The Kings Head, Bexley

Historic weatherboarded pub with its age indicated by a low wood-beamed ceiling all around the central servery. It must have been remodelled at some stage, with an opened-out room further back to the right and additional seating area (with a rear dining room beyond) on the other side, but all still appears very traditional. Patio area out front. Greene King IPA, Abbot and Old Golden Hen (£3.70) available from the two banks of three handpumps on opposite sides of the bar.

This seems to be a destination pub, although it can't be for the beer. Inside it's got all the attributes of a traditional country pub, including a dangerously low ceiling, black ceiling beams adorned with horse brasses, black beams on the bar counter front and walls, massive wooden posts, rough plastered walls, and a massive brick built fireplace at the back of the main room on the right. Even the door between the kitchen and the main room is a massive iron-studded affair. Furnishings are mainly settles, small round stools, normal tables and chairs, and with a couple of large sofas in front of the large fireplace. The country pub look seems to me to be the real deal, but if not then someone has done a great job of making it look that way. The pub stretches back to the left of the servery into more drinking areas, and with a couple more fireplaces. When you think you've reached the end of the pub you can push open the glazed and unsigned door to enter another comfortable lounge with its own bar counter. It looks like the sort of room that would be used for private functions. There's a Greene King sign outside tucked away to the left of the pub, so it's no surprise that the ales on were GK IPA, Old Speckled Hen, and Abbot. They were doing a good trade in lunches when I was in on Saturday afternoon. Sarnies cost between £4.50 and £5.50. I had a roast beef sarny for a fiver, which was good quality and came with some salad, coleslaw and a few crisps. The more substantial stuff costs a bit more - e.g. 3 x Cumberland sausages, mash and gravy is £7. That all seems quite reasonable to me. This is a cracking little pub, although I certainly wouldn't recommend it for the beer alone. I would give it a higher rating if it did something other than Greene King ales, but if you're a fan of GK ales then I reckon you will love this place.

Kings Head official site - www.kingsheadbexley.co.uk

The Kings Head is an attractive and historic building first recorded as a pub in 1713 although the building itself dates as far back as the 14th or 15th Century depending on what source you read. The central timber framed main building has been slightly extended with a Victorian frontage and modern function room to the rear but still retains much of its olde worlde charm. The interior has low beamed ceilings, a main front bar area with 2 extended side sections. To the left of the bar is a small paneled room with brick fireplace and a pair of bay banquettes. Beyond is the modern function/dining room. To the right of the bar is a deep narrow seated area culminating in an old brick arch fireplace that has been partly bricked in but with recesses that were presumably ovens or kilns, now used to store chopped firewood. In front of the fireplace are a cosy pair of chesterfields and on the wall hangs an old pub sign. I didn’t note any TV’s but there was some background piped music and, just inside the right hand entrance, a badly positioned dart board that would render the doorway unusable when a match is in progress (not that I have ever seen the board in use). Entertainment is also provided by a long standing Monday live jazz club. The décor throughout includes plenty of brasses, pots, pans, pictures, lanterns, horsey stuff and dangly bits from the ceiling. For all its rustic charm the pub is let down by its Greene King tie. The 6 pumps had just IPA and Abbott available (Old Goldeb Hen was off), a hardly inspiring selection that is even less appealing given that the same 3 wereavailable at the George 30 yards down the road. To confound matters, the quality of my Abbott was not particularly good either. Prices were round £3.20/£3.30 which is about par for the village although there was some good value pub grub with several choices around £5/6. This is certainly the most attractive and interesting pub in the village but the limited beers will always hold it back from being anything to go out of the way for.

Kings Head official site - www.kingsheadbexley.co.uk

It was very busy in here when I visited late on a Sunday afternoon a couple of weeks ago. The building is listed and from the 15th century so it has low beams and an olde world feel. The bar area almost splits the pub in two with the smaller right hand side being busy with an old local crowd and the larger right hand side being very quiet. The younger drinkers in the pub were all outside on the many picnic tables at the front of the pub. A standard draught selection is available and there are three hand pumps on the bar which were drawing Greene King IPA, Abbot and Sundance. A usual I had a pint of Guinness which was unfortunately not at its best, hopefully this was a one off. There are no TVs and there was no music in the background, but there was some mildly blue conversation emulating from the bar. It’s a shame that the Guinness wasn’t up to scratch as I quite liked it in here, maybe I will give it another go when next in the area.