Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Gravesend
Hardens guides have spent 33 years compiling reviews of the best Gravesend restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 23 restaurants in Gravesend and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Gravesend restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Gravesend Restaurants
1. The Bell Inn
British, Modern restaurant in Horndon on the Hill
High Rd - SS17
2023 Review: “One of the original gastropubs still going strong” – this long-established destination is “a family favourite” for its sizable fanclub: a fifteenth-century picturesquely located inn, which has been owned and run by John and Christine Vereker’s family for over 75 years. “The food is excellent and service is energetic and welcoming”.
2. Café Nucleus
British, Modern restaurant in Rochester
Halpern Conservancy Board Building, 15A High Street - ME1
At the award-winning Café Nucleus Rochester a warm welcome awaits. The continental café restaurant is set in one of Rochester’s grandest buildings, it offers a unique experience unrivalled.Winners of the 2021 Hospitality Business o...
3. Indian Essence
Indian restaurant in Petts Wood
176-178 Petts Wood Rd - BR5
TV chef Atul Kochhar’s smart subcontinental, in the SE London ‘burbs, is “still a joy” – the “delicious and succulent” cooking being “a far cry from the average Indian cuisine”. The two- or three-course weekend lunch attracted particular acclaim this year for its “excellent value” (“it was packed and I can see why!”).
4. Café Nucleus
restaurant in Rainham
The Langton Studios, 35a high street - ME8
The award-winning Café Nucleus introduces our newest café restaurant in Rainham, a warm welcome awaits. The beautifully designed continental café restaurant is a feast for the eyes and offers something unique in Rainham, Kent. Winn...
5. Rosa's Thai Cafe
Thai restaurant in Greenhithe
The Plaza Upper Gallery, Bluewater Shopping Centre - DA9
2021 Review: The “lovely Thai food” at these reliable cafés is “impressively authentic given that they are a chain” – “excellent value” and “fast”, if occasionally let down by “iffy service”. Founded in 2008 by Saiphin and Alex Moore, who inherited the name of their first East End site, the group has 18 branches in London and expanded to Liverpool, Manchester, Reading (delivery only) and Leeds following the sale of a majority stake to US investors. The couple also have two spin-offs, Lao Café in Covent Garden and the new Chinese noodle bar Hoh Sek in St Katharine Docks.
6. Pumproom Restaurant at Copper Rivet Distillery
restaurant in Chatham
You couldn’t ask for a much better location than this characterful Victorian pump house attached to Chatham dockyard, whose outside terrace enjoys fine views of the Medway. Converted into a distillery seven years ago by the Russell family, it has relatively recently added a restaurant and cocktail lounge serving “interesting” cooking.
7. Miller & Carter Bexley
Steaks & grills restaurant in Bexley
Bourne Rd - DA5
2023 Review: “Very busy steak-centric restaurant” (part of a chain owned by pub giant Mitchells & Butlers) that is one of the more commented-on destinations in our annual diners’ poll in the poorly served ’burbs to the south east of the metropolis. The food is “reliable”, “without being exceptional” and – notwithstanding some blips regarding service and management generally – this can be a “reasonable” destination in the locale.
8. 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.
9. The Magic Mushroom
British, Modern restaurant in Billericay
Barleylands Road - CM11
2022 Review: Darren Bennett’s stalwart, serving up creative modern British cooking (including a well-regarded afternoon tea) “continues to be reliable in all respects”, whether you stop to take advantage of the set menus or its popular side act as a wedding and events venue.
10. 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”).
11. Bank House Wine Bar & Kitchen
British, Modern restaurant in Chislehurst
11 High Street - BR7
2021 Review: This September 2019 yearling in the heart of the town (occupying a former NatWest bank, hence the name) is notable for its owner: Stuart Gillies is the former CEO of Gordon Ramsay's restaurant group, and has launched this venture with the help of wife Cecilia. Previously a chef, Gillies has devised a ‘European small plates’ menu for the two-floor wine bar.
12. Cinnamon Culture
Indian restaurant in Chislehurst
97 High St - BR7
This contemporary curry house wins solid ratings for its food, with unusual chef’s signature dishes including a mixed grill of achari ostrich filet, chicken tikka and lamb chop. Family-run, it transferred to Chislehurst after a decade in Plaistow Lane, Bromley.
13. Café Spice Namaste
Indian restaurant in City
1-2 Lower Dock Walk, Royal Dock - E16
“Cyrus and Pervin Todiwala have done it again, with the new incarnation of their bastion of Indian and Parsee food”, on the Royal Docks “just moments from London Excel and City Airport”. “After 26 years, they moved from the fringe of the City in E1 to Royal Albert Wharf E16” and “the food and the personal service remain of the highest nature”. “It’s just such original and delicious cuisine”, “especially on nights when Cyrus cooks Parsee (but it’s always good anyway)”. Unless you happen to live out that way, though, the new spot could be mistaken for “the middle of nowhere”: “we travel over two hours to dine here: the new menu is delicious, the themed evenings a joy… but I wish they were back in Prescott Street!”.
14. 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”.
15. Con Gusto
Italian restaurant in Woolwich
No 1 Street - SE18
2022 Review: “Everything you could wish for in a local”, say fans of this quirky Italian, in a tiny but characterful former guards’ room in the grounds of the old Woolwich Arsenal. “High-quality food is freshly prepared in an amazing setting with friendly, professional staff. A joy!”.
16. 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”.
17. Food Leigh on Sea
British, Modern restaurant in Leigh-on-Sea
92 Leigh Road - SS9
2022 Review: A “really quirky, excellent local restaurant serving food that is designed for the health- conscious… it’s a bit of a shock not having everything slathered in butter and salt, but it’s inventive and delicious” nonetheless – and the result of something of a conversion for chef John Lawson, who was riding high as a Ramsay ally when he was diagnosed with cancer. His “delicious” and “extraordinary value” tasting menus (four courses £52 on Friday, six courses £68 on Saturday) make for a “quite exceptional gastronomic experience” by all accounts.
18. Chapter One
International restaurant in Locksbottom
Farnborough Common - BR6
“A jeweled oasis” in the southeastern London ’burbs – this “exceptional venue continues to maintain the highest standards of hospitality” in an area a short drive from Bromley where there’s “not much competition”. Chef/Patron Andy McLeish trained under Nico Ladenis and has been at the stoves here since 2000 (with head chef Dean Ferguson joining shortly thereafter). “Reliably high-quality food” is provided in a “well-appointed” setting. Top Menu Tip – “jugged hare was a particular treat, not often seen on menus nowadays!”
19. Yi-Ban
Chinese restaurant in Victoria Docks
London Regatta Centre, Dockside Rd, Royal Albert Dock - E16
2022 Review: No feedback this year on this distant Chinese restaurant, near Royal Albert Dock DLR. If you are looking to eat in these parts though – while watching the take-offs and landings at nearby London City Airport – it is worth knowing about.
20. 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).
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