Shepway
The Duke's Head

The Duke's Head

Main Road, TN25 6EG, Shepway, United Kingdom

Pub • Cafés • Steak • British


"I have to say since having my baby, I’ve been here twice, and it’s the most unwelcoming place I’ve felt being a Mum. The first experience, I had to change my baby on the floor of the toilets as there are no baby changing facilities available. (A mat you can place on the floor is kindly leant against the wall of the ladies toilets. That’s the extent of it . When booking with a high chair, there is no mention that there is no designated baby changing facilities. The second time I came I just didn’t bother trying, as I was advised that a table can be moved into the ladies loo if I don’t want to change her on the floor. We were kindly given a high chair as requested. However the type of high chair provided, my daughter is just ever so slightly still too small for (she is 13 months-the straps just don’t hold her in enough, not a fault of the pub, just a generic high chair that we aren’t quite ready for, in some places we’ve been the straps have been secure enough but sadly this one was not . So I decided to get my pushchair in and use that for her to sit and eat in so she’s safely secure. When it came to the attention of the staff that I was going to get the push chair, I have to say I have never been made to feel more of an inconvenience than I was today. Since having my child. I was met with comments “you’re going to get your push chair!?” Like it was a travesty. And then met with an enormous amount of comments, looks and whispers and fussing around me, about how this was going to take up too much room, we’d inconvenience other guests (may I add no one came to sit at the table we were next to at the time for the entirety of our stay!? , there was ample room for someone to sit and not be anywhere near the pram. But instead we had to take all our things and move…right in the doorway!? Where the pram was then right in the way of everyone coming in and out or passing to the main restaurant. I have never been treated so poorly in any establishment since becoming a Mum. It’s played on my mind all day and quite frankly I feel humiliated. I wish I’d known this before coming and I won’t be going again, and I want to as a Mum, let other Mums know. And give the restaurant a chance to accept my feedback and maybe make small changes to be more welcoming to mums with small children. There was another family with a baby in a pram across the way, I don’t think they received the same treatment, but I would stress this is not a baby friendly restaurant at all at the moment. My advice as a mother, is if someone calls to advise of a baby on the booking, advice them that there are no baby facilities, even if you have plans to add it in, it’s not there now and changing a baby on the floor is not acceptable or sanitary, bringing in a table without relevant safety features is equally not acceptable. In addition, be aware that some people may be bringing a pram as well as the need for a high chair. Every mother has a different scenario they bring when going out with their children."

The Radnor Arms

The Radnor Arms

Christ Church Road, Shepway, United Kingdom

Pub • Steak • British • European


"Do not go here with young children, although they offer high chairs the staff certainly DO NOT like children! This was meant to be a birthday celebration for a family however it was anything but pleasant. We booked the landing option as we had three...children under five and a child with autism. This meant we could relax and enjoy our first visit to the restaurant. I have never experienced such awful service from a waitress who certainly did not want to serve our table or enjoy being around children. After being very rude from arrival, not offering drinks, checking on the meal, or just serving our table, we asked the manager when we would likely have a desert menu an hour and a half after eating our mains; the manager advised me that the restaurant had experienced a very bad day and were one member short. They also apologised they had delegated the wrong waitress to our table as it was too hard work for them to go up and down the stairs to our table... When I also said the waitress had huffed and rolled her eyes numerous times around my children, he continued to say my children had intimidated the waitress my son who is two years old had a balloon from the table of which he was bouncing around as children do after waiting so long for services; he caused no harm or disruption to the table or restaurant- a decent manager would of removed the waitress from our table should we have been so unpleasant to serve this is highly unlikely as we were barely served! Three hours in we had had two drinks and only a main. The waitress attempted to apparently apologies for their service and the way she had made us feel during our visit. This soon didn't feel like an apology when she then continued to tell us how my children had made her feel uncomfortable! I have a four year old who sat and drew at the table, a two year old who enjoyed the balloon on the table and a baby who is 10 months who either sat on someone's lap or in his high chair, at no point were they left to run or cause any harm! She then would not allow me to leave the table after being asked to go away leaving me in tears! I was truly shocked at the waitresses behaviour, I have never ever felt so uncomfortable, my children had behaved incredibly considering how long we were waiting and to leave upset at the way we were treated with no real apology, with a bill that included a service charge I am absolutely disgusted. I truly hope no other young family are left to feel this way."

The Rose Crown

The Rose Crown

High Street, Shepway, United Kingdom, CT4 6TH

Pub • Fish • Steak • British


"Awful experience and would not recommend to anyone this used to be a nice pub but after the treatment we experienced the other night, we will not return. My partner and I (local to Elham) came for a meal on Saturday night and the restaurant was fairly busy, but there was only one person serving, as well as occassionally working on the bar. We were very understanding of this when it took a long time to get our food, even though there was no real acknowledgement of how understaffed they clearly were. After finishing our main we waited patiently to have our empty plates removed and order our desserts in this time another table received their food, had it taken away and had their bill brought over and settled. After our patience wore out, we were trying to catch the employee’s attention and it felt like we were being deliberately ignored we ended up being the last table left in the restaurant and were still waiting to get our dessert menus! I had to go over to the bar to find help and to place our dessert orders, at which point I was bluntly told that the kitchen had closed. This seemed like a sudden change when all night we had been very polite and friendly to eachother, and we were simply trying to be understanding that the staff were busy and would get to us. When I questioned why we were not informed of this, as we were ready to order long ago and she could see we were waiting, there was no real response. We were forced to come up to the bar and pay, where again there was no communication or actual apology. Not only is it poor service and tainted a rare night out for us, it makes no business sense either why we were essentially refused business with no warning. We will not be coming back and would like to warn anyone else who may be treated in the same way. Additional negatives we found were the rowdy bar which not only affected the atmosphere of the dining experience, but also felt intimidating and meant we didn’t complain to the extent we wanted to at the time and the fact that later adding up the bill we realised that we were overcharged. If this was a service charge added without even showing us a receipt, when the whole issue was that we had no service, it would really round off this ridiculous experience!!!"