Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Tonbridge
Hardens guides have spent 33 years compiling reviews of the best Tonbridge restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 25 restaurants in Tonbridge and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Tonbridge restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Tonbridge Restaurants
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. Thackeray’s
French restaurant in Tunbridge Wells
85 London Rd - TN1
“Perhaps the most luxurious restaurant in Tunbridge Wells” – this “very smart Regency villa where [W.M.] Thackeray lived” provides a “very attractive” location for a meal; and is also praised for its “lovely, finely pitched service”. But while Patrick Hill’s well-regarded cuisine continues to win praise, there was also the odd reporter this year who felt it was “technically fine but with some over-fussy dishes that didn’t let the good-quality ingredients fully shine”.
4. 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.
5. 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”.
6. 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”.
7. The Poet
British, Traditional restaurant in Matfield
Maidstone Rd - TN12
“The service and food are simply sublime” at this “lovely pub” – named in honour of the First World War poet Siegfried Sassoon, who lived nearby – which has served “the most accomplished food” for some years. South African-born chef-patron Petrus Madutlela, who has masterminded the venue’s gastronomic rise since 2015, departed in early 2023 and is replaced by Lee Adams, who worked for the late Gary Rhodes and returns to his native Kent after a decade running kitchens in Dubai and Hong Kong. Early reports suggest standards remain very high under the new regime, although consistency may be an issue.
8. The George & Dragon
British, Traditional restaurant in Chipstead
39 High St - TN13
This sixteenth-century pub, complete with beams, log fires and an updated interior, has a “great small menu which changes constantly”. A “lovely spot” for a meal, “whether inside in the winter or in the garden in the summer”.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. Frederic Bistro
French restaurant in Maidstone
Market Buildings, Earl St - ME14
2021 Review: “Huge portions” of “good wholesome food” make this “cheap and cheerful” Gallic outfit serving bistro classics “amazing value for money”. There’s a good selection of “fine wines”, but the place is “very noisy indeed”.
13. 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.
14. The Milk House
British Modern restaurant in Cranbrook
The Street - TN17
2023 Review: This former coaching inn “offers a good range of well-cooked dishes in its small dining room” – “pre-booking is advisable as it’s close to Sissinghurst Castle and Gardens”. In the summer, “a pop-up pizza hut is open in the garden for a more casual dining experience”.
15. Fish on the Green
Fish & seafood restaurant in Bearsted
Church Ln - ME14
2023 Review: A “great selection of well-presented fish” is the reason to visit this seafood restaurant on the village green (originally part of the neighbouring inn, which houses their sister restaurant, Oak on the Green).
16. Xian
Chinese restaurant in Orpington
324 High St - BR6
“Still hitting the mark” – this family-run Cantonese flies more under the radar than once it did, but inspires nothing but positive reports from its loyal fan club (“consistently good… never had a bad meal here”).
17. 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”.
18. The Bicycle Bakery
Sandwiches, cakes, etc restaurant in Tunbridge Wells
118-120 Camden Road - TN1
2023 Review: “Absolutely delicious coffee and pastries” – all made in-house – are on offer at this “bakery with a couple of tables” – “and you can leave with a perfect sourdough loaf”. Founder Jamie Tandoh was the first independent sourdough baker in Tunbridge Wells when he opened in 2014. Top Tip – “the best croissants”.
19. 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.
20. The Counter
restaurant in Royal Tunbridge Wells
77 Calverley Road - TN1
In a three-storey Georgian house in Calverley Road, ambitious cooking from locally born chef Robin Read, who trained under the Roux Brothers and was running hotel kitchens for a London-based group until deciding to branch out on his own in his home town, with wife Greta Boccia overseeing the wine list.
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