British, Modern Restaurants in Sandwich
1. Samphire
British, Modern restaurant in Whitstable
4 High Street - CT5
This “always busy and buzzing brasserie on Whitstable High Street”, from Australian-trained chef Sam, has built an impressive reputation in these parts for its use of “local ingredients lovingly prepared” (and its “interesting combination of choices” too); “really nice staff” are an added joy.
2. The Dog at Wingham
British, Modern restaurant in Wingham
Canterbury Road - CT3
“A warm, lovely and welcoming pub (complete with log fire for cold days) set in a village not far from Canterbury”. Service is “attentive” but it’s the food that “carries the experience: a good choice with some gorgeous flavours”.
3. The Rose
British, Modern restaurant in Deal
91 High Street - CT14
This “lovely little pub” on the high street has had quite the history: it was long under John Matthews, owner of Thompson & Son brewery; in 2016, his great-grandson Christopher Hicks took over, and has transformed it into a very stylish hotel replete with Emin artworks and a tandem bicycle for guests. The “really good, mostly local produce” is “beautifully done” and features an “excellent value lunch” as well as popular Scandi-style breakfasts.
4. The Empire Room, Royal Harbour Hotel
British, Traditional restaurant in Ramsgate
10-12 Nelson Crescent - CT11
2021 Review: With its “deep red walls, low lighting and candles”, this “romantic” basement dining room has a “lovely, old-fashioned and cosy ambience, and is decorated with framed covers of old editions of Empire magazine”. Craig Mather’s modern British menu focuses on “unfussy dishes, where the local seasonal ingredients are the star”, in particular “fish that comes straight from the small boats which ply the harbour”.
5. Little Ships
British, Modern restaurant in Ramsgate
54-56 Harbour Parade - CT11
2022 Review: In a “great” harbourside setting, chef Craig Mather’s collaboration with hotelier James Thomas namechecks the heroic homespun flotilla of the Dunkirk evacuation, also echoed in the decor. The food, mostly sourced within 30 miles of the restaurant, is reliably “solid”, not least the “lovely fresh catch of the day with interesting saucing”.
6. The Duke William
British, Modern restaurant in Ickham
The St - CT3
This “lovely gastropub in a pretty Kent village” wins praise for its “good menu selection, including unusual dishes like homity pie” alongside the more standard burgers, steak and fish ’n’ chips. It is part of Saga heir Josh De Haan’s Pickled Egg pub group.
7. Wyatt & Jones
British, Modern restaurant in Broadstairs
23-27 Harbour St - CT10
2023 Review: “Spanish-influenced small plates” – “especially delicious fish dishes” – dominate at this well-established venue under the historic York Gate, while “in winter, their Sunday lunch is epic”. “The outlook over Broadstairs beach to the sea is spectacular and sitting at the bar is simply divine”. Next door, the new Flotsam & Jetsam has been split off from the original site, serving “super-creative fish ’n’ chips”.
8. Buoy & Oyster
Fish & seafood restaurant in Margate
44 High Street - CT9
This “lovely seafood restaurant” is a “good find in Margate”, with an “extensive and varied menu” that features fresh oysters and “delicious seafood platters” but also “includes local meat and vegetarian options”. “Staff couldn’t be friendlier” and “the whole experience is very enjoyable”.
9. Dory's
Fish & seafood restaurant in Margate
24 High Street - CT9
The “little sister to Angela’s”, a seafood restaurant-with-rooms round the corner, “never fails to satisfy” with its menu of “creative, unique fishy small plates” that are raw, pickled, cured or smoked. The owners run a co-op producing their own fruit and veg, and this site also has a wine shop stocking bottles from England and beyond.
10. The Fordwich Arms
British, Modern restaurant in Fordwich
King Street - CT2
“Each time we come we are impressed by the attention to detail and outstanding quality of the food at this well-regarded gastropub” – Daniel & Natasha Smith purchased this “beautiful old pub on the River Stour” in 2017 and has become one of the most commented-on venues outside the capital in our annual diners’ poll. “The style of cuisine is that of fine dining with locally sourced produce and the flavours bring out the best in the ingredients”. “Tables are well-spaced and the staff certainly know their stuff” – “incredible value”. Top Tip – “Lovely wisteria-covered terrace by the river on a sunny day”.
11. The Bridge Arms
British, Modern restaurant in Bridge
53 High Street - CT4
This old drovers’ inn just outside Canterbury is “very atmospheric and comfortable, but the food is truly the star” – “really well executed but not overly fussy” and “a real dining treat”. Former Clove Club chef Daniel Smith and his wife Tasha, herself a pastry chef, have settled in the village and created a “chilled pub with food that surprises” with its excellence. They also run the nearby Fordwich Arms. Top Menu Tip – “best lobster and chips ever”.
12. The Pig at Bridge Place
British, Modern restaurant in Bridge
Brewery Lane - CT4
Four miles from Canterbury, this much-commented-on manor house is part of the now ten-strong Pig litter (the latest porcine offering, in Stratford-upon-Avon, is due in 2024) and “does not disappoint”. The “buzzy” dining room – “like a large potting shed, its walls lined with preserved vegetables and pulses” – backdrops “lovely” gastrofare, and “in summer you can eat casually and drink in the garden” at their new ‘Garden Oven’, focusing on wood-fired snacks. On the downside, as at others in the chain, a minority of reports characterise its cooking as “pleasant, but nothing special”.
13. The Marquis of Granby
British, Modern restaurant in Alkham
Alkham Valley Rd - CT15
2021 Review: “Great food” and “a beautiful setting with stunning views” are found at this 200-year-old former village pub, converted 10 years ago into a boutique hotel. Now under the same ownership as the nearby Hythe Imperial, it has reverted to its original name – and “the food and service have got better”.
14. County Restaurant, ABode Canterbury
British, Modern restaurant in Canterbury
High St - CT1
A “real bright light in an otherwise scrappy pedestrian high street”, this polished and “very well-run” hotel dining room takes the original name of the hotel that stood here back in 1892 and brings a rare fine dining option to the centre of Canterbury; add in “wonderful” cocktails, and it’s “a treat” for its many local fans.
15. The Cook's Tale (fka The Ambrette Canterbury)
Indian, Southern restaurant in Canterbury
14 - 15 Beer Cart Lane - CT1
“Back to its very best since chef-owner Dev Biswas closed his other venues in Rye and Margate” (and “changed the name of this venue from Ambrette to The Cook’s Tale”, in homage to Chaucer). The “busy” and well commented-on fine diner offers an “alternative take on Indian cuisine” (albeit now also featuring that popular staple, curry, for the first time) and the results are “exceptional” and “good value”, whether you opt for the tasting menu or “adventurous” sets, both of which boast hyper-local sourcing and “Kentish touches”.
16. Pearson’s Arms
British, Traditional restaurant in Whitstable
The Horsebridge, Sea Wall - CT5
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”.
17. Updown
British, Modern restaurant in Deal
Updown Road - CT14
Oli Brown (ex-of Rowley Leigh’s Le Café Anglais) and FOH Ruth (Leigh’s daughter) are behind this “brilliant place, both food and hotel”, set in a “gorgeous location”: a seventeenth-century farmhouse on seven acres, where guests eat in an open conservatory. The “truly delightful menu” is short and hyper-seasonal, with everything cooked over wood in the open kitchen and, while service can be “a bit on the slow side”, the “ambience means that it goes relatively unnoticed”. In 2022, Grace Dent called it “one of those places that shows how life could be” – high praise indeed! NB – open Thu-Sat dinner and Fri-Sat lunch, with a bargain £40 per person summer set menu on Thu night.
18. Sargasso
British, Modern restaurant in Margate
Margate Harbour Arm, Stone Pier - CT9
In a “great location on the harbour wall”, Ed Wilson & Josie Stead’s “perfect” and “amazing” follow-up to beloved E London venue Brawn is “a fantastic addition to Margate” by all accounts; the self-styled ‘wine bar with food’ may affect a casual air (“great soundtrack” included), but the seafood and vegetable-centric food is “interesting and at times very good” indeed.
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