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The Flying Boat (JD Wetherspoon), Dartford
Dartford
DA1 2DX
Pub Type
J D WetherspoonReviews (Current Rating Average: 6 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Alan Winfield left this review about The Flying Boat (JD Wetherspoon)
The Flying Boat is a Wetherspoons pub that is situated on the main road through Dartford.
Once inside there is a large square shaped room with the bar on the right side,it is carpeted and has mainly normal tables and chairs plus a few tall ones.
There was a TV on mute on the left side.
There was a decent choice of guest beers on,i had a drink of Nelson Pieces of Eight,which went down well,the other beers noted were Nelson Spanker and beers called Mildly Rockin and Evans Evans,plus the Spoons regulars.
The pub was very busy on my Saturday dinner visit.
I thought this was a decent enough Wetherspoons to have a drink in.
Pub visited 22/10/2016
On 2nd January 2017
- rating: 7
[User has posted 6113 recommendations about 6113 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john mcgraw left this review about The Flying Boat (JD Wetherspoon)
Large open plan pub that is just like a square box. Very little in the way of guest ales and very little in the way of atmosphere.
On 21st January 2015
- rating: 5
[User has posted 2044 recommendations about 2025 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Aqualung . left this review about The Flying Boat (JD Wetherspoon)
Visit 08/08/2014
Not as good a selection of guests as last time but there were a couple of Wantsum beers on. I tried the Turbulent Priest which could have been better. Score reduced to 7.
Visit 09/08/2013
This is by far the larger and on a Thursday morning busier of the two Dartford Spoons. It's one of their newer ones in the London area (2009) and is a fairly typical barn of a place, but at least it has windows which stops it being a cave.
I didn't count the pumps on the bar, but there were five Locale beers and no "uninvited" guests.
The Locale beers were two from WJ King, two from Wantsum and Whitstable Bay Oyster Stout. I went for the Wantsum Black Pig (£2.15) which was a porter in very good condition, the best Spoons pint of the day.
My only criticism is why in a building this size does the Gents need to be situated at the top of four flights of stairs?
On 10th August 2014
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2143 recommendations about 2143 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Roger Button left this review about The Flying Boat (JD Wetherspoon)
This reasonable sized Wetherspoons replaced what was a Litten Tree of dubious reputation and my initial thoughts when it opened in June 2009 were of frying pans and fires. JDW initially did a pretty decent job in making the place a far more welcoming proposition and, following a large investment, did treat this historic local building with the degree of sympathy it deserved. The pub name derives its days as a workshop that made floats for the Sunderland Flying Boats during the war.
The tall ceilings, copious window space give the place an airy feel and the interior has some quite elegant touches and the general décor, furnishings and lighting are tastefully presented. Gold trimmed arches back the bar and 2 golden columns announce the open staircase like props from Antony & Cleopatra (or maybe Carry On Cleo is more accurate).
At the rear is a smaller, more intimate section with a blocked but otherwise ornate fireplace and beyond is the beer garden, once a few benches on a patch of weed, now a paved and partly covered patio with shrubs, trees and pristine new fencing. There are two muted TVs in the main bar area and one in the rear that generally have subtitled news channels but will occasionally show football if it is on a freeview channel.
Until recently things were getting a bit tatty with ripped upholstery to the fore but a recent mini refurbishment appears to have spruced things up a little. Some of the seating layout has been changed and the octet of padded seat booths that once occupied the central floor space has been removed along with the tables nearest the bar which means less of a bottleneck to be served when things are busy.
The wall displays offer interesting stories of the building’s history and some old photos of its days as a car showroom dating back to 1910. Artwork includes two specially commissioned paintings, the “Flying Boat” in the main bar and the “Automobile” at the rear although the former is sadly now hidden behind a bank of fruit machines.
On the beer front, they have 10 hand pumps with all the usual suspects and 3 or 4 guest ales and ciders although availablitity can be frustrating at times. I have never had any problem with the quality and prices are typically cheap although for some reason the Curry & Grill Night prices are £1 more expensive than the Paper Moon down the road so I generally opt for the latter on such occasions. One major issue is that the service can be quite poor, even when not busy, with the bar often either inadequately manned or staff running around doing anything but serve customers.
The place does tend to attract the younger side of the town’s drinking fraternity and at weeknds it seems to be a popular pre-club binge venue almost harking back to it’s Litten Tree days although to be fair I’ve never seen any major trouble (although I have heard reports). I generally avoid the place at prime times when it can be a bit over vibrant.
To be honest, the place hasn’t fully lived up to its initial expectations and really needs to concentrate on its customer service which is a shame as the pub is quite smart and doesn't have the normal plastic Wetherspoon feel to it.
On 3rd May 2013
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1239 recommendations about 1233 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
E TA left this review about The Flying Boat (JD Wetherspoon)
The Flying Boat is a typical JDW, a large ope building with big plain windows which make it very light and airy. The clientele seemed to be mostly families, oddly , plus a few solitary drinkers and a gang of smokers blocking the main entrance. There is a smaller bar to the rear, but I didn't have a good look in there. Food is the usual JDW fare, and didn't look terribly appetising. Six ales on, I had a pint of Wadworths which was well past its best but still just about drinkable. Worth floating in for a Short.
On 21st May 2012
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3284 recommendations about 3249 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Nick Johnstone left this review about The Flying Boat (JD Wetherspoon)
Didn't like this place at all. Far too many noisy kids and people stuffing their faces with microwaved rubbish. Awful cavernous place in what is really a rather depressing area now.
On 5th April 2011
- rating: 2
[User has posted 98 recommendations about 98 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Flying Boat (JD Wetherspoon)
An impressive conversion, with a light and airy feel and plenty of interesting features to look at inside. Busy, as you would expect, but the smaller room towards the rear offers a quieter and more relaxing place to sit. It is also worth noting that the main doors are huge, so if its cold and windy beware of an icy blast each time they open if you are sat near the front. A decent range of real ale festival beers were on offer at a very reasonable £1.69. Plenty of staff on duty too.
On 11th November 2009
- rating: 7
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Matt Jones left this review about The Flying Boat
Once a Litten Tree and now a Wetherspoons, The Flying Boat is a significant improvement on its predecessor. With another 'Spoons down the road to cater for the hardened drinkers, this place is aimed more at those looking for somewhere to eat and as such, has proved popular with families and more "mature" couples. As you would expect, there's a decent selection of drinks available at a reasonable price and the food (so far) has been served promptly.
With a large garden out back this is a very impressive Wetherspoons and I just hope they can keep the standards up.
On 7th July 2009
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1 recommendations about 1 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tony Jaglo left this review about The Litten Tree
May 09: Being refurbed.
June 09: Now reopened as Dartfords 2nd JD Wetherspoons called "The Flying Boat". Very high quality furnishings and unusually for a JD a well furnished beer garden.
On 29th June 2009
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 20 recommendations about 20 pubs]