Duck Inn

Really nice food! I had a delicious pork belly. The meat melted with a thin layer of belly fat, everything in a delicate sauce with some crunch on top and mash potatoes underneath. This was a quality dish and very abundant. We got chips on the side. The chunky style you expect to taste in the UK. My guess is that they were triple fried and homemade because you could taste the potato and it was super crunchy! We got invited to have a tour of the kitchen. And everything looked so good. The steak was clearly aged, the pork belly was super slow cooked in air free plastic bags. At the time i am writing this review my stomack is still full from all the overeating we did there… Still super worth it and happy to finish 2014 on such a high!

The Duck Inn is a lovely little country pub. My fiancée and I have been there on numerous occasions, for both drinks and food. The beer festival held during the summer is a particular favorite for us. As a fan of real ale, the ever-​changing barrels behind the bar are a great way to get to know some lesser known beers.
The food has always been good, but in recent months we’ve been blown away by the presentation, attention to detail, and most importantly taste! We are definitely planning to eat there more often.
Overall, the Duck Inn has a great atmosphere, cosy in the winter and great to sit outside in the garden during summer. Excellent food and drinks, friendly staff, highly recommended!

A B&B in a pub seems the best of both worlds, particularly when the pub in question is a drive away from anywhere. Ideally, you have good food, good beer, good company and a nice room. The Duck Inn provides most of this.
The Duck Inn is a true country pub near Canterbury, in the wonderfully named ‘Petts Bottom’. It is surrounded by fields, and indeed, the back garden contains chickens and a thriving vegetable patch (though the hose wants to be careful — the Malamute dog attacks it mercilessly).
The interior is well appointed. The rear has a restaurant feel, whilst the front feels more like a traditional country pub. The bar isn’t huge, but, notably, behind the bar sits gravity fed barrels of beer (and cider). Sadly, on my visit, not all were in use, and so we were restricted to the sadly ubiquitous in Kent Shepherd Neame Master Brew — not one of my favourite ales. However, on the second night, they had the Tiger on gravity feed, which was a much nicer pint. It would be good to see a larger and more consistent selection of ales, however, speaking to the young landlord (Jon), they normally do have more. Just our bad luck, I guess.
The food is good. There is a wide selection, from pub standards such as pizza and burgers, to more ‘gourmet’ style offerings of steak or monkfish. The food was good, though, in truth, not amazingly so (sorry Jon and Vicky!). The breakfasts, on the other hand, were superb. We couldn’t have asked for fresher eggs, as they came for the aforementioned chickens.
The room was airy and pleasant, though it is worth noting that the bathrooms are not en-​suite, but there is a large bathroom next door to the double room we occupied, complete with both a bathtub and an independent shower unit, along with two sinks (and, of course, a toilet). The bedroom had a low to the floor, but large double bed, and a sofa. The furniture was, I believe, modern Ikea, but it was comfortable and inoffensive. The room had a couple of major lacks though — a lock on the door (not that we were worried about theft, but it does give a feeling of privacy) and a mirror. Also, whilst there were tea and coffee making facilities, there was no milk, so it was black coffee all around.
This doesn’t yet sound like a ringing endorsement, does it? The welcome we got was unparallelled, and more than made up for any deficiencies. Not only were Jon and Vicky (and their baby son) warm and hospitable, but the Friday night locals treated us like long lost relatives (the good kind). They bought us drinks, played Jenga (there is a good selection of books and board games. As an aside, many of the books are James Bond books, because Ian Fleming apparently drank there, and wrote one or two of his novels there), laughed with us, and made us feel more welcome than I can remember feeling in a long time. The pub stayed open late, and Vicky even brought out bacon sandwiches for the hungry yet wobbly patrons still remaining at that late time.
You do need a car for this pub. There is nothing around it. However, it is within easy reach of the nearest village (Bridge), and close to both Canterbury and Whitstable — two very pleasant Kent cities/​towns. There is a good sized car park in the back.
It would be good to see more beers there. The food could have been slightly better. A lock on the room would have been ideal. Yet I spent a thoroughly pleasant two days there. I would go back at the drop of a hat, and recommend you do the same.