British, Modern Restaurants in Tonbridge
1. The Old Bank
British, Modern restaurant in Westerham
8 Market Square - TN16
Adam & Emma Turley’s converted bank in this Kent town just beyond the M25 wins high ratings all-round: “a cool place”, with “wonderful food and very good wine”, plus “a lovely engaging front of house crew”: “highly recommended”. There’s a five-course tasting menu for £75 per person, or go the whole hog and have the eight-course version for £105 per person.
2. Kentish Hare
British, Modern restaurant in Bidborough
95 Bidborough Ridge - TN3
In a “pretty village setting” (“what’s not to like about sitting under a pergola in the Kent countryside?”), seasoned restaurateurs the Tanner brothers run this much-garlanded gastroboozer. The food choices are “simply cooked” but “not mundane like you could do yourself” (indeed, “to call this pub food would be truly a disservice”).
3. Hotel du Vin & Bistro
British, Modern restaurant in Tunbridge Wells
Crescent Road - TN1
2021 Review: “For a thoroughly enjoyable traditional afternoon tea (HdV certainly make an occasion of this British tradition)”, or “a very good full English”, this fine-looking mansion still wins praise. However, more serious dining from its French bistro menu, as supported by its trademark wine list, attracted too little commentary for a rating last year.
4. The Ivy Royal Tunbridge Wells
British, Modern restaurant in Tunbridge Wells
46-50 High Street - TN1
2023 Review: A “family favourite” for its “lovely atmosphere and brasserie food” – and handily close to Tunbridge Wells station – this spin-off from the ever-expanding Ivy operation is well regarded by most reporters, but also suffers from the complaints commonly levelled against its Identikit siblings: most especially indifferent cooking that’s “poor value for money”.
5. The Beacon Kitchen
British, Modern restaurant in Tunbridge Wells
Tea Garden Lane - TN3
This “smart and trendy location” from the ‘I’ll Be Mother’ group, set in an Arts & Crafts house with “lovely views” over Happy Valley, offers “high-quality food, attentive service and great surroundings”. There’s also “a nice terrace for meals, if the weather permits”. Not surprisingly, it’s “popular and often hard to book”.
6. The Swan
British, Modern restaurant in West Malling
35 Swan St - ME19
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.
7. The Small Holding
British, Modern restaurant in Kilndown
Ranters Lane - TN17
A visit to this “lovely restaurant way out in the country” is “like a trip to the theatre only better – with amazing cooking” on “a top-value tasting menu”. “Dishes are often surprising – I love that much of the produce is from the garden or nearby”, in line with Kent-born chef-patron Will Devlin’s ultra-local and sustainable ethos. He also runs Birchwood, a daytime venue in the nearby Flimwell Park sustainable woodland development, but was forced to close The Curlew in Bodiam due to rising costs in late 2022.
8. Middle House
British, Modern restaurant in Mayfield
High Street - TN20
2022 Review: They “recently extended the outdoor space and garden” at this imposing wattle-and-daub Elizabethan inn, built for the Keeper of the Privy Purse to Elizabeth I, no less. Together with a “new menu” of snacks and heartier grub it now makes a “great eating place” by all accounts.
9. The Haycutter
British, Modern restaurant in Oxted
Tanhouse Road - RH8
2023 Review: This “lovely” mid-Victorian boozer (believed to be the only ‘Haycutter’ in the country) earns solid ratings for its “good old-fashioned pub grub” and “brilliant” all-round performance. It is now part of the Brunning & Price group.
10. Tallow
British, Modern restaurant in Southborough
15a Church Road - TN4
It’s been a good year for Rob & Donna Taylor, who moved to this “charming, cramped little room in a fun stripped-out townhouse in Southborough – a near-neighbour of Tunbridge Wells” – and who topped the Good Food Guide’s list of Top 100 local restaurants in July 2023 just two years after their opening (having moved here in 2021 from The Compasses Inn in Crundale). For a second year, it is one of the more commented-on venues outside the capital in our annual diners’ poll: the “highly skillful” food is “out of this world” and available à la carte (yay!) as well as in an alternative tasting format. Dishes include “plenty of well-judged strong touches” and “the presentation, balance and clarity of flavours are standout” (“meat cookery is a highlight, but the pastry section runs it a close second”). “Staff are super-sweet too and know their stuff!”. “The overall feeling is of a place that’s fairly priced (if not cheap) and a special place for a special occasion”.
11. The Square Peg
British, Modern restaurant in Royal Tunbridge Wells
46 Camden Road - TN1
2023 Review: This tiny Tunbridge Wells restaurant has just 5 tables, serving 12-14 covers, and offers a six-course menu. The work of a self-taught chef, Rob Marshall, it has yet to generate feedback in our annual diners’ poll, but looks worth a go.
12. St. Leonard’s
British, Modern restaurant in West Malling
47 Swan Street - ME19
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!”
13. Bowley's at The Plough
British, Modern restaurant in Trottiscliffe
6 Taylors Lane - ME19
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”.
14. Water Lane
British, Modern restaurant in Hawkhurst
Water Lane - TN18
2023 Review: “A super-charming setting for some imaginative cooking” – this funky project on the Kent/Sussex borders combines the restoration of a bucolic walled garden with vinery, Victorian glasshouses, restaurant and shop. Eat from breakfast onwards, either outside in summer or under the tented awning, or in the glasshouses during the winter.
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