William The Conqueror

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#19 of 87 Restaurants in RyeBar, British, ££ - £££

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William The Conqueror

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About

William The Conqueror is a family-friendly pub on the banks of the River Rother. Situated in bustling Rye Harbour, it is the perfect place to while away some time watching the world go by. The harbour is home to a Nature Reserve and is a Site of Special Scientific Interest so there is plenty of wildlife to spot. As the Pub name suggests, the area is famous for being the site of the Norman invasion, and there are countless references locally for history fans. The pub is popular for its Real Ales and has featured in the Good Pub Guide. The new and improved Menu features dishes from around the world, with emphasis on locally sourced Fish and Mediterranean Specialities. Dogs are welcome!

Features

CUISINES

Bar, British, Pub, Gastropub

Meal types

Lunch, Dinner

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options

FEATURES

Accepts Credit Cards

American Express

Dog Friendly

Family style

Free off-street parking

Free Wifi

Full Bar

Gift Cards Available

Highchairs Available

Mastercard

Non-smoking restaurants

Outdoor Seating

Parking Available

Reservations

Seating

Serves Alcohol

Street Parking

Table Service

Visa

Wheelchair Accessible

Wine and Beer

Location

Rye Harbour Rye Harbour, Rye TN31 7TU England

Free off-street parking, Parking Available, Street Parking

Is this restaurant good for special occasions?

Yes

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Hours

Suggest an edit

Closed now

• Opens at 12:00 PM

Sunday

12:00 - 18:00

Monday

12:00 - 17:00

Tuesday

12:00 - 17:00

Wednesday

12:00 - 17:00

Thursday

12:00 - 22:00

Friday

12:00 - 22:00

Saturday

12:00 - 21:00

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4.1

731 reviews

Excellent

375

Very good

184

Average

Poor

Terrible

Charles S

Northamptonshire1041 contributions

Location, Location, Location!

May 2024 • family

The William the Conqueror public house is in the perfect location for visitors to Rye Harbour. Off road parking is limited along the road but a space was found. The pub has table seating inside but is absolutely perfect with its adjacent garden seating opposite, particularly on a hot sunny day. We had drinks ordered from the inside bar (from the red haired barman who looks like Ed Sheeran) and later enjoyed some Turkish style dips with pitta bread - dippy dippy! A lovely afternoon. Recommended.

Written 1 June 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.

Maria Smallwood

Hello, thank you for your review and comments

Written 11 June 2024

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Geoff H

Sissinghurst18121 contributions

Can certaily recommend

Jun 2024 • friends

The welcome from the friendly, helpful staff was in direct contrast to the drizzly (summer?) day outside. Our drinks and food order was dealt with promptly. The menu is mainly Greek and Cyprus based but there are some English choices and our food was well-presented, tasted delicious and was ample in size. Although this establishment could take advantage of its unique position near to the Rye Harbour Nature Reserve (and overcharge!), this does not happen. Can certainly recommend (especially for a Sunday lunch and walk round the Nature Reserve afterwards, as we did with friends).

Written 30 June 2024

Maria Smallwood

Hello, thank you for your review and comments. Hope to welcome you back soon

Written 2 July 2024

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Richard M

12 contributions

A perfect lunch

Aug 2022 • none

My wife and I lunched here today because we had seen it in the CAMRA beer guide. My wife had the Halloumi salad which was roasted peppers,red onions, cherry tomatoes, asparagus, baby leaf salad in a balsamic dressing. I had the Halloumi , roasted peppers, red onions,maybe something else, on a flatbread with chips and again nicely dressed, mine appropriately on a hot plate and hot chips.The portion size was generous and they cost £12 each. Service was good, nice cutlery and 2 good pints and mine host was very pleasant. It was a perfect summer day and we ate outside and it could'nt have been nicer. A long time since I've had this Cypriot cheese but will have it more often now.

Written 9 August 2022

Luk

Dear Richard thank you for such a lovely comments. Hope to see you soon on your next visit to Rye Harbour. Many thanks Luk

Written 10 August 2022

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Glenis B

4 contributions

Lunch time disastrous experience

Aug 2024 • family

We ordered drinks then meals when pub was not very busy and heard staff tell other customers after half an hour that there was no fried food available.more people were arriving and we asked what appeared to be manageress what was going on by now getting on for an hour after arrival she stated we should have been told when ordering no chips available and expect at least 40 min wait as they were short staffed. Our meals had substitute items in stead of chips and didn't appeared to have been freshly cooked ,the meats were not hot. Staff did not come to table to ask whether we were satisfied and we definitely were not leaving half the meals, and were presented with full price bill.we will not be returning to this pub.

Written 21 August 2024

Maria Smallwood

Hello monkey46, we are very sorry that you visited us on a very difficult day. Unfortunately our fryers all seized up on this particular day, while it was extremely busy and after we already had a large number of orders to fulfill. The kitchen staff tried their best, but it was not possible to get the fryers to work. Our serving staff and manageress did their best to cope with the chaotic situation, by going out to customers waiting for food and explaining the situation and offering alternatives to fries. Thankfully most customers were understanding and supportive, however, there were those that did not understand that this was totally out of our control and by no means how our service normally runs and how our food is presented. In our industry unfortunately things like this happen, equipment fail us and we can only do what we can to cope with the situation. We are proud of how our staff handled this very distressing and difficult situation

Written 22 August 2024

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Joan A

London13 contributions

Disappointing

Sept 2024 • couples

We had been before, and had simple whitebait and chips, which was ok, this time we were very disappointed. My husband chose the fish and chips. The fish was cooked but the batter was not, it was oily and raw on the inside, very unpleasant. I had the moussaka, which was served with a 'salad' the tiny portion of moussaka lacked taste, there was very little meat and courgettes had been substituted for aubergine, not what I expected from a moussaka. The salad was a watery and tasteless tomato cut in quarters with a little chopped cucumber and a couple of thin slices of green pepper with a sliver of feta cheese on top. Moussaka priced at £17.50 was extortionate! Nobody came to ask if we were ok, and we left quite a while after finishing our meal but our plates were still there when we left. We won't be going back.

Written 19 September 2024

MRS KIM ELLIS

London17 contributions

Nice pub, very small portions.

Sept 2023 • family

Had warm chicken salad which was nice, but got a "mini meze" as a takeaway, the Cyprus sausage was like something from mattersons! The smallest pot of humous, pitta bread, the Cucumber, tomatoes were nice, £14? Ask for olives to go with it a small pot consisting of 5 black olives and 1 green, £4??? You sure?!! It's a nice pub and outside area but I think I'd just use it as a pub!!

Written 12 September 2023

Lollipopsbaby

Marina Romea584 contributions

Staff so friendly but food average but high cost

Aug 2024 • family

After reading reviews we came to try and we are 2 kids 2 adults and was really looking forward to dinner however left feeling sad . I never mind paying for a good meal . We all ordered different and a burger was burnt and over cooked plus all chips were lukewarm warm . Our bill was nearly £100 and we only had a drink each . I would expect to get fresh tartar sauce with fish and chips at that price not a pkt . Left feeling sad and cheated and it was our 6 yr old who pointed out about the burger . You just need to up your game especially as the holiday season won’t last . Lots of dogs there which is nice to see and outside seating

Written 14 August 2024

Maria Smallwood

Hello Lollipopsbaby, thank you for your review and we are sorry that you did not enjoy your meal at our pub. It is a shame you didn't point out your dislike of the food you ordered to our staff at the time, so they could offer you an alternative item or to re-make your meals. We don't believe we are expensive, in fact we compare very favourably compared to other pub restaurants in the Rye area and East Sussex in general. We do try to offer a good food experience to our customers and do welcome all comments, so thank you for your feedback

Written 22 August 2024

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Lester B

Orpington36 contributions

Beautiful pub, not great food

Sept 2022 • couples

Lovely looking pub with lots of outside seating and friendly staff. Sadly, the food wasn’t very good. We popped in for lunch at the start of a few days staying in Rye, a nicely busy Thursday lunch time, Sun out and a good buzz about the place. There was a specials menu and a standard menu too - Sadly, despite the menu seeming to be quite extensive, the choices were limited to variations on Greek dishes in various combinations or burgers and Fish n Chips - we went for a chicken souvlaki and a mixed souvlaki (chicken and Cypriot sausage) - food arrived quite promptly but really wasn’t great. Chicken and sausage was warm and dry , didn’t feel like it was freshly cooked but perhaps cooked en masse and kept warm until needed ? Sausage had a strange and overpowering taste (not a pleasant spiced chorizo or continental salami nor any smoked sausages etc ). Couldn’t eat it and felt Ill for most of the afternoon. Great venue and staff . .. Not great food

Written 23 September 2022

Luk

Thank you for your review. We are disappointed you didn't enjoy your food. Hope you will give us another chance.

Written 27 September 2022

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Izzi R

Hastings23 contributions

Sadly a poor experience

Apr 2023 • couples

We have visited many times before and had lovely experiences but we walked to the pub today and found it shocking. There were 9 filthy tables outside and the kitchen had been closed because ‘they didn’t think it would be as busy as it had been’. It was a sunny day in the school holidays - shocking that they didn’t expect to be busy. We came for lunch and couldn’t even get just some chips. Waiters walked past us delivering food and didn’t even attempt to clear the tables that were overflowing with dirty plates and glasses. A sad experience and one that is unusual given we have had many superb meals here before.

Written 4 April 2023

Luk

Hello and Thank you for taking your time and opportunity to express your disappointment in our establishment that we shut our kitchen today for approximately 1h. Unfortunately we had to make that decision as after a really busy lunch as you could see with an uncleared tablet outside we didn't want to make our guests disappointed with the wait time or product availability. We do proud ourselves with good service and freshly made products. We were ready for a busy day but unfortunately not everyone was available to work today. It's a shame you have not asked to speak to a manager as he will probably try to accommodate your needs. Shame as u said in your review that you visited us several times before and never left any positive reviews unfortunately today's experience you scored us really bad. I do apologise one more time and. Thank you for taking your time and giving us your feedback. Thank you

Written 4 April 2023

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Steve_of_N21

London3643 contributions

The only pub left in Rye Harbour but fortunately it’s a good one.

Aug 2023 • couples

With the Inkerman Arms up the road not reopening after the pandemic lockdowns this leaves the William the Conqueror as the last man standing in Rye Harbour and the only place for an ale for those exploring the Rye Harbour nature reserve or those holidaymakers who get fed up with the on-site bar at the Rye Harbour Holiday camp. Fortunately, it’s a fairly decent Shepherd Neame pub providing beer and food for the few locals and the tourist hordes in the summer months. From the outside it looks very much like a lot of the houses that sit on one side of this dead end road and could easily be mistaken for one if it wasn’t for the pub branding and the outside seating area opposite. Internally it is a long thin space with a nautical theme throughout. The front section has seating on both sides of the central walkway and benefits from the large bay window to the left. The second section has the bar on the left and seating to the wall on the right and then beyond the bar is an additional room set to wooden tables and chairs. The outside space opposite the pub has a mixture of open tables and individual beach hut style undercover booths. The bar supports three Shep Neame ales which were Master Brew, Whitstable Bay and Citra Smack for our visit and there was Spitfire Bear Island, West Coast, IPA and Whitstable lager on keg. I went for the Citra Smack, and it was on excellent form and probably a better pint than the one of the same beer I experienced in Hastings the previous day. Although we did not try it the food menu was interesting as I believe the current landlord is Cypriot and the menu was a mix of traditional Greek dishes alongside the usual fish and seafood dishes.  I thought it was a good pub and hope it thrives and survives. If not there will be a lot of thirsty and hungry people walking the nature reserve in future.

Written 5 September 2023

Maria Smallwood

Hello Steve, thankyou for your review and comments

Written 16 September 2023

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

bill b

22 contributions

bad experience

Jul 2023 • family

80th meal for mum. main dishes - chicken souvlaki was disappointing over dry chicken [to long under heat lamp maybe) served on soggy wet pita - not nice. Fish batter was seriously over greasy with the fish & chips. Service was not good at all, waitress disappeared not helpful, lovely location let down by waiting staff & poor food.

Written 30 December 2023

Greg Conner

Hello, Bill I am very disappointed to hear about your experience, Please know this is not the standards we have at The William The Conqueror as you can see by our reviews. Please can you contact me on gregconnerksmpubs@outlook.com so i receive more information of you regarding your visit and be rest assured i will do a full investigation.

Written 4 January 2024

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Berry527

Suffolk273 contributions

Fantastic food and extremely dog friendly

Mar 2023 • couples

Can't recommend this place enough. Booked it thinking it was in Rye...its Rye Harbour which is quite a way out; perfectly walkable on a summers evening but not in March in the dark. We took the short drive, parking free for patrons. This is fantastically dog friendly which was the reason we chose it. Greek themed and everything cooked to perfection. I went for tiger prawns to start: they had run out of moussaka so had to go for a Cyprus mix; it was divine. Hubby had grilled halloumi followed by classic beef burger then fudge cake. I finished mine off with a cocktail. Loads of choice, welcoming staff to all including 4 legged variety. Highly recommended.

Written 4 March 2023

Luk

Hello. Thank you for such a great recommendation. It's a big pleasure to read your review. Will pass compliments to the team. See you soon.

Written 8 March 2023

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

spangle84

Orpington26 contributions

Disappointed

Mar 2022 • family

We visited Saturday lunchtime after many recommendations for this pub. There were 4 adults and a toddler. We ordered sharing starters of the Mixed Mini Meze which was nice, although pretty heavy on the sausage which was half the plate and only 2 slices of halloumi. It was nice enough though and enjoyed. We hadn’t finished our starters when the waitress without even a word started putting all our mains on the table. It was a fairly small table so we ended up rushing to move everything out of the way. Then she tried to give us someone else’s food which we questioned and she didn’t seem to know what the dish was she was putting down. Another 2 waitresses came to intervene and off they went to sort it out. They hadn’t even collected the starter plates before trying to put everything down so it was a big mess to be honest. We had to put the remainder of our starters on our plates with our mains. The food was ok, my chicken burger was poor (it was chewy and too thin, I expected a breaded chicken breast), the beef burger and fish and chips were enjoyed. The Cyprus Mix was a little disappointing. The real issue for me was desserts. 2 of us had the waffle which were clearly taken out of a packet and put on a plate, not even warmed with a single scoop of ice cream on top and a pool of butterscotch sauce (again clearly cheap bottle sauce and overly runny). I’ve never had a waffle served cold before and it wasn’t pleasant. The baklava I would guess is pre packaged too as we have had far nicer in Greek and Turkish restaurants. I asked if there was a toddler size dessert I could order and was told they did an ice cream sundae for little ones. So I ordered my 2.5yr old it. What came was a scoop of ice cream in a sundae glass with far too much toffee sauce and a squirt of cream on top. We were charged £4.50 for it and it was so sweet he ate 2 spoons and gave up. The service let this place down so much. We had to go and get a waitress 3 separate times - were in there for over 2hrs and didn’t plan to be. It was clearly busy and you can appreciate that it drops a a bit but honestly it was hard to pay for our meal and get out. Out of 3 waitresses we saw in our time only one of them smiled. The one who mainly dealt with us was downright miserable to be perfectly honest. She flung plates down and when asked for extra like a sauce or a drink just seemed huffy. The bill came to £157, which for what we got was far too high. We paid £3.50 for a pint of cola. If the food had been as amazing as we had been told and the service even just average we probably wouldn’t think anything of it. After all the recommendations I suppose we just expected more but genuinely we were disappointed by the whole experience and have no plans to return.

Written 12 March 2022

Luk

We are disappointed to hear that you did not have a more positive experience with us at William the Conqueror Thank you again for taking the time to let us know how we can improve.

Written 13 March 2022

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Lauren

39 contributions

Service lacking, food ok

May 2022 • family

We got there when it was quite busy, some people at a table who were just leaving said we could have their table, so we sat down with our two young children. But we were then told that there were others there before us so had to get up to stand at the bar and wait with our 2 year old and 4 year old - not an ideal start, especially as there was no sign when you enter to say that you have to wait to be seated. We were then put in the corner, probably a bit out of sight because of said kids (who are very well behaved!). The food came and was ok - fish on fish and chips was good, but standard accompaniments, the Cypriot slouvaki flatbread nice but to be honest, expected it to be better seeing as a speciality. The real issue was that we were then just left with our plates in front of us for a long time and in the end had to go to the bar and pay on our way out. We would have ordered more drinks and dessert but left it because we were ignored. Wouldn’t recommend, service needs to be improved.

Written 29 May 2022

Luk

Dear Lauren thank you for taking your time to leave us a review. I'm disappointed that you didn't have more positive experience with us on this occasion. We always pride ourselves on giving the very best experience but we accept that we slipped up. I will take all comments on board and feedback to the team. Many thanks Luk

Written 31 May 2022

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Lizzie H

London37 contributions

Low point of our holiday

Apr 2022 • couples

We had high expectations for WTC after reading so many positive reviews online. We visited after a walk around the Rye Nature Reserve, and at the end of a mini break to Rye, unfortunately it turned out to be a huge mistake and the worst place we visited the entire trip. They have a good sized garden which looks like it would be lovely in the summer. We arrived without a booking but they were able to seat us straight away. The table hadn't been cleaned since the last people and had a large coffee spill across it, the staff member who sat us said he'd be straight back to clean it but we didn't see him again and it wasn't cleaned the entire of our visit. It took a long time to be served, and only after trying to catch the attention of someone for several minutes. Our drinks and starters came quickly. We had the whitebait and the stuffed peppers, both were really tasty and the highlight of the visit. However, no one checked to ask if things were okay, and the plates were only cleared when our mains were brought over quite a while later. When putting the mains on the table the waitress tipped the plate and dropped several chips from my husband's plate onto the table as well as into my lap, on the floor, and down the waitresses top. It was obviously a mistake and she was very apologetic, she said she'd bring over some additional chips to make up for the loss but she never did. I had the Cyprus mix which was nice, but the knife I had was so blunt I struggled to cut through the pita and ended up leaving half. Again, no one asked how things were, even when clearing the plate and seeing how much was left. It was our last visit before heading home from our break and it was a huge disappointment to end on such a low point.

Written 2 April 2022

Maria S

Dear Lizzie, thank you for taking the time to write a review and list the points that disappointed you while you visited our pub. We take criticism very seriously and all your points will be addressed. We apologise for the points you mentioned and for not offering you the best service on this occasion. We strive to serve good food and offer great service, however, mistakes happen and from them we can learn and improve. Again our apologies.

Written 4 April 2022

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.