The Alma in Swale

Had lunch today at the Alma, where we have been to on many occasions. My mother in law ordered the salmon and she couldn’t manage the carrots as they were barely cooked. They were sautéed but were so under cooked that they were cold and hard to cut. We mentioned to the server, who happily took them back to the kitchen. The chef apparently said that they are meant to be like that as they are sautéed and nobody has ever complained before! My husband and I both stated that we couldn’t eat them either so the server returned to the kitchen again, and repeated that the chef said there wasn’t anything wrong with them. We have eaten them before elsewhere but these ones had barely hit the pan! We wasn’t happy and for the third attempt of saying the carrots were horrible, the server was finally sent out with some more carrots.The server was very apologetic and helpful but the chef stayed behind the scenes sending her out with unacceptable answers , leaving her to deal with our complaint. It’s not the food complaint that bothered us, as much as the response we got as diners from the chef. Rude! For what carrots cost…pennies realistically, we could have just been offered a fresh dish of carrots in the beginning and avoided the upset that spoilt our lunch.The drinks were horrendously expensive! £6 for a spritzer which included 50p for a splash of soda water! Desserts were a little pricey. One tiny, weeny scoop of ice cream on top of a dry bland slice of steamed sponge and dry over baked crumble. The ice cream was very cheap with no flavour and considering the price at nearly £7 a go, one of the worst desserts we’ve ever had!The lady who served us was polite, however, the chef was clearly not very customer friendly and the comments she relayed to us through our server were not helpful and bordering patronising. Our oldest son is a chef and when we told him, he said he would of nipped out to personally listen to our complaint and immediately replace the dish. Needless to say we didn’t leave our usual 15% tipFor this reason, after years of popping in , we shall not be returning…….hence 2 stars!

Dog friendly. Had a table for dinner. Good food and very friendly staff. Well worth a visit

This pub came highly recommended and was very handy as it was just 2 mins walk from the local camp site at Painters Farm. We did as advised and booked early and took one of the last Sunday lunch slots. It was perfect. Very friendly staff, great service and the best home made steak and kidney puddings with roast potatoes and veg. Oh and lots of nice Shepherd Neame beers on tap. Will definitely be returning.

Excellent home cooked food, large portions and friendly banter

I booked a table earlier in the day and we were really looking forward to having dinner here. We are staying in our motorhome in the campsite virtually a 10 minute walk away.On arrival, we were greeted? by a not very welcoming, I presume, landlord, sitting drinking with his regulars, who basically grunted that we had to sit in the public bar as we had our dog with us.I totally accept this as it is the rules of the pub but he did not need to be so rude!We were really looking forward to having dinner but have to say that this was the unfriendliest and coldest establishment that we have been to!We had a lovely day in Faversham but this pub ruined it!On a positive note, the food was good but the hospitality ruined it!!I hope the ? landlord is in a better mood when other people frequent here.Rosie Gray

A lovely lunch out at the Alma, my partner had steak and kidney pudding which he raved about. Friendly service, very reasonably priced and they allowed our large German Shepherd in too.

Wonderful atmosphere, staff extremely friendly and helpful. Definitely be going back thank you to all who made our birthday meals one to remember

Wonderful grub, lovely welcome - a very jolly lunch. Thank you

This is a lovely traditional Village pub. Unfortunately is was very quiet but then we did visit on a January evening when pubs are generally quieter. The staff were very welcoming and chatty. Looked at the food menu and it all seems to be reasonably priced. We will definitely go back.

First time here last night.Food was amazing ⭐⭐⭐⭐Staff friendly and welcoming.Lovely little pub tucked away in a beautiful village.