Rochester, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

You couldn’t ask for a much better location than this characterful Victorian pump house attached to Chatham dockyard, whose outside terrace enjoys fine views of the Medway. Converted into a distillery seven years ago by the Russell family, it has relatively recently added a restaurant and cocktail lounge serving “interesting” cooking.

This modernised village inn “never fails to please” with an attractive brasserie-style menu that’s “great for a casual lunch”. A covered garden adds to the package.

2022 Review: A “really quirky, excellent local restaurant serving food that is designed for the health- conscious… it’s a bit of a shock not having everything slathered in butter and salt, but it’s inventive and delicious” nonetheless – and the result of something of a conversion for chef John Lawson, who was riding high as a Ramsay ally when he was diagnosed with cancer. His “delicious” and “extraordinary value” tasting menus (four courses £52 on Friday, six courses £68 on Saturday) make for a “quite exceptional gastronomic experience” by all accounts.

Sawdust floors and shelves of wine for sale add to the atmosphere of this ‘Wine Merchant & Dining Rooms’ – a Dickensian-style space that’s been a linchpin of the town’s eateries since 1976. It continues to win consistent support for its traditional fare, and is well-suited to business lunches.

2022 Review: Darren Bennett’s stalwart, serving up creative modern British cooking (including a well-regarded afternoon tea) “continues to be reliable in all respects”, whether you stop to take advantage of the set menus or its popular side act as a wedding and events venue.

2023 Review: An “excellent find” – this “friendly and professional” yearling boutique hotel/restaurant serves a short menu of “delicious and well-presented food”. There’s good generosity of spirit here: “we were given turbot when they ran out of cod!”

This cute weatherboard-fronted pub in a North Downs village is “well worth finding” for its “beautifully presented food” that “goes beyond local gastropub standards” – “great flavours and marvellous balance provide a real gastronomic experience”. Owned as a community asset by villagers who raised money to save it from developers, the venue is operated by the Yates family: David, an ex-Balls Brothers wine merchant, and his son Alex, a “chef very engaged in his craft who loves to get feedback on his superb dishes”. He and his young kitchen team have high aims for the 26-cover restaurant – whose regulars would “love it to go from strength to strength”.