Harden's says
This 17th century farmhouse just outside Deal, Kent provides five luxury rooms, with a restaurant opening in 2023 in the refurbished barn - until then, there's a pergola for al fresco dining.
Harden's survey result
Summary
“A bit hidden away, right down on the south coast of Kent, but really worth the trek” – this “idyllic” 17th-century farmstead (now hotel and restaurant) is overseen by Oli Brown and FOH Ruth, the daughter of Le Café Anglais founder Rowley Leigh, where Oli used to work. Alongside its many local fans in our diners’ poll, it’s now also a “hangout for the chattering classes down from London”, who arrive at the “charming farmhouse and wander down to the bottom of the garden” to the conservatory dining room, which turns out “delicious, open fire-grilled” seasonal fare in a “magical” setting beneath the vines.
Summary
Oli Brown (ex-of Rowley Leigh’s Le Café Anglais) and FOH Ruth (Leigh’s daughter) are behind this “brilliant place, both food and hotel”, set in a “gorgeous location”: a seventeenth-century farmhouse on seven acres, where guests eat in an open conservatory. The “truly delightful menu” is short and hyper-seasonal, with everything cooked over wood in the open kitchen and, while service can be “a bit on the slow side”, the “ambience means that it goes relatively unnoticed”. In 2022, Grace Dent called it “one of those places that shows how life could be” – high praise indeed! NB – open Thu-Sat dinner and Fri-Sat lunch, with a bargain £40 per person summer set menu on Thu night.
For 33 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).
Have you eaten at Updown?
Updown Road, Deal, CT14 OEF
Prices
| Availability | 2 courses | 3 courses |  |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SundayLunch | £40.00 |  |
|
|
Traditional European menu
| Starter | Main | Pudding |
|---|---|---|
| £11.50 | £24.00 | £12.00 |
| Drinks |
|
|---|---|
| Wine per bottle | £30.00 |
| Filter Coffee | £4.00 |
| Extras |
|
|---|---|
| Bread | £8.00 |
| Service | 10.00% |
Updown Road, Deal, CT14 OEF
Opening hours
| Monday | 6 pm‑9:30 pm |
| Tuesday | 6 pm‑9:30 pm |
| Wednesday | 6 pm‑9:30 pm |
| Thursday | 6 pm‑9:30 pm |
| Friday | 12 pm‑3 pm, 6 pm‑9:30 pm |
| Saturday | 12 pm‑3 pm, 6 pm‑9:30 pm |
| Sunday | 12 pm‑4 pm |
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