Kent Dining Pub of the Year Finalist: The Black Horse Inn

The Black Horse Inn is a relaxed, rural, familyrun inn set in the Kentish countryside. Our three main offerings are food, drink and bed and breakfast rooms, which make us a unique and quite frankly stunning restaurant and B&B.

We have 34 modern Kentish barn-style rooms located around the grounds of the 18th-century Inn. We are set in the hamlet of Thurnham, a stone’s throw from Maidstone, Kent’s County town. The surroundings are idyllic, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and historically significant situated on the Pilgrims' Way.

We work closely with a lot of local suppliers as we believe it is very important to support local businesses wherever we can. We take pride in being a freehold pub, which gives us the opportunity to work directly with local breweries and distilleries. Buying directly from the source enables us to create a great working relationship with some fantastic local companies/products.

An 18th-century inn, The Black Horse Inn has been a refuge providing welcome rest, food and sustenance and, more importantly, watering weary travellers for hundreds of years. The selection of ale and wine is second to none, and testament to many years of experience providing excellent hospitality.

The ale and wine offering at The Black Horse has a similar ethos to the food: to use locally[1]sourced suppliers, brewers and wineries to provide a wide and varied selection of products that are able to stand up against more mainstream competitors.

Alongside mainstream brands on the bar, Curious Brew is offered as a lager alternative. This is a delight: crisp, dry and refreshing. Having this on the bar really stands The Black Horse Inn apart from others locally. The ‘infamous’ Biddenden Cider is also available on the bar and at 8.4% abv not for the faint-hearted.

It also offers one of the best selections of real ale in Maidstone. With four hand pumps that change ales frequently, offering an excellent variety of local ales - from the Whitstable Brewery, Westerham Brewery, Old Dairy Brewery and Musket Brewery to more countrywide ales from further afield like Sharp’s Brewery, Adnams Brewery, Fullers and Wells and Young’s and even as far afield as the Caledonian Brewery - there is something for everyone.

The extensive wine list covers all needs and tastes but also adds some local variety with the addition of several award-winning English wines, also from Chapel Down in the Weald of Kent. There is a wine to match all of the food on the menu, including a selection of ports and dessert wine.