The Malt Shovel, Dartford

Pub SignMan left this review about The Malt Shovel

This is quite a cosy pub, hidden away down a side street on the fringes of the town centre. The front right of the building is occupied by what appears to be a compact public bar, but the entrance to the room was fenced off during my visit so I couldn't explore. Instead, I took the left-hand entrance into a long room split into three distinctive sections. The bar is immediately to the right in the first of these spaces, which had limited seating, a pleasant old fireplace and a dresser loased up with Good Beer Guides and board games. The servery has a surprisingly uninteresting counter and modern bar back, which is at odds with an otherwise fairly traditional, almost rural pub feel. The mid-section has chairs, a long padded bench and a wing back armchair in what appears to be a golfing themed space, with posters for the course at St Andrews and some ancient golf clubs on display along with an elaborately framed mirror and a bunch of trophies, possibly also for golfing endeavours. Meanwhile, the rear space has long button backed banquettes and lots of standard tables and chairs, making it perfect for dining, although it remained empty throughout my stay - in fact, I was the only customer inside for all but the final five minutes of my visit. High tongue and groove panelling lines the walls, which have been adorned with a massive unused TV screen, plain mirrors and various paintings. A tidy garden can be accessed to the rear, with lots of seating, some good shelter and plenty of greenery, which might explain why all the other customers were sat out there on a hot but quiet midweek evening. Tunes were playing in the background, but were only turned on once I became the first customer to sit inside.
I'd heard good things about this pub's ale output, but they only had Youngs Ordinary on cask across an ambitious five handpulls. The barmaid was very friendly and extremely industrious, spending the entire duration of my visit cleaning various parts of the pub, pausing only to serve the occasional customer. The Ordinary was as uninteresting as the name suggests, but at least it was in good condition.
I thought this was quite a nice pub with some pleasant seating areas, friendly service and a nice beer garden. The main let down was the ale range, as Ordinary is such an ubiquitous beer that even a well kept pint is an underwhelming experience. I'm glad I stopped by here, but if I only had time for one pint in Dartford, I'd pick the micropub and Spoons before making a return here.

Date of visit - 14th August 2024

On 21^st December 2024 - rating: 6
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