FIVE BELLS INN Brabourne

The decor and ambiance, I can’t fault. Service, too, was very good. But the cost of the food, for what it was, was OTT. The potato and leek soup was both pea green and bland. Other dishes were ok, I suppose, but nothing to write home about, just good pub grub. Way too expensive, in my opinion.

This was my 2nd time to visit here and it still blows me away. This beautiful pub is somewhere you want to take people to and spend hours there...eating...drinking...enjoying all it has to offer. The food is fantastic and the staff are super friendly

If this pub has a certificate of excellence then I'm a monkey's uncle! The staff are surly, the landlord downright rude, the whole place stinks of smoke from the kitchen, and I thought I was going to get lockjaw chewing on the toughest steak I've ever eaten. I highly doubt it was sirloin. The texture was more like stewing steak. Or perhaps I should say chewing steak. Compared to The Black Horse, down the road ... well, there is no comparison. I'll review the wonderful meal we had at the Black Horse separately. Don't even bother visiting the Five Bells. It's a truly awful place.

What a find this pub was. Quirky and tastefully decorated. A delicious menu with a verity of choices. Food was amazing and staff very friendly. Food came out really quickly considering how busy they were. Also extremely dog friendly. Will definitely visit again

Having enjoyed the RAMBLinns owned Woolpack pub in nearby Warehorne we vowed to visit their other three venues, starting with Five Bells. A very attractive building in the countryside awaited us on an August day that resembled April with its incessant showers, not that it spoilt our experience. Inside it was immediately obvious the pub was in the same ownership as the Woolpack; such is the rich and eclectic wall adornments. These included locally sourced fayre such as jams, pickled eggs and onions, juices, and much more. Then there is the mass of objects, old and new, often random, always interesting. Not the least of these is the enormous bellows, big enough to have set off the Great Fire of London. Equally similar were the bar and waiting staff, clearly happy in the roles, helpful, friendly, and subtlety attentive. Our ladies were more interested in the gin cabinet, looking no further for their drinks of choice. We found a huge round table in one of the rooms and waded through the two menus, skipping starters, leaving space for dessert. Anyone reading my reviews knows my penchant for Risotto, unsurprisingly my choice here, and the beetroot version to boot. A lovely meal, delicate on the tongue, plentiful, colourful and a real winner. The others had sumptuous burgers with all the trimmings, and the fishcakes, each being as enthusiastic as me about their dish. For dessert, the Eton mess looked terrific, as did the apple pie and ice cream, with my vanilla crème Brulee taking the biscuit. Sadly, we were on a tight schedule, unable to extend our stay and mellow as we’d have liked. With tip, we paid £100 for four people, excellent value considering the quality of the food. Where next, Radnor Arms or Globe inn Marsh? Either way, we are confident we’ll enjoy it.

We stopped off half way from Canterbury to home as I knew of the Five Bells reputation. This is a mixed review where my experience was pretty much perfect and my wife’s less so. Perfect: the mixed olives (gorgeous), my Sussex hamburger and fries - loved the beef salad and fresh chips, the beer and the Sipsmith Gin was a divine last drink. The gin bar was well stocked. The house white wine for my wife was lovely chilled and complimented upon. Middle ground: the corn on the cob -well griddle cooked, warm, but dry - it might have been nice to offer a little butter maybe?? Not perfect: the bread - it was very dry and did not seem today’s bake. The crust fell off. The brioche was dry. The light menu salad - hardly any feta cheese and the cucumber was limp, also there was a swap of ingredient to strawberries and my wife says she should have been told as they are allergens. Also I think nowadays we are all used to plugging into the local Wi-fi in poor reception areas - this opportunity for added service was pretty much absent (we couldn’t find the service where we were sitting inside). So there we have it - pretty much perfect for me with lovely service; although I do agree on the breads, and accept my wife’s opinions in respect of the salad.

We were looking forward to a nice meal tonight and when the waitress brought the menu's over to us we were told they had run out of various food and also chips!!!!! My partner & I both ordered Sirloin Steak & we were told as there weren't any chips that our steak would come with crushed potatoes which we were happy to have. However when the meal arrived we both had roast potatoes on our plate!!!!! The Sirloin Steak was so tough that we really struggled cutting it even with the steak knife provided & it was even worse trying to eat it!!

A gem in Kent. Lovely food, beautiful pub in a beautiful location, friendly staff. Dogs are welcome too. Cozy in winter and perfect in summer! Sunday lunch is just delicious. Portions are quite big and the sharing plates are mouth watering! We just love to go there for a pint of the local and have something to eat.

The Five Bells was a perfect place to stay the night before my wedding. The staff were incredibly helpful while planning our stay and communication was so easy. We took up most of the rooms and the staff couldn't do more to make us feel comfortable while staying there. The decor is beautiful and the outlook from the front rooms is so lovely, i will always remember waking up on the morning of my wedding to the sight of green rolling hills. The food we had was fab and the pub were so kind and made room for a large group of us to gather the day after the wedding too. couldn't have picked a better place to stay, thank you to everyone there.