Ashford Restaurant Guide

“Third return to this venue… from its opening one Michelin star, then now with two stars in 2025! – the food sophistication has developed brilliantly” – regulars say that the dazzling recognition by the tyre men is “well deserved” for chef Allister Barsby and manager Alice Bussi’s “exceptional venue”, which is celebrating its sixth year. Set in a former village shop, it is spectacularly humbly situated for somewhere with such an accolade. The choice is of a five-course or eight-course tasting menu for £100 or £130 per person respectively, providing dishes that are “beautifully presented and with superb flavour profiles”. “Huge waiting list! But worth it every time!”.

Former rock drummer Graham Garrett swapped his sticks for chef’s knives and learned his new trade from luminaries including Nico Ladenis and Richard Corrigan, before launching his own restaurant with his partner Jackie 20-odd years ago in this 16th-century weaver’s cottage. They offer “high-quality food and wine in a lovely setting with relaxed informal service” to an appreciative crowd – “we’ve been regular customers for many years and it continues to deliver a great night out, time and time again”.

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.

“A wonderful, characterful village pub” (with rooms) dating from circa 1420, and which has survived the potential loss of charm that comes with doubling in size over the years. While it might be an “unpretentious” sort of place, that’s only “until you meet the food” – “nothing complicated, everything excellent”. The boozer is handily placed for a stroll to Sissinghurst Castle, the former home of Virginia Woolf’s lady love, Vita Sackville-West, with its famously lovely gardens. Top Menu Tip – “the homemade pâté and chutney can’t be bettered”.

2024 Review: 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.

“Exciting fusion cooking using adventurous ingredients” continues to draw a high amount of more-than-local attention to Dev Biswal’s fine dining venue near the Cathedral, which promotes an ‘Odia dining experience’ based on the cuisine of Odisha in East India. Previously part of a group called ‘Ambrette’, some reporters have followed it for ages on its journey to Canterbury (“we are lucky to live close to this imaginative Indian restaurant which we have been going to since its Margate days. The food is always interesting and delicious and service is friendly and efficient”).

2024 Review: 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.

Long-established, lively Canterbury Mexican – despite the Gallic name – which “never disappoints (must have eaten here over 100 times since it opened in 1988 and it hasn’t lost its sizzling, upbeat vibe: you can’t fail to leave feeling well fed and happy”). Well-travelled founders Bill & Emmanuelle Beetham also own Café du Soleil on the opposite side of the river – and a restaurant in Hawaii!

This manor house link in the Pig chain, three miles south of Canterbury, continues to elicit notably solid feedback; the dining room (which has the airs of a potting shed, courtesy of its preserve-lined walls) follows the locally sourced ‘25-mile’ menu of the rest of the litter, making the most of the Kentish produce; there were reports this year of some “exceptional” dishes which were also “very good value”. It’s possible to opt for more casual wood-fired snacks in the Garden Oven, while there’s more foodie goodness on offer if you stay overnight in one of their idiosyncratic rooms (“dunno where they get their breakfast pastries from, but wow!”).

“Situated in the covered market next to Canterbury station, this mezzanine-floor restaurant allows you to enjoy delicious food in an interesting setting”, with its “small menu of local and seasonal things” (wholesome soups, tarts, salad bowls) reducing the food miles to about two feet. While, for the odd longtime visitor, there’s a sense that “prices have shot up” of late, the opposing view is that it’s “still as good as it was twenty years ago”, with “wine from a nearby vineyard” to wash down the “locally sourced everything”.

“Trendy meals for university students impressing their visiting parents” are praised at this “fun” contemporary operation. The clue is in the name, when it comes to the menu-focus – “the meaty platters are huge, so come with a healthy appetite as portions are hearty”. On the downside, some see it as “good all-round but overpriced”.

This “atmospheric” former coaching inn just south of Canterbury changed hands after our annual diners’ poll was completed in summer 2025, with chef-owners Dan & Tasha Smith of the Fordwich Arms passing the lease to their friend Elliot Hewitt (a former Fordwich manager). He promised to take the menu in a more ‘casual’ direction, but with ex-Sportsman chef David Gadd running the kitchen the cooking standard should remain high.

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”.

“As always the food at the Sportsman is stellar” but as always it is the fact that it’s “served in a relaxed environment” which “makes a visit unforgettable” to Stephen Harris’s “splendid” hostelry which “has been modernised but still has the ambience of a pub”: a “diner’s delight” situated “by the Thames Estuary on an ancient saltmarsh and true to its location”. But while “the atmosphere is informal, the cuisine is totally serious”, “to the highest of standards” and at very “fair prices”. “The wine list, carefully chosen by the host, is classic, eclectic and great value too”, so, not unsurprisingly, it “gets very booked up” and is nowadays one of the top-10 most commented-on venues outside London in our annual diners’ poll. The normal menu is a five-courser, nowadays for £85 per person, although there is a three-course mid-week lunch for £55 per person served Tuesday-Thursday. Not sure you have sufficient appetite? – “the ideal thing to do is take a good walk along the beach beforehand to get the appetite brimming with anticipation!” Top Menu Tip – “Local fish is obviously a must” – “served flavoured with seaweed butter or caviar” – as are the “Whitstable oysters or marsh-fed lamb presented with flair”. “Fruit and vegetables often come from the pub’s own garden”.

2022 Review: Former Sportsman chef David Hart earns rave reviews from reporters who ‘get’ his modest 26-seater with a simple menu and an enthusiast’s list of wines (fans include the Guardian’s Grace Dent).

“Lovely coffee in a series of book-lined rooms” makes this brightly painted venue “a real social hub” of Folkestone’s ‘Creative Quarter’. Inspired by the book cafés of Paris, it offers a ‘no-menu’ spread of freshly baked goodies, including its well-known cakes, and guests are encouraged to browse the shelves while they graze – with the option to buy the second-hand books.

“Great seafood (much of it local)” and “an ideal position overlooking Folkestone’s old harbour" make this sleek glass-fronted restaurant “a perfect spot for lunch by the sea” (“the upstairs wine terrace is lovely when the sun is out”). Launched 15 years ago as part of Saga billionaire Sir Roger De Haan’s regeneration of Folkestone, it enjoys a “loyal following” under head chef Akos Mate.

2023 Review: “If only every pub was like this!” – “a quirky place” a short walk from the town centre which makes the most of its olde-worlde decor. The food is “competent and innovative”, and there’s a “good range of drinks”.

Set in a row of Georgian shops, Martin Peacock’s neighbourhood bistro (est. 2010) has become a real beacon for locals and visitors alike (“our trips to Rye are worked round whether we can get a table here”). On the menu, local Romney Marsh lamb or “super-fresh” fish landed a few hundred metres away (including the gurnard which lends its tail to their logo) are cooked in a pleasingly unfussy way, all at “reasonable prices”.