EARL HAIG Pub of Bexley

DOVER KENT ARCHIVES

Sort file:- Bexley, June, 2024.

Page Updated:- Monday, 24 June, 2024.

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PUBLIC HOUSES

Paul Skelton

Earliest ????

Earl Haig

Open 2020+

The Pantiles Little Heath Road

Bexley

01322 449463

https://www.emberinns.co.uk/the-earl-haig

https://whatpub.com/earl-haig

Above photo, 1937.

Above photo 2006 by Dave Patten Creative Commons Licence.

Above photo, 2007 by Steve Thoroughgood.

Above photo 2015.

Above sign, 1984, kindly sent by Roger Pester.

Project 2014 has been started to try and identify all the pubs that are and have ever been open in Kent. I have just added this pub to that list but your help is definitely needed regarding it's history.

As the information is found or sent to me, including photographs, it will be shown here.

Thanks for your co-operation.

From the https://www.bexleytimes.co.uk By Michael Adkins, 26 May 2011.

Earl Haig will have you returning for more.

Pub grub is what you may be first expecting as you walk in to The Earl Haig.

But as part of the Ember Inns chain the decor and menu at the restaurant and bar in Bexleyheath quickly reveals a bustling choice of affordable food, and faultless service.

With daytime dining from as little as £5.95 for a meal and drink and a more comprehensive new seasonal and set evening menu it has the right recipe to get punters through the door – but can it keep them, that’s the real test.

Choosing to dine on a Thursday evening, considered the start of the weekend by many, both restaurant and bar, serving cask ales, seemed busy with a mix of customers.

Billed as two or three- course heaven, the price was exactly that at £8.95 or £10.95 for the evening set menu. To be honest, all meals were reasonably priced so you don’t feel tied to the cheapest option.

For starters I had the mainstay of most first courses, cheese and bacon potato wedges while my guest had Arbroath smokie bite-size fish cakes, both plentiful portions, presented and cooked well.

Ordering at the bar I went for minted lamb shank, with creamy mash, green beans, peas in minted jus. My partner opted for Fisherman’s Pie.

I find the easiest way to see the calibre of a chef is to check out lamb on the bone and I was not disappointed with the meat falling off effortlessly, tender with a slight change in colour. Over or under-cooked and it would be a disaster for this dish – it did not disappoint. Other customers seemed to have no complaints with their meals and tasty looking desserts were tempting me for a third course, but if there is one way I’ve learned how to spoil a splendid meal it is to overindulge, so I declined.

With a good menu selection, options for shared starter portions, credit crunch prices, which don’t cheapen the quality, and service with a genuine smile this pub will have you coming back for more.

The Earl Haig, Little Heath Road, Bexleyheath, Kent, DA7 5HH. Call 01322 449463. No need to book.

From the https://www.newsshopper.co.uk By Pub Spy, 23rd February 2015.

PubSpy reviews The Earl Haig, Bexleyheath.

This pub is down a nice road in a nice part of Bexleyheath and looks all very nice. A bit too nice if you know what I mean.

Inside it’s quite beige and very roomy, filled with loads of women. When I went in, I craned my neck to find a male of the species and I think I might’ve seen one cowering in a corner but I could have been wrong.

There was some kind of easy listening 60’s music trilling softly through the building and everything was quite – you know – vanilla. The barman wasn’t friendly nor unfriendly, more indifferent to my presence. But then maybe he was just terrified by the masses of females who had him cornered.

I ordered a grilled chicken with spicy sauce, which came with a small helping of peas and chips. Or, it would’ve come with chips if I hadn’t upgraded to lattice fries (Pubspy is nothing if not open-minded).

It seemed fancy-shaped potatoes were the only excitement for me that weekday lunchtime and I set about my lunch with a quiet resignation. “Who is that, weeping into his peas?”, they probably thought, before realising, “Oh no, it’s ok, he’s just realised the pointlessness of his own existence.”

Having said that, the meal was actually quite tasty for only a fiver and the menu’s pretty extensive.

And then, the place began to fill up with lots of people, all around the cavernous corridors. And the droves, of both sexes and all ages, seemed at peace, perhaps because the atmosphere was so gentle and, dare I say it: bland.

But then I thought, there’s something to be said for a place where everybody can go and have a chat and a tasty, cheap meal. Sometimes life doesn’t need needn’t be all drugs and rock n’roll - sometimes you just want a quiet place to rest your bones and nod away to Andy Williams.

How it rated:

Decor *** Neutral tones, as though I was sitting in a catalogue.

Atmosphere ** Not a place for a wild time but a pleasant enough place to catch up.

Drinks *** Good choice and reasonable.

Food *** Wide variety and cheap.

Staff *** Again, neutral but nice

LICENSEE LIST

If anyone should have any further information, or indeed any pictures or photographs of the above licensed premises, please email:-

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