The Rose, Overy Street, Dartford: reviewed Jan 2004 (From News Shopper)

The Rose, Overy Street, Dartford: reviewed Jan 2004

9:52am Tuesday 20th January 2004 in

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Food: n/a

Drink: ***

Atmosphere: *****

Decor: **

Price: ****

Just two days after man mountain Andy "The Viking" Fordham was crowned world darts champion, I visited his pub to soak up the atmosphere.Congratulations banners were hanging from the walls and a large £50,000 cheque rested on the bottles of spirits behind the pine-panelled bar. Now, it is not often I get the opportunity to break an exclusive in Pubspy so I shall savour the moment. Part of the £50,000 prize money which the 30-stone landlord took home is going into building a new kitchen in the pub so gourmands, watch this space. But that does mean food is, at present, off the menu. The sign outside reading bar food translates only as crisps until it is finished. It seemed I was not the only one hoping some of the champion's magic would rub off on me because the pub was busy for a weekday afternoon. A man and woman played darts on the amazingly unimpressive dart board (the ring around it is white with ROSE written in black marker pen). I don't know what I was expecting. Actually I do a personalised board with Champ or The Viking or at least something to acknowledge the significance of the landlord but I suppose that is a sign of the man's modesty. In fact, there is just one picture of Andy above the bar. In a nod to the landlord, a lager fan whose favourite tipple is Holsten Pils, and due to the lack of real ale, I opted for a pint of Fosters at somewhere around the £2.40 mark.The pub's carpet is well worn, there is no car park and the red velvet seats have the odd hole but when you are bathing in the glory of a world-class athlete, these things don't seem to matter so much. There are some who try to argue darts is not a proper sport. Rubbish. Any sport which can be improved by drinking is far superior in my bleary eyes. As Mr Fordham himself has said: "My trainers aren't for show. I'm an athlete." And who would dare to argue?