KENT Restaurant Guide

A “small but perfectly formed” converted stable block that was initially part of the adjoining inn. It is all “about fish”, of which they have a “lovely selection”, best rounded off with one of the “excellent” puds.

2021 Review: Afternoon tea at this deluxe Elizabethan country house hotel can be a “great experience in beautiful surroundings”. Other aspects of the trip, however, “don’t always live up to the ambience”.

2023 Review: This low-key daytime-only wholefood eco-store and café (with Thursday evening ‘supperclub socials’) started out 10 years ago as a pop-up street stall and now occupies a century-old joinery workshop in a mews. The “hearty” breakfasts, light bites and lunches win consistently good ratings.

2021 Review: “Huge portions” of “good wholesome food” make this “cheap and cheerful” Gallic outfit serving bistro classics “amazing value for money”. There’s a good selection of “fine wines”, but the place is “very noisy indeed”.

This Grade II listed Georgian pub near Oare Marshes Nature Reserve is “a lovely spot on a warm day to sit and enjoy lovely grub on the outdoor terraces” – “while it does not outshine its near neighbour The Sportsman, it’s cosy, well run, with excellent food and great service – all without having to book weeks in advance and much easier on the wallet”. It has seen “a resurgence in the standard of cooking under new management” – experienced ex-Londoners Tom Gravett & Renny Peret.

This 16th-century weaver’s cottage in the Weald was opened by former rocker Graham Garrett and wife Jackie in 2002. The “warm and cosy, ancient beamed dining room” turns out set menus that are “quite expensive but worth it” and are accompanied by “professional and charming” service from “members of the chef’s family and others”; stay in one of their “very quiet and comfortable rooms” and there’s an “excellent breakfast hamper” as a bonus. Top Menu Tip – “lovely amuse-bouches (brick tube stuffed with chicken parfait, Parmesan churros). Standout dishes include ‘Egg and Bacon’ (leek ballotine, quail’s egg, smoked eel and crispy pancetta), and a slice of braised and grilled Wagyu beef cheek with anchoïade”.

A “great” 15th-century pub (with four rooms set atop the nuttery in the garden) that’s situated in the heart of the Weald, and just a short stroll from Sissinghurst Castle, the old home of Virginia Woolf’s beloved, Vita Sackville-West, and whose gardens are run by the National Trust. “They always have good beer on” and, having extended over the years, there are five different dining areas in which to enjoy the “typical” but very sound gastropub fare, much sourced from the local area.

2023 Review: This former coaching inn “offers a good range of well-cooked dishes in its small dining room” – “pre-booking is advisable as it’s close to Sissinghurst Castle and Gardens”. In the summer, “a pop-up pizza hut is open in the garden for a more casual dining experience”.

“Bravo!” – “Everything always seems to work so well at Stephen Harris’s exceptionally popular spot in the north Kent marshes”. It’s one of the top-20 most commented-on destinations in our annual diners’ poll and also one of the best liked, inspiring nothing but the most enthusiastic comments from diners. “The ideal thing to do is take a good walk along the beach beforehand to get the appetite brimming with anticipation”. Thereafter, “it’s the combination of relaxed atmosphere and stellar cooking that makes for an unforgettable visit”. It helps that “nowhere in London can get close to the sort of quality vs price ratio here”, even though there’s no longer an à la carte option and the only choice now is the “memorable five-course tasting menu” for “£80 per person”: “food that’s exquisite and beautifully presented, not at all ostentatious”. “You really feel that everything is thoughtfully and lovingly prepared and the service is always with a smile”. “The rooms are pretty excellent too”. Top Menu Top – “superb local produce – Whitstable oysters, saltmarsh lamb, seaweed buttered slip sole – are cleverly accompanied by delicacies from further afield, such as Lobster, Old Winchester cheese, or Avruga Caviar. The wine list, personally selected by the host, is composed of classic quality wines, so generously priced, they constitute the best quality to value ratio I have seen in a British restaurant”. (“It’s been my favourite restaurant anywhere in the UK, and even further afield, for the past 20 years and I feel blessed that it is only a few miles along the coast from where I live”).

A “seriously dramatic room” plays host to meals in the restored 1873 pump house at Chatham’s historic dockyard on the Medway, which has been converted into a distillery and restaurant by Bob Russell and his sons Matthew & Stephen. Top Menu Tip – “amazing roasts on Sundays”.

This “independently owned and managed” old village inn “in a lovely setting” has been thoroughly stripped out and modernised, providing a comfortable venue for an upbeat menu that features oysters, Cornish caviar and a 500kg Chateaubriand steak to share.

2023 Review: The dining room “upstairs in a rickety old pub, with wonderful views over Whitstable Bay”, offers a “good mix of innovative food” – including “beautifully cooked fish” – “and homemade pub classics, served by staff from the kitchen on the floor below”. “Eaten there many times: the ambience is excellent and always found the food good”.

Sole and much-loved survivor of a long-lost chain, the first ever Wheeler’s (est. 1856) is still going strong in these “tiny” and adorably quaint premises. They don’t just deliver “excellent oysters (some with a Japanese spin) but fabulous fish dishes” too, including those parlayed through the excellent tasting menu. Add in the reasonable prices (you can BYO for a small corkage fee, and there’s an offy – literally ‘The Offy’, opposite) and “booking is a must” – though if you can’t bag a table you can always take the mollusc party away with you to enjoy on the beach.

“A Whitstable jewel!” – “You can taste the sea in every dish of oysters, mussels, sole or plaice” which are the hallmarks of this landmark operation in a “fantastic location on the beach”. “The ambience is open, friendly and serious about food”, although “service can be a bit hit and miss” when it’s busy – which it very often is. Top Menu Tip – “even the desserts are good”.

2021 Review: “Excellent moules flavored with tarragon – served with sourdough and a beer for a tenner”: such is the appeal of this busy four-year-old serving Spanish tapas and charcuterie alongside small plates of more modern British inspiration. Front-of-house Lee Murray is well known locally from the Goods Shed in Canterbury, while co-founder and chef Tim Wilson worked for The Ivy and Groucho Club in London.