Sittingbourne, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

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.

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.

“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”.

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: 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”.

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.

Focused on sustainability (and to a certain extent on veganism), John Lawson’s small spot has won attention (including a recent visit with a TV crew and Michel Roux) for his “amazing” cooking, served in a tasting menu on Friday and Saturday evenings (with lunch service also available on those days and Thursday). One local fan approves “many delicious meals eaten here”.

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: 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!”