The Butcher's Block Pub & Restaurant
The Butcher's Block Pub & Restaurant
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What is Travellers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
The Butcher's Block Pub & Restaurant
Review
About
Travellers' Choice
2024
The Butchers Block is an award winning 2 AA Rosette country style pub and restaurant which caters for all the family, including our four legged friends. The pub is nestled in the village of Burham, amidst glorious Kent countryside and situated only 5 miles from both Maidstone and Rochester. We pride ourselves on the quality and range of steaks we offer, dry aged on site and proudly on display in the restaurant. Our reviews acknowledge the service our staff deliver, who go out of their way to ensure you enjoy a pleasant visit to us. With garden patio areas at both the front and rear of the pub, you can soak up the country views.
Features
CUISINES
Steakhouse, Bar, European, British, Pub
Meal types
Lunch, Dinner, Drinks
Special Diets
Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options
FEATURES
Accepts Credit Cards
American Express
Free off-street parking
Full Bar
Gift Cards Available
Highchairs Available
Mastercard
Outdoor Seating
Parking Available
Reservations
Seating
Serves Alcohol
Table Service
Visa
Wheelchair Accessible
Wine and Beer
Location
Free off-street parking, Parking Available
Does this place accept credit cards?
Save this restaurant
Hours
Open until 8:00 PM
Sunday
12:00 - 20:00
Monday
Closed
Tuesday
Closed
Wednesday
12:00 - 22:00
Thursday
12:00 - 22:00
Friday
12:00 - 23:00
Saturday
12:00 - 23:00
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4.4
574 reviews
Excellent
424
Very good
60
Average
45
Poor
16
Terrible
30
Russell D (AKA Judith)
Maidstone172 contributions
Aug 2023 • friends
Excellent service and amazing food. 4 of us visited the Butchers Block on a Friday lunchtime for a birthday celebration. Great choice of beers and a very friendly and welcoming team. We had some halloumi and pork croquettes for the table followed by starters of asparagus, scallops, ham hock scotch egg and lamb belly, all of them faultless.
A sharing cote de boeuf and a chateaubriand served with garlic and herb new potatoes and salad were next.
The steaks were excellent, perfectly cooked and comparing them to the likes of Hawksmoor / Gaucho's was no comparison. We ended with a cheese board, creme brulee and a Mille Feuille. In addition to this we had a fantastic bottle of Malbec a glass of port and a glass of dessert wine.
The Butchers Block is a must, everything about our dinning experience was perfect. Very good value for money at just over £85 a head (I had an equivalent meal in Hawksmoor which was £125 a head and wasn't even a 7/10)
Ensure you go out of your way to visit this great restaurant / bar.
We will be returning soon.
Written 12 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Chris & Laura Morris
6 contributions
Feb 2024 • family
My friends and I had a table booked for 7 of us to celebrate 2 of our parties birthdays.
As soon as I walked in I noticed the place had a lovely, old village pub feel.
After confirming we were there for a dinner reservation we were led through to a lovely slightly more modern looking dining area that continued with the welcoming atmosphere.
Our main waitress was Debora (apologies if the name spelling is incorrect) who was friendly and talked us through the different meats that were curing in house, but all of the waitress' and bar staff were efficient and professional.
The food was stupendous! Everyone enjoyed all of their dishes stating the flavours were fantastic and the meat dishes were also of an impressive size with absolutely amazing flavours.
It didn't end there though as the deserts were also exceptional.
I can highly recommend the 'From the Woods' dessert but I won't say anything else as I don't want to spoil the surprise.
Luckily we are local so I looking forward to going back again soon.
Written 10 February 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Nathan&Gemma
Kent247 contributions
Sept 2022 • couples
First visit to this restaurant and hadn’t heard of it before, however a family member got a voucher for us as a Christmas present so we went as two couples. We booked a table in advance which was perfectly situated next to the bar.. convenient!
The restaurant itself is like a small village style pub. The ambience, lighting and the general feel is nice and the staff behind the bar were friendly and accommodating throughout, often asking if you wanted anymore drinks etc.
The menu is quite selective, with a varied option of appetisers/starters and then a wide variety of main meals such as steaks (which I feel you should be eating when at a place called “Butchers Block”)..
I had the beef skewers and they were perfect. The meat was lovely and the dinner itself very well presented. My friend had the fillet steak which was perfectly cooked and my partner had the burger which she also enjoyed. As for prices, it wasn’t too bad. Average 10oz fillet is about £36, 8oz is around £28. We had four meals, four starters and alcoholic drinks amongst our group and the bill did come to £200 odd pound which I didn’t think was bad.
Another plus, the restaurant don’t add on that automatic 12.5% service charge like other places!
Definitely worth a visit.
Written 3 September 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Louise
Rochester11 contributions
Sept 2024 • family
We had a family joint birthday meal here on Saturday night, the steaks were sent back as blue not medium rare.
We preordered for 5:30pm and food didn’t arrive until an hour later, and then they forgot 1 of the 2 preordered starters!
Drinks ordered at bar as no waitress, and when we did order didn’t arrive!
Half of the steaks were not eaten as under cooked and full of gristle.
I was embarrassed that we chose to eat here as it was shambolic. To top it off as a way of an apology they took £50 off and didn’t add a service charges.
If you are reading this and thinking of booking a table for very over priced steaks that are not cooked to your preference (only to medium rare) don’t, go elsewhere, with better parking, staff with personality!
Written 30 September 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sue S
24 contributions
Aug 2024 • family
Very disappointed run out of steak & burgers ! My family visited for Sunday afternoon and upon arriving we were told you had no steaks. Considering you are known as a steak restaurant and we were all expecting steak we were flabbergasted! Upon ordering we were then told you had run out of burgers !! There were two choices for desert plus cheese & biscuits but by the time we ordered there was only one choice ! I have messaged you over a week ago but no one has bothered to respond .. 😡😡
Written 11 August 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
jan l
5 contributions
Aug 2024 • couples
After a while since last visiting the Butchers Block. We returned to celebrate our wedding anniversary. I am afraid to say we were disappointed with the starters which were cold and the mains not up to standard. Plates stone cold food luke warm. No accompaniment ie mustard etc was requested we had to ask after food was left for some time to attract waiting staff who were extremely busy which we patiently waited. On the whole for the money disappointing. Volume of noise was so loud no conversation between my husband and myself. Whilst understand small restaurant but a lot of tables resulting in everyone shouting to converse over each other. Could not hear waitress talking to us. Bearing in mind in the past we have had a great meal. This was not and we left to the dismay and probably will not return in the future..
Written 5 August 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Andrew D
6 contributions
Apr 2023 • none
Have been here a few times now and the roast beef was not the usual standard on the Sunday roast. Spoke to waitress and the response was ‘I’ll let the chefs know’ Complained again to another waitress and the same answer. We were not offered an alternative neither did they take the food away to change the roast beef. We probably need to give the restaurant a miss for a while as it’s not cheap so you’d expect good food and good service should there be a problem.
Written 23 April 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Familybooks
15 contributions
Jan 2025 • friends
After mixed reviews we said we would try here. We go out alot all over kent trying new restaurants. The money isn't the issue as they are a bit expensive it's more the quality of food isn't worth it at all. A few parts of the meal were great but with so much being chargrilled/cremated totally ruined it
Written 12 January 2025
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
J Rickwood
Roll up roll up……Welcome to the downside of hospitality!!!
Uneducated rude customers who get their gratification from attempting to slate a business as many times as possible on every available review platform!!
As per our reply on your two Google 1 * reviews:-
The staff checked back to make sure you was happy with your meals and at no point did you say about food being burnt.
When you raised this upon us clearing the table, we said we would have like to know so as we could have rectified the situation. By now the meals had been eaten so no way of checking this was true.
The points however were taken on board and we put a £50 discount on the bill. You still failed to pay the £212 remaining and instead left £200.
You was rude to the staff, one in particular who you felt appropriate to call an ignorant b**th, using other non repeatable expletives about her and my other staff loudly in the restaurant.
As a customer service provider, I expect some respect to be shown to those waitressing/serving us and there are ways of voicing issues and complaints.
If you prefer cheaper fast food, there are probably better venues suited for you than us as you state money isn’t the issue when you dine out, however failed to pay even the reduced bill.
Unfortunately you also left another 1* review for an establishment called butchers block in Stone 190 miles away, thinking it was us where you commented about rude staff and waiting 9 minutes for freshly made cocktails and 3 other drinks was too long a wait.
We hope you enjoy trying other restaurants across Kent and don’t return to ours.
Written 13 January 2025
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
James J
1 contribution
Sept 2024 • family
Extremely disappointed and compared to previous visits the food was no where near as good with smaller portions and selection. Waited a long time for our food and drink to be served, and it wasn't all served at once. Eventually when the food came it wasn’t that hot and one dish was returned as it was cold.. The waitress was friendly, but overall wasn’t impressed and won’t be returning. The lock on the men’s toilet also missing/broke. In all honesty for what we paid, it was very poor.
Written 15 September 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Carawarawoo
Billericay209 contributions
Sept 2024 • family
We all had roasts, including the sharing roast which was unreal. We also had an extra side of cauliflower cheese that was delicious! Could not fault the food at all. Unfortunately the service was slow and it was also very hot in the restaurant. We had a to wait quite a while to pay and this was annoying as our toddler was tired and we wanted to leave.
Written 15 September 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Nick P
68 contributions
Aug 2023 • friends
Chose to go here as we had heard good reviews. Restaurant became well filled during our visit so it's probably advisable to book. All the food was well cooked and presented with sensible timings between courses although a bit of time waiting as food is freshly prepared. No real ale option at the time of our visit for those who need to know. None of our party were big drinkers so 'Are you all right for drinks?' became a little bit too frequent and began to feel pushy rather than attentive. That said, servers were all very polite and attentive.
Written 13 November 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Poppy C
Maidstone35 contributions
Aug 2022 • family
We visited this pub having eaten and had drinks here many times before. Upon arriving we were greeted by Sian with “have you booked a table”? Not “Hello, can I help you or good evening”. In my opinion she could do with polishing her manners. A young chap took our food order which was fine and our starters were also ok. When it came to the mains my fillet steak arrived much later than everyone else’s meal so they all had to sit and wait for mine to arrive before they could eat their meals. Once I did get my fillet steak it had to be returned as it was rare and I’d asked for it to be cooked medium. The peppercorn sauce and Dahl which was served with the monkfish were beyond salty!
We would normally have ordered desserts and coffees but on this occasion couldnt wait to leave the pub. I voiced my concerns to Sian when we were leaving but in our opinion she didn’t really give a damn. We were given a discount on the bill due to the problem with the steak but overall the whole experience has put us off returning. It’s such a shame as we used to love visiting this pub and would always book for special occasions.
Written 13 August 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
GeeGee333
Lower Halstow15 contributions
Mar 2024 • couples
We were a group of 6 dining for a 40th birthday on a Saturday evening. Once seated we were told a couple of dishes were unavailable and also that there were no triple cooked chips for the steaks. This felt strange for a busy Saturday. We ordered sharing nibbles and all ordered steaks. The nibbles arrived in a few minutes. We then had to wait 90 minutes for our mains to arrive. On arrival a couple of steaks were not even warm, new potatoes were hard and just generally all our meals were just under par. It feels like this restaurant is taking its good reputation for granted and serving up sub standard service and food with an air of arrogance. We had been looking forward to dining at the butchers block and had heard such positive things, but there are better steaks and better atmospheres in the area. In summary the food and service are not worth the price tag.
Written 1 April 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Pinkstonekerr
Gillingham549 contributions
Nov 2023 • couples
Lively Atmosphere …waiting staff really lovely , patient and attentive , my friends are meat eaters so they wanted to try the steak here , they liked the mini ham egg and chips really cute and different
The main meals looked nice the chips looked really good stole one to try !
I had veggie option but was not really a bit of me , it was more about my carnivorous amigos … to be honest ! The wine was lovely …Turtle Bay Sauvignon blanc
Was happy just to have this and enjoy the company
And the ambiance……
Written 4 November 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Deborah H
Gillingham56 contributions
Aug 2022 • none
Had dinner on the patio area under cover. Lovely surroundings, excellent service and superb, tasty and well presented food. Baked Rye Bay Scallops and Crispy Chorizo with compressed Kent apple, aged olive oil and served with warm chorizo focaccia, was exceptionally good (not a moan but personally we would have liked a little more chorizo and bread, to soak up the tasty juice). As my main, chose the Charred Loin of Stour Valley Venison with foraged wild mushrooms, baby spinach, purple potato and a sage, juniper and local blackberries jus; the venison was cooked to perfection and melted in your mouth and went very well with the accompaniments and jus. My husband's main was the Butter Poached Chicken Supreme with celeriac, cherry tomato and chorizo orzo (type of pasta for those who don't know as I thought it was rice!) and fresh basil. Chose sweet potato fries and chilli green beans as side dishes and, again, these were cooked perfectly. Sadly, had no room for dessert but will definitely return to rectify that! Some of the meals are expensive but I think the quality of the cuisine justifies that; basically, you receive what you pay for!
Written 28 August 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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