The Punch Tavern in Canterbury

I've given this a four star due to last time we went we had to wait a long time for new meats to come out of the kitchen. It was December but not at all as busy as a Sunday lunch time and just felt that the meats were being kept back until more tables were full. Asked twice when it would be out due to my 81yr old mother being a diabetic and was told we are getting ready to bring it out. But took a long time. However, the food there is always DELICIOUS!!! The carvery is so good and value for money too! Have never had problems with fresh food coming to the carvery before so even though a four star due to our last visit we will be returning many more times again this year as we as a family all meet there. WOULD STILL RECOMMEND AS FOOD IS LOVELY...I ALSO BELIEVE THEY HAVE REAL ROAST POTATOES TOO NOT YUCKY AUNT BESSIE STYLE THINGS!!! DEFO WORTH A VISIT.

We had a carvery here with friends. The meat was absolutely delicious, however the veg was a little too al dente for my liking. I normally enjoy cauliflower cheese, but on this occasion, I couldn't even get my knife into it. Very good value and we will go back at some time when in the area

The only redeaming feature was the lovely lady who served us. The pub is very run down, very cold in certain parts, the windows desperately need replacing they were rotten, as were parts of the wall. There was a hole in the floor under the very dirty carpet. The extractor fan for the pizza oven is extremely loud and was giving one of our party a migraine. The pizza was so thin it was like eating flaky cardboard and the chips were hard. The app to order wouldn't work properly so we had to go to the bar to order, the poor lady was on her own taking orders and serving drinks so it took forever. We had to take cuttlery from another table, our table seated 6 but there was only 2 sets. 2 of our party had almost finished their carvery by the time our food came out. There was also not hot water in the ladies toilet for hand washing, only cold. This pub is in desperate need of a refurb. However the macaroni cheese was nice.

Great experience for our Boxing Day meal out.

Lovely meal , accommodation for wheelchair, lovely staff , great food , tipping difficult as pay before and no one uses cash anymore so this should be looked into. I was sick early hours after but my stomach is very sensitive, everyone else absolutely fine and the food tasted amazing xx was festive menu for 6 adults. Thankyou ladies

Nice Christmas Dinner. Lovely service. Abby especially is always really friendly and attentive to our needs..

It is very popular place, but is hard to find anything for recommendations. Maybe the car park is something that I can recommend. The building from outside looks nice too, but inside is just a "cheap and fast" restaurant with tables and chairs.

Very friendly a lovely quick and easy meal

Bar service always friendly, could do with organising who gets served in correct order, as no queuing system in place. Sadly carvery meal on this visit was very poor, all meats served up in very small pieces and more like powder in some cases, roast potatoes and most veg all very dry. The sweats were served at our table and have to say were very nice.

No effective WiFi in house to order from the table Not big enough standard portion, you have to go large to get a decent dinner

Good value buffet cooked breakfast with weak coffee. Better coffee from the bar!

Half price Maybe a tad more meat sometimes would be nice

Our visit was made more pleasant by the kind member of staff (young lady, can’t remember name) who showed us to the Santa Grotto room to take a photo of our family in front of Xmas tree. She went over and above, very helpful.

Good value,and the carvery was fresh

Chloe-Marie was very professional and helpful. 5 stars to Chloe!

Great roast as always.All good. Only thing to make sure staff keep an eye on the gravy bowls. Nice hot dinner then waiting for gravy to come out.

Excellent service by friendly staff. Carvery was excellent and possibly best we ever had. Special thanks to chef Caitlin and server Emily.

Great food either breakfast or main meal and being buffet you won't leave hungry,ha ha. I've been back again today and also last week so worth a visit for sure.

Table booked 6pm, table of 9. Starters took a while to be served but were nice. Mains a different matter. We thought they would never come. At 7:40, We saw plates of food (ours) being set up under the heat lamps on the counter. Only one of the lamps was on! They sat for 15 minutes getting cold. When asked what was going on, we were told they were waiting for chips. When finally delivered to our table, all the meals were stone cold, even the chips that they were waiting for were not fresh. The duty supervisor apologised and refuned the cost of these meals and said replacements would be coked for us. We were told that the pizzas would only take 10 minutes, the burgers slightly longer. We asked them to serve each plate as soon as they were ready rather than wait for all 9 to be ready. The last meal took 40 minutes! We left shortly after 9 pm with 2 very tired children. We did not have a good experience with you this evening, which is putting it mildly.

A great meal, with lovely friendly staff that were very accommodating and helpful . Thank you to Gary and Abbie for your service - we really appreciated it. A lovely meal had by 1- of us.

Thank you Carlin for nicely packed take away order and providing source separately.

Manager was very helpful the beef was very tough gammon dried out and hard turkey was very nice yet the week before everything was absolutely perfect no comparison

We had our son coming back to surprise the rest of the family from Australia, and we wanted 11 people all together and somewhere where they could all interact together. My son wanted a carvery and we come here regularly. Abi and Graham were especially accommodating and made it a lovely meal. Thanks to you both, it was appreciated. Kevin & Kellie.

Staring this by saying the food is great no problems what soever with that my issue is the poor communication. I contacted them various times over the last few weeks to book a click and collect on Christmas day this started in October to which I was told they won't know anything until the end of October to be eventually told a few days ago that they only could do it at 11.30am which isn't at all a time to have dinner but anyway I then spoke to them about my family of 6 dinning in on Christmas day to be told that they are fully booked but they have had a recent cancellation they will call me that day in a few hours confirm 2 days later no contact at all. Since then I know a family that I know has booked a table for Christmas day after I called. It's a shame really because we usually go once a month 9 of us and have a meal at the punch and when it's good weather we even bring the dog and eat outside and get him a cavary as well we won't be doing that anymore and have since found somewhere else to have Christmas dinner poor service and best of all the person I spoke to on the phone the last time was actually the manager so clearly leading by example.

Jimmy made some awesome pizzas. Recommend the hot honey porker.

Beautifuk food, friendly staff & good service!

Amazing place to eat and value for the money

Very disappointed with the carvery, it looked old and was luke warm

Vicky, who looked after our table, was great. The food tasted great, portion size was good. For those of you who are super hungry, there were plenty of options to super size your meal. Also, there are plenty of options available on the menu.

Arrived at breakfast close to end of session - Abi the chef ensured we still had the food we wanted and Jamie was courtesy and ensured we were 💯 happy. Fantastic service, will definitely return and recommend. Thank you.

Clean and tidy giid foid at affordable prices

Great food ie breakfast Not far from home 10mins First time of trying Thank you

The food was inedible for all four of us. The meat was all gristle and was all left. All of the vegetables were completely dried out and even with large amounts of gravy was difficult to eat and in the end left. The staff were friendly but that was not enough for us to ever come back it really was that poor.

The dinner was lovely, as usual. Staff very accommodating.

Abi's service was amazing, taking great care go make sure the food was all in line with my vegan diet. My family all had a good time and she looked after us very well. The food was good and excellent value for money.

Abi and Graham made the breakfast experience extremely pleasant and welcoming.

I went for sunday breakfast and had the breakfast buffet. Nice food, fair selection, great value for money at £6.99 for alm you can eat plus 49p extra for mushrooms. I was served by Abi and Graham who were fantastic.

Food ok for a carvery. Was absolutely packed so staff rushed off feet and service not good. Temperature inside was unbearably hot

Great place to eat, food is lovely, very friendly and helpful staff, great for wheelchair users, staff member vicki was very helpful and made our lunch out even better, we had a very nice afternoon

Very helpful member of staff who answered all our queries in a lovely way and helped us work out our order so that we felt really comfortable. We were celebrating a 71st birthday and it was made extra special because of her. Her name was Amy

My partner and I went out for my birthday meal and received the worst service imaginable , an old entitled woman decided to make comments about my partners assistance dog , she was saying that it’s wrong to have a dog in a restaurant and kept staring at my partner making her uncomfortable, she told the lady that our dog has a right to be there as much as she does. The lady kept whispering to her husband and making comments about Toby (dog) I asked an employee to get the manager to ask them to stop and the manager only came over to them and asked them “ is everything alright” and the couple said yes everything is fine , the lady carried on with her dagger staring and hateful comments , I once again asked the manager to talk to them but she only said she “ doesn’t want to cause a scene or upset them “ which was exactly what the old bat was doing to my partner making her cry and not eat her dinner , in the end I spoke to the manager one last time and she said she could move us when we were seated there first and didn’t see why we had to move when they were the problem at last they left but the manager did absolutely nothing to resolve the situation and only made my partner have a moderate panic attack and ruined my birthday .

I had attended for breakfast with my family and friends for my birthday. I have had Gastric surgery and can't eat a full breakfast. my partner went to order me a kids breakfast, he was refused and charged for a full adults meal. I took it upon myself to enquire about the possibility of having a kids meal due to my surgery. instantly the gentleman behind the bar became very defensive. I asked what the policy was and was told that they do not have a policy for people who have had surgery. I then told him that there used to be one. He then said that its no longer the policy as I can eat as much as my stomach can handle, with this I ask why would I want to pay a full adults meal for a sausage and a piece of bacon. don't get me wrong , I'm happy to pay for a meal but would rather pay for the kids one. I was told that I can't because I'm over the age of 12. With this I accepted what he had told me and headed back to my table, on the way I said to my daughter , that I'm won't be coming back here again. Once I reach my table ( just about to sit down) when the waitress had approached me with the gentleman from the bar. the waitress ask me if I would like a full refund. ( I was shocked 😲) I looked at the table and saw that some of my family and friends were eating their food. I had decided that I was just going to sit down and just have an expensive breakfast 🙃. the waitress was rude and not understanding that I just wanted to sit and have breakfast with everyone, instead she kept saying that if your not coming back here again, why are you staying to eat? I explained that , I wouldn't be Return but will be enjoying the company with my friends and family as this is my birthday. The waitress then said that I was making a scene. I asked how I was making a scene when she approached me and loudly asked if I wanted a full refund with her arm raised pointing to the bar! The waitress just kept repeating herself and I then said to her that she is the one making a scene as all I did was ask the questions at the bar and then went back to the table. Apparently talking to my 12 year old, is me being offensive. So we all agreed to get a refund and leave! With this I did say to the waitress that if she wanted to chat with me because me talking to my daughter about not returning had offended her , I would have been happy to have a private conversation. This would have reduced the atmosphere. Needless to say that we all won't be returning there! We are now in weatherspoons in Herne bay and it's lovely 😍

Good food and friendly staff. Erin was very attentive and not overbearing

AVOID. Wow, what a painful experience this was. I never ate so fast in my life! The carvery was so so so bland and tasteless. Gravy was like dishwater, potatoes were muck and the chef was walking around like he was lost. Got more fat and bone than meat. Queued for like 3 hours, more flies then staff and I couldn’t breath in there it was that hot. But the wasn’t the worse part. We booked for 4 and they said we booked for 2, so then us FOUR adults got put in the family section, surrounded by crying babies, chairs flown about and loudest atmosphere I’ve ever experienced! Honestly would not go no where near here, downed my drink and literally ran out!!!

Had a lovely belated carvey meal with my partner yesterday food was lovely presented hot and plenty to chose from well done to everyone at punch tavern

We love an all you can eat breakfast at the punch tavern 😁

Thor's had been here since I was a kid, I'm 48 now. It's a great place to take the kids And not to dear 🥰

Stop here for a lunch with some kids on a wet Saturday. Staff were friendly and the food was extremely good value. Carvery for £8.95 is a bargain.

as always the staff were helpful and friendly and the food served up was hot and tasty, we have no complaints . we keep coming back as its one of our favourites places to visit

Great pub good selection of food nice Gardens good selection of desserts including unlimited ice cream

Generally a pleasant experience. Price/value was good. The burger I had wasn't quite to my liking. Drink quality was good as was the service.

The punch tavern arranged a wake and certainly looked after us very well. The food was hot and very tasty and we did not need to wait at all, I highly commend Abigail who nothing was too trouble and made it a highly pleasurable experience. I would recommend greatly

Roast dinner everyday and best quality for money by far , loved it 😁. However, during the kids holiday it is absolutely packed , struggled to have a conversation with my friends 😂

Amazing Food, give it a go 10/10 Can't improve on perfection.

Excellent service always pleasant idea place to eat and drink.

Good value for money. Food was cooked well. Staff friendly and helpful. Abi ensured that we had everything we needed. Thank you.

Big place. Lots of parking. Cheap breakfast. Good quality food (not sure about breakfast pizza but I guess some like it ) But (like other examples of the chain) somewhat “hostile”. Pre payment (ok) before they issue you with a cup, 49p extra for mushrooms (against an all you can eat breakfast!) and just air of “we are checking you aren’t trying to get something for nothing”. It’s not the people it’s the way the business operates. Just feels unfriendly to me. I thought the first one of these I visited was a one off. Now I have been to a different one seems they are all the same. Wont rush to try another.

Paul was our waiter. He was very good and made sure we had everything we needed. He was polite and friendly. We will definitely return. Paul is an asset to the restaurant.

Quick and pleasant place to grab a Sunday lunch. Nothing outstanding just good honest food from the carvery.

Lovely food a good atmosphere and okay service would definitely come back again

Good service, we had a waiter called Paul, he was attentive and friendly and helpful . The food was tasty.

Amazing service as always. Served by Rob and Paul.

Nathan our server was absolutely fantastic and made sure that we were looked after. We had to move tables and Nathan ensured that we moved to a cooler space and changed our table number for us in the kitchen. Thanks Nathan!

Attention to detail for allergies

Rob and Paul was great! Made our visit very enjoyable! The food was amazing too! Love u both thanks so much ur so kind x

All round service was good, lots of staff, quick easy service in all areas Food hot and plentiful highly recommend

Lovely carvery and Paul was lovely. He went above and beyond to make sure we had a lovely experience.

Thank you Paul. Top notch service!

Always great food! Paul especially is always great with my children.

Abi and Graham were very accommodating .. food good..

Very courteous and efficient staff.

The food is lovely. Always best to get to the carvery early so you get the freshest food.

Lovely place to eat. Great for a carvery and not too pricey.

The staff were not attentive or helpful. The food was dry , not fresh and Definatly not worth the money . The free drink offered on app is a flavored soda water , not even allowed a Coke or lemonade . All in all really disappointed yet again .

Visited here with my husband, I ordered some small plates and my husband ordered a burger (on Mondays they do half price burgers) food was amazing!! I don't say this very often but credit where credit is due, the manager on shift was very attentive and we had a lovely little chat, sadly it didn't seem like they was as busy as they deserved to be, maybe it's not known well enough but I would fully reccomend anyone to try their burgers or the small plates (we didn't try the carvery or anything else)

Paul was very polite and courteous. Food was good, atmosphere was nice and quiet which is what we were looking for on a Monday evening

Carvery on a Monday , Paul served us and was attentive and Friendly. Food great for the price.

My children state it's the best meal they have had even better than mums cooking. Pizza, roast and brownies eaten. The children want to come next week. Staff were very welcoming, friendly and down to earth, involving the children in the discission making.

Love the carvey and friendly staff

Great customer service and delicious food

This is the second time there. The first time was good. We ended having to cancel the food as after 30 minutes the starters of 2 soups had not arrive. When I went to cancel they were fine over this and helpful. One of the staff went to find how long the soup would take and said it would be another 10 minutes. We could not wait as had something else to go to in about 10 minutes time. Others were complaining and being told there starters would be about 30 minutes

Had the small plate roast, just as good as usual. What do you want for £4.49? £6.49 for normal plate, go big for extra £1.79. 30/6/22. New booking system!!! Doubtful progress!! I think it will cause confusion. But hey ho who am I to know, I'm only the customer. 23/9/22. Booking system seems to have been abandoned, along with being met at the door and taken to a table. Mush simpler to find your own table. We had Fish & Chips today. Very nice, and good value at 2.4. £12. 12/12/22 All you can eat breakfast. We'll worth it, as long as you're not expecting posh nosh. Traditional English fried breakfast. Very nice. 18/6/23 All you can eat breakfast. 11/7/24 Small roast, not bad considering it was very a quiet, so no quick turnover of food........ Why oh why do waiting staff cal mixed couples "GUYS"? I am not a guy, never have been, never will be. I have the wrong accoutrements to be a GUY. Please use an alternative, folks, people, Sir or Madam would be even better. There are plenty of alternatives. Not just the Punch do this, it's a common thing, amongst waiting staff, and it is really annoying, if you're a female, and proud to be so. That's it rant over. The staff are all lovely.

Abi and Graham was extremely helpful and made the whole experience 10/10 all round I would highly recommend coming down for a yummy breakfast and dinner 💚💚💚 Well done guys smashed it again like always

Went to carvery for my birthday and had such a lovely time, I fluffed our order when I ordered but our server Tay went above and beyond to help us and was just so friendly. We had such a lovely meal, the food was amazing as usual and just wanted to say how much Tay did to make our evening so enjoyable.

We had a lovely carvery, always get here nice and early so it’s fresh! Val was lovely, super friendly and really helpful - and loved a chat! Thank you again :)

Visited with family. Food was great. Carvery staff fab. Bar staff not so good. Attitudes were a bit bad, ordered on their app. App is buggy as despite selecting meals on app, some went through wrong. Drinks came wrong. Kids meal missed off the desert despite it saying included on menu and was told to buy the kids pudding. Bar staff Attitudes made ir feel like it was our fault.

Nice chilled atmosphere. Food juicy, good temperature and tasty. Friendly staff

Really lovely restaurant. Staff are kind and lovely ♡

Paul made us feel welcome from the start. Ultra helpful , polite, attentive and very personable. A great asset to the pub chain

Beautiful carvery . Find is amazing . Staff are friendly. Great service . Definitely recommend 👌

Absolute disgusted about my visit here today. It was father's day a time to celebrate. Was not greeted hurried in, no hospitality or customer service whatsoever. Food was horrible. Did not cater to my diatery requirements. Overpriced garbage. We're not going back again.

Friendly and quick service. Good food 👍

A Very Comfortable/cosy place, friendly staff and great food

We just popped in as we were driving past one day. We hadn’t been in for about 10 years. We found the roast was brilliant. Everything was perfect. The staff were more than helpful. A very nice experience and we are planning on going back next month.

every time i go there its like heaven the food is amazingly fantastic and the service is always soo nice and its just a great place

Food pretty poor. All meats were overcooked. Beef was more fat than meat. Needed knife and fork to eat the gravy. Soon got cold. Did mention about beef to waitress. Just said she will pass it on.

Dave and Erin were great, very friendly, super service.

Always friendly atmosphere. Served by Mr Paul Horsfall. Very polite young man .

Lovely meal,Erin was so polite and attentive. She's an asset to Stonehouse,thankyou for looking after us so well.

Chef rude lady bar staff rude apart from thus food very good welcome good table service good