Duchess Of Kent, Northumberland Heath, Erith

There were two ales on in here - 6X and Wychwood Piledriver (£1.60 a half). The latter was in fine condition. I saw no sign of food or menus on Monday lunchtime. This pub is dominated by the large servery taking up much of the room. To the right of it is a small area with a functioning dartboard; then to the left a narrow area in front of the bar counter brings you to the main bar area. This area has a good quality carpet on the floor, is furnished with banquettes and normal tables and chairs, and has various bits of bric-a-brac (jugs, assorted model figuerines, etc) on shelves about the place. This room also had a real log fire on the go, and the ceiling nearest to the bar counter had black beams (decorative presumably) on it. A separate room leading off through a pair of doors at the back had a pool table in it. I was greeted warmly by the pack of three pub dogs (perhaps having sniffed out my pork pie emergency rations in my rucksack), as well as the barman who enquired whether I was OK with dogs. This is a really comfortable and welcoming pub. If I lived here I would be happy to have this as my local - as long as they usually had on an ale of the quality of the Piledriver.