Reviews The Gardeners Arms

Sunday afternoon live music, great atmosphere, good food and a great crowd of friendly people. I think this man has sussed this game straight away and some. Okay. So visited here tonight and found a comfortable and friendly array of customers and staff. Then a gentleman came in, greeted me very politely and sat down. While watching him it became apparent he was the new landlord of the establishment. What then unfolded was a most enjoyable evening listening to him and his staff along with what were obviously regular customers from before he took over and since. I heard him enthuse about the plans he had for the place which were all stated in a manner that was to benefit the customers, old and hopefully new, not for himself and his new playtoy. He has a new chef starting on the 2nd of October and the plans he and his chef have for the menu and the type of pub he invisages, if they half come to fruition, will make the pub a place much worth visiting. The chap seemed genuine as well as friendly and the way he dealt with the younger customer and the old die in the wood drinkers, was a thing to behold. If I can encourage anyone to visit here, not only for themselves but to make a decent sounding man and his families dream come true, I would consider this reveiewing on Google a far greater tool than I thought it was. It is now just a very pleasant local, yet welcoming to strangers as myself, pub but with his ideas and the wonderful staff that were here this evening, could really be a palce worth visiting for its food and atmosphere . Lovely inside and a very well thought out and attractive garden/terrace. Good luck and well done. I hope to visit and eat here very soon. So revisited to be greeted by the new landlord, well, both landlords Hayden and Sarah, sadly, the chef didn't work out on the 2nd, but very wisely they didn't allow him to start as he seemed a little less appropriate when he turned up to discuss the new menu. Coincidentally the night I returned here the new new chef was here to sort out the new menu and although unnecessary, introduced himself to the customers, including myself and appeared to be a very pleasant chap who comes from a good chefing background and start next Wednesday, so although disappointed not to be able to eat, very pleased that a poor start was declined and a delayed but hopefully good start was decided upon. So again, I will return as I was again made to feel very welcome and truly think this is a wonderful local type pub that can also eventually attract some less local food loving clientel that will add to the already pleasant surrounding and to Hayden and Sarah business. So, visit three, first night of the new chef, wasn't hungry but felt I should try something, so, to keep it simple I had the scampi minus the chips, but with the trimmings. As I have said alongside the picture of the well presented food. It is easy to ruin scampi, no matter how simple a dish, but hard to make it taste as good as this did.. And again crisp fresh salad and peas that, well, tasted like peas. I feel my reviews seem like I have some link to this place, well I truly don't. I travel for work and sadly, eat out most evenings. Local pubs are usually cliquey and a little uncomfortable for me, this place is the opposite, to the point I now take work near here so I can visit. New chef, well done.

Thursday 21st April 2022. My wife and I were walking the Charles Dickens and Higham circular walk, details of which we found on the Kent CC website. The Sir John Falstaff pub mentioned in the walk wasn't open until 1pm surprisingly (it was 12.10pm when we got there), so we made our way back to The Gardeners Arms which we'd passed earlier. The pub wasn't overly busy (basically empty) so we ordered food and drink. They seemed to have run out of many tap beers including my favourite 'Spitfire', so we settled on Master Brew, being the only one available (my wife had a bitter shandy). We both ordered scampi and chips with a side of onion rings. I seem to remember the Scampi was £8.99 - pretty good value we thought. It took a while to turn up and annoyingly, it was one of those meals that turned up as a little 'bucket' of chips, a little 'bucket' of peas and the portions weren't overly large once tipped onto the plate. That said, we did find it adequate - appearances can be deceiving! The 'three times cooked chips' were a little bit too oily for my liking. The staff were charming, helpful and polite and the tables and facilities were clean and in good order. We didn't really take any pictures of the pub, other than the beer photo. The church is the one frequented by Mr Dickens and apparently, he had his own pew! Verdict: The pub is not local to me and I doubt if I'll ever go back there unless I do the walk again. However, I would recommend it to fellow walkers as a pleasant refreshment stop and as an alternative to the Sir John Falstaff.

Looking up my family history of the name "Cook" in Higham and paid a visit to this great local villiage pub ( my dad would of drank a wee whisky or two!) Hence Living literally across the road in 1952, pub has heaps of history, a very warm welcome and chat from Sarah, John and Poppy, who were very helpful in in my quest, nice ambience, great home cooked food , highly recommend

Great pub great food and a really good atmosphere. Friendly staff and regulars and some great entertainment.

Just had lunch. So fresh & tasty The young man who took our order was very nice & helpful and Daisy our waitress was amazing. So attentive & friendly. A credit to the placeplace