Bessels Green, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

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.

“Good-quality food and friendly service” at this village pub, which was rescued in a rundown state by entrepreneur Sir Keith Mills and his wife Maureen a dozen years ago, and is run by well-known chef brothers Chris & James Tanner. “It’s great for families – you can watch the chefs at work in front of you!”.

This smart neighbourhood restaurant and bar from Stuart Gillies, for many years Gordon Ramsay’s right-hand man, “never lets you down with quality, value or service – can’t get enough of this place”. The menu offers a mixture of classic British and modern European cuisine, with bottomless brunch on Saturdays and traditional roast on Sundays. There’s now a sibling restaurant on similar lines, Number Eight in Sevenoaks.

This Arts & Crafts boutique hotel at the edge of Rusthall Common woods makes a “lovely setting” for a meal from chef Scott Goss, who trained under Gary Rhodes, served in a dining room with original stained-glass windows and wood-panelled fireplace. “Sunday lunches on the terrace are a summer treat” with “amazing views” over Happy Valley, and it’s “very popular for weddings”.

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: 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”.

2023 Review: A welcome 2021 relaunch after being closed for years – this roadhouse on the South Circular between Sydenham and Catford serves “generous” dishes that “elevate it beyond pub grub, but without pretending to be a gastropub”. The food comes courtesy of Jamie Younger, who runs Peckham’s Begging Bowl and was formerly at the Palmerston in East Dulwich; his “smoked and slow-cooked options are a triumph (red chicken, short ribs)”. The “huge outdoor areas” make “weekend lunch en famille with toddlers a jolly affair” – a market sector enticed by a discount club for parents with young kids.

2024 Review: This “lovely food-led pub” – a carefully modernised beauty from 1854 on Crystal Palace’s thriving ‘Triangle’ – showcases chef David Yorkiston’s “really great cooking – way, way above typical gastroboozer fare”. “Controversially, it has banned kids under 10” but not everyone objects (“we think the atmosphere is all the better for it, even if it means we can’t go there as often as we’d like)”.

“Superlative food from an aspiring young chef” draws an appreciative crowd to this community-owned pub in a “lovely Kent village” – Alex Yates sends out “notably creative dishes chosen for flavour not curiosity”, while his wife Grace heads the “friendly, engaged and well-informed” FOH team. It’s very much a family operation: his father David, a former Balls Bros wine merchant, advises on a drinks list which offers “strikingly restrained prices”, while his grandmother provided the name – her family, the Bowleys, ran pubs in Kent. Top Menu Tip – “guinea fowl with an outstanding jus”.

“Still a favourite in Tunbridge Wells by a mile” – Rob & Donna Taylor’s Southborough five-year-old occupies an attractive site and “is that rare treat – a top restaurant in Kent!”. The “staff are so sweet and friendly and always know so much about the menu” that it creates a “lovely, warm and relaxed atmosphere” and the food itself is “very thoughtful and well-prepared from a monthly-changing menu”. Dishes are priced individually à la carte, or you can order a tasting selection for £90 per person and there are “excellent matching wines”.

2024 Review: A sibling to Birch in Cheshunt, set in a very large, 18th-century mansion in 200 acres which follows a similar formula combining hotel, club and co-working space. The top culinary attraction is this dining room in the heart of the old property offering foraged fine dining from ex-Typing Room chef, Lee Westcott. It opened in August 2023 (after our annual diners’ poll had concluded) and offers a five-course tasting menu for £69 per person (with a wine pairing at £49 per person). There is also Vervain: an all-day brasserie (plus three bars, a spa, and Lido).

2024 Review: “A super addition to Bromley” – the borough’s old Town Hall has had £20m spent on a refit as a boutique hotel, complete with this new landmark dining room which launched in late 2022: an imposing chamber, with a soaring vaulted ceiling, wood-panelled walls and clerestory windows. It serves a menu of British classics, and is aiming to be a linchpin of the area. Our early feedback (and press reports) are up-and-down: one reporter liked the “very friendly staff and great building”, but thought “the menu needs to be a little more adventurous”. Another was “slightly disappointed all round, but went shortly after it opened and they were obviously still ironing out stuff”. (Both comments have echoes of Grace Dent’s review in The Guardian: “a gorgeous space…with a brief menu… service is delightful… prompt and friendly, but it’s hard to regard the place as much more than a cafe”).

With “high-quality food and very tasty cocktails”, this modern British venue from chef Tom Genty and co-founder Terry Brouet, who runs the front of house, offers what locals agree is “the best dining experience in the area by a mile”. Opened in 2021, its kitchen focuses on seasonal local ingredients, often fermented to intensify the flavours.

“A great addition to Ladywell” in southeast London – this “very good local restaurant” has quickly built a solid reputation for its bistro-style menu. Launched in 2024 by local couple Alina & Joel Falconer, who are also behind sustainable food shop Plenty next door and coffee shop Oscar’s opposite.