The Canbury Arms

This is great example of a fabulous local gastropub. I had the Braised Lamb Shoulder, Spring Greens, Sauté New Potatoes and Jus and my dinner partner had the butternut squash risotto from the specials. Both excellent. My lamb was piled with lamb and could have done with more greens, which is not the worse criticism in the world. We shared a bottle of the delicious NZ Taringi Savvy Blanc. Prices are not cheap, but quality is good and as good as any ‘proper’ restaurant. They had 2 – 3 course menus, which offered great value, but we didn’t go for that. The ambience is lovely. Buzzy, without being noisy and able to hear each other. Service was excellent. And I always give big thumbs up for the bottle of tap water without being asked.

This place is amazing. That’s all I can say really!
We’ve come here on a Wednesday for steak and wine (not sure if the deal is still going and can’t remember how much it is — sorry!) and it was delicious.
The pork belly is literally to die for and everything else is delicious too.
It’s a little expensive, but totally worth it.
The pub is decorated very nicely, it’s a calm atmosphere where you can go to read a newspaper without being disturbed.
It’s not a place you can go to lounge though (there are no comfy sofas or anything), as it’s more a gastro-​pub only for eating.
I would highly recommend this place. GO!

nice pub good selection average food

We attended the Canbury Arms at the weekend for the festive menu, we found it very disappointing indeed. For a pub to boast award winning food is truly abysmal. One dish came out burnt and dry and wasn’t offered a replacement just don’t pay for it by the rude staff. The potatoes where hard some of them cold, sprouts were so hard you could play golf with them. I do believe most of this food was microwaved.BADLY. It wasn’t a good start to Christmas and the table next to us thought the same. Award winning??? not in my life time.

First time to this pub, really nice, the staff are very friendly and helpful and accommodating towards my request.
I had organised a family tree function. The size of the Garden room was perfect. Your venue was easy to get too even though I am not familiar with the area. We managed to get parking easily.
Would I go back to this pub again? ”yes”.
I found the venue manager really helpful, he kept in touch with me on a regular basis before my event.
I didn’t have your food, but it all looked nice and presented well.
Thank you Canbury Arms

I have been for both evening meal and Sunday lunch. The evening choice seemed a bit more exciting than the Sunday fayre. Service was good — no complaints here. The Sunday lunch prices were very high i.e. £13 for beef and ale pie — without any veg/​potatoes on the side — add another 3.75 for veg (each). The roast beef was a couple of slices of roast beef — with a yorkshire pud — and no veg — at a whopping £15 — this was OK quality — but pricey. The Canbury owners had another pub in Kingston — the Kelly Arms — again the prices were on the steep side for the quality provided. Confusingly, the menu showed in the toilets showed prices 25% lower — do they hike up the prices for Sunday — or was this an old menu? Either way — big jump.
Food and atmosphere were fine — prices too high for now.

I’d been hearing good things about the Canbury Arms for a while, from several sources. Whenever I passed-​by, I noticed that it appeared to be thriving. I finally got around to visiting, recently — twice — both times on a Sunday. It was a tale of two cities though
The first time, on a late-​ish Sunday evening, it was pin-​droppingly quiet, to such a degree that we moved-​on, for a little more atmosphere. The second, during a late Sunday lunch-​time, we were lucky to get a table
The menu is enticing, with a mouthwatering selection of local specials and a good regular range, from sharing mezze platters to creative salads and mains. Due to its Sunday lunch popularity our choice had dwindled; although there was still plenty that appealed, our preferred options had already been consumed We were disappointed not to get to try the chili sesame squid, served with aioli, which looked fab.
I enjoyed my goats cheese and beetroot salad (£6.50), which was tasty, although unremarkable. My friend polished-​off his starter of grilled asparagus, rocket and parmesan but was unable to fully do justice to his roast lamb with ‘all-​the-​works’. The ale selection was comprehensive, from mainstream pub standards to Doom and Timothy Taylor, served in perfect condition. The wine list was pretty up-​market, priced accordingly.
The atmosphere was buzzy, not always easy to hear one’s own conversation — although still enjoyable. Service was efficient and understatedly professional. The décor is smart-​casual, reflecting the clientèle; I particularly liked the chilled South American beach-​side and seascape photos, adorning the walls.

This is a very good looking pub, but unfortunately has been gastropubbed into oblivion. All the tables are set up for diners (and often have ‘reserved’ signs on) and anyone actually wanting to sit and have a drink (god forbid) in the pub is shoved out into the conservatory area at the side.
The one really great thing they do is a wine promotion on Monday nights when they sell bottles at shop prices — great if you can find a table to drink it at.
If you do go for food it’s very tasty. However the place is always over run by toddlers and all terrain push chairs at weekends (and even some weeknights) which is pretty off putting.