A great family meal at The Pig & Sty, Bethersden

The Pig & Sty in Bethersden, Kent, is quite possibly one of the most family-friendly pubs we’ve visited to date – before you even get to the food. 

It has a decent outdoor play structure and an incredible food-themed activity pack for visiting children, making younger members of any group feel instantly welcome. The kids’ menu also offers plenty of choice, without feeling like an afterthought. 

Part of the Elite Pubs group, The Pig & Sty is a truly beautiful space. Inside, it’s airy and stylish with a great sense of character. The bar area sits separately from the main dining space – and if you are dining, be sure to check out the small room off the main dining area dedicated to the renowned Stevenson Brothers (also based in Bethersden). Their rocking horses have an incredible international reputation and the room is filled with fascinating displays, including photos of their horses being made, tools of the trade and rocking horse parts. 

Our table was in the main dining room, with a perfect view of the enormous pizza oven – which, as it turns out, was dangerously tempting. 

My son and I shared two courses, starting with the halloumi fries (£7). These were beautifully crisp on the outside, deliciously squidgy and squeaky in the middle, and served with a punchy paprika aioli. 

With the pizza oven constantly in view, we followed this with the Santa’s Treat pizza (£16.25), topped generously with roast turkey, pigs in blankets, mozzarella, cranberry sauce, Brie and sage. Festive without being gimmicky, the toppings were plentiful and the crust was beautifully chewy. 

We also ordered a side of garlic butter (£2) from the “Crust and Chip Dippers” section of the menu, intending to dunk our crusts. Unfortunately, this didn’t work out: it arrived as three solid, cold slices of garlic butter, which definitely weren’t dunkable. 

The food itself was excellent and the service was friendly and warm, but there was one notable downside: the wait. Our mains arrived around 40 minutes after our starter plates had been cleared. With a little warning that this would likely, it wouldn’t have been such a problem – I totally understand a wait during busy times, but it’s good to be able to manage expectations. 

That aside, The Pig & Sty is a gorgeous Bethersden pub serving beautiful food in a relaxed, welcoming setting. It’s a wonderful place for families and, despite the timing issue, it was a great meal overall. I’m looking forward to trying out more Elite Pubs venues soon…