January 2025. Southborough. Kent.
A difficult week got trickier on Wednesday as Mrs RM’s Dad needed our urgent attention down in Kent.
All Michael wanted at the end of an urgent consultation was “a Chinese”, so it’s just as well we have attained Regular Status at Southborough’s top takeaway, as Mrs Meow only opens at lunchtime for regulars.
In Chung Hwa, Sang Lung and Meow’s I have 3 of the top places for Crispy Beef in the UK, and the £34 Meal for Three comfortably feeds Five. The mysterious brown paper bag houses the best prawn toast you’ll ever taste.
Michael perked up noticeably after lunch, and we took him on a pub crawl.
Well, actually we took him to the Imperial, the only pub in Southborough, and even that was looking a bit sad at 2pm.
The Imperial illustrates how far Shepherd Neame has fallen.
No Master Brew, no Spitfire, no Samuel Adams, just a forlorn hand pump hidden behind the beer mats and Sally Army tin dispensing a tired Whitstable Pale (NBSS 1.5).
No Neck Oil either, so for our keg craft we try something that might be aping Kernel;
“Small Batch” ? No idea, but it’s REALLY good, a better bet than Beavertown, and as the trade trickles in the Imperial feels a bit more like the cheery corner local it can be.
My father-in-law can’t finish his half, Mrs RM helps him out. I do hope he’s going to be OK.
retiredmartin 
You two have been amazingly attentive to all four parents. Quite a difficult situation. Hang in there.
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Originally a one-off brewed at Sheps on a 15bbl kit, so small batch by their standards, but the session IPA (Challenger/Jester/Mosaic/Amarillo) has now become part of their core range. They’ve also done an unfiltered lager, XPA and saison under the same brand.
Interesting that even in town Spitfire/MB are giving way to lone Whitstable Pales, been the case in village pubs for a while now.
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Interesting because I didn’t find it on their website.
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Shepherd Neame beers – even when they’re on – are utter cack.
Decent looking pubs but the beer is more often than not rank.
Best avoided.
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I fully agree with your comments regarding Sheps, anonymous. The company have some smashing pubs, but their cask offering (with the possible exception of Whitstable Bay, and the rarely encountered, Bishop’s Finger), is dire. Most local drinkers feel the same way.
These days, Shepherd Neame are basically a contract lager brewing company, despite all the razzmatazz about them being Britain’s oldest brewer.
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Excellent summary, Paul.
To be fair I probably have had a good Spitfire and a good Master Brew, singular, but they seem to have given up on cask to me and their pubs are lager strongholds, which is sad.
I intend to have a night in Faversham soon to see if their flagship pubs can deliver a decent pint of cask.
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