in town and certainly one of the better pubs in town. An early 90’s refurbishment restored much of its old character and there are plenty of original features on show. A few of the patterned windows survive and inside is an original 2 sided fireplace that was opeoend up during the restoration. The ceiling is precariously propped up by a couple of thin pillars and much of the brickwork has been exposed. The main bar has bare floorboards, soldin seating and a few barrels doubling up as tables for the vertical drinkers. The sunken rear section has a tiled floor, a fine brick arched fireplace (no longer used) and a dart board. There are a couple of large flat screen TVs and a couple of smaller one and live sport is a regular feature. The music can be a bit intrusive but will appeal to rock fans.

On the beer side of things there are 5 hand pumps with a decent range of Sheps beers and usually decent quality but getting a bit on the pricey side. The customer base generally comes from a pool of loyal regulars and is generally a hassle free pub devoid of the Saturday Night meat brains. Whilst it rarely gets too crowded, there is always a seat to be found although you may have to share it with the cat. There is also a small beer patio to the rear. Overall this is one of the more recommended pubs of my home town.

On 23^rd May 2010 - rating: 7
[User has posted 1239 recommendations about 1233 pubs]

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