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Crown & Thistle, Gravesend
Gravesend
DA12 2BJ
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 8 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Robert READ left this review about Crown & Thistle
Going back in again this week for a full look and review but personally I am glad it is back open as a pub
On 19th May 2015
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 84 recommendations about 63 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Aqualung . left this review about Crown & Thistle
I found this pub a bit strange at first. When I arrived just after midday on a Friday morning there was a sofa to the left with a duvet and sheets sprawled across it and another sofa with a load of shopping piled on it. It appeared that the man who was apparently the landlord had been using the sofa as a bed.
After passing by these two front sofas the pub is a long single room with the bar on the right and an area before the garden with low tables and chairs. There was no sign of any disco equipment here or any evidence that live or recorded music is a feature here. Radio 2 was on at a fairly low volume.
They don't do hot food but there is a message on a blackboard saying that food from the local Indian or Chinese take-away can be consumed here.
The bar has six hand pumps. One was turned that looked like it was Young's Special and the others had Young's Ordinary, Inveralmond Lia Fail, Cottage Oarsome, St Austell Proper Job and Kent Rum Enigma Black IPA. Although I know thet the normal Kent Enigma is 5.5% ABV this was advertised as 7.5% with a marker pen having overwritten the ABV on the clip. The friendly woman behind the bar thought that the beer was produced by adding rum to the normal Enigma brew rather than storing it in old rum barrels. I enjoyed this beer so much that I stayed for another two and knocked on the head a visit to the Jolly Drayman. I believe the beer was 5.5% but couldn't find any mention of it online so who knows?
For a former CAMRA pub of the year I thought the beer choice here was fairly underwhelming so it was lucky that the local Rum Enigma was available. Despite that I found it an enjoyable and quirky pub to visit.
On 19th April 2015
- rating: 8
[User has posted 2143 recommendations about 2143 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about The Crown & Thistle
The Crown and Thistle is a thin pub with some seating at the front and a bar on the right hand wall. There is seating along the left wall and at the rear there was some disco equipment set up. The white painted ceiling is crossed with black painted beams that are adorned with old pump clips and have tankards hanging from them. Along with other books the Good Beer Guide can be found in the bookshelf opposite the bar and even though slightly inebriated I managed to find this pub in it. That was after pulling a few Bernard Cornwell novels onto my head, much to the amusement of the friendly local crowd. There is a sleepy pub dog called Ted and children are not permitted.
The bar supports six hand pumps, but one of these was unused and another was off. This left four available ales which were Young’s Ordinary and Kent Brewery’s KGB along with Cottage Brewing Company’s Duchess and Light Brigade.
Out the back there is a beer garden with some covered seating.
This is one of the better pubs of the area.
On 17th March 2013
- rating: 8
[User has posted 5233 recommendations about 5201 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Roger Button left this review about The Crown & Thistle
The Crown & Thistle was built in 1707 and has been a pub since 1838 although it was badly damaged by fire in 1981. In 2003 it became a National CAMRA Pub of the Year but more recently it stood on the brink of permanent closure. Fortunately, after a couple of months being boarded up, it is now back up and running as one of the town’s flagship ale pubs.
The carpeted interior is divided into front and rear sections with the bar down the right hand side. The décor and furnishings are cosy enough without being anything spectacular, more of a safe option than anything daring or adventurous. The lowish ceiling has numerous jugs and tankards dangling from the beams. A fireplace opposite the bar contains a stove with a fake flame – they cannot apparently have real fires as the building is timber framed and the insurance won’t cover it. The dried hops that decorate the canopy of the bar counter would also be a bit risky around open flames. Behind the pub is a pleasant and well kept paved garden with a newish looking shelter at the rear for the smoking outcasts.
It is a fairly civilized place with a good cross section of customers, a welcoming dog and an ambience that seems a world away from the bustle of the nearby town centre.
Nothing has changed on the beer front since the pub reopened, 6 hand pumps with Abbot and Youngs Ordinary joined by 4 rotating guest beers (Blindmans Siberia, Brains Rev James, Franklins Mild and Potton Porter on my latest visit). Collections of old pump clips can be found behind the bar.
Gravesend now has a good half dozen pubs with a decent Real Ale policy and the Crown & Thistle probably doesn’t have the same esteem that it once had but it does nevertheless still present itself as one of the standout pubs in town.
On 17th December 2011
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1239 recommendations about 1233 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Robert READ left this review about The Crown & Thistle
This pub is being refurbished at the moment
On 8th April 2011
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 84 recommendations about 63 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Nick Johnstone left this review about The Crown & Thistle
Long narrow bar with some interesting features. Friendly bar staff and a decent pint. Well worth spending a few hours in here.
On 3rd March 2011
- rating: 8
[User has posted 98 recommendations about 98 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john mcgraw left this review about The Crown & Thistle
Small single bar basic pub selling up to 6 real ales from all parts of the country.Has seperate drinking area at the back and also a very secluded outside drinking area. Does not serve food but you can order a take-away from a local outlet and eat it in the pub.Was CAMRA national pub of the year 2003.
On 20th July 2008
- rating: 10
[User has posted 2044 recommendations about 2025 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Crown & Thistle
Excellent, if narrow, little pub with five real ales on when I visited. Pleasant 'decked' area out the back, but I don't know what the neighbours think because they must have lost quite a lot of privacy and gained quite a lot of noise after the smoking ban changes. Well worth the walk eastwards from the town centre.
On 25th June 2008
- rating: 8
[User has posted 8092 recommendations about 8092 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Malden man left this review about The Crown & Thistle
Easily the best of the Gravesend trio tried yesterday, warm comfortable and clean, friendly welcome, decent toilets etc. A more unusual line up here, The local Gravesend Shrimpers was new to me, Dark Star Hophead, Hampshire Ironside Best, Purity Premium Amber Ale, and something I didn't record fully from RCH. Highly recommended.
On 20th April 2008
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1707 recommendations about 1681 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Crown & Thistle
Popped in here for 20 minutes before going to watch Ebbsfleet vs Burton on the recommendation of the Good Beer Guide. This is a friendly local, with an easy-going atmosphere and an extremely good range of ale given the pubs small size (five handpumps and my pint of Oak Leaf Porter was nice), along with a nice bottle of Fentimans Ginger Beer for Mrs Quinno. This was the winner of CAMRA National Pub of the Year in 2003.
Close to the waterfront and the town centre, but far enough away to keep its identity and deter townie-types. The main fault is that it’s long and narrow inside, with the bar often being inaccessible because of the rows of old men sat at it - irritating, get rid of some of those bar stools. Aside from that, it’s quite a comfy and cosy place, with carpeted floors, hanging jugs and pictures of ships dotted around the walls. A small beer patio at the rear is a sun-trap. I noticed that for a minimum order of £10 you can get the bar staff to phone you through a takeaway order (menus scattered around the pub) which gets delivered to the bar for you to consume at your table - a nice touch.
I’d recommend a diversion here, a shame I couldn't stay longer on the day.
On 27th January 2008
- rating: 8
[User has posted 5072 recommendations about 5055 pubs]