Matfield Restaurant Guide

“A country pub with an above-average menu” and "consistently good food” from chef-patron Lee Adams that’s generally agreed to be “a cut above the others in the area”. (The unusual name references First World War poet Siegfried Sassoon, who lived in the village.)

“A beautifully considered menu, cooked to perfection in idyllic surroundings” delights all comers to chef-patron Will Devlin’s attractive spot in the ‘Garden of England’, where many of the ingredients are grown on their own farm. “We were given an interesting pre-lunch tour of the garden, and the chef serving the tables was unusually informative”. You can choose between ‘Full Acre’ seven-course (£95 per person) or ‘Half Acre’ five-course tasting menus (£75 per person), with a three-course option at lunch (£55 per person). Wines are all organic or biodynamic, and include a “very good paired English wine flight”.

“My wife took me here for a “date lunch”… it was superb” – Richard Phillips’s well-known destination occupies an attractive and central Regency Villa and is “excellent for a special occasion” for which it provides “formal dining in the traditional manner with unusual nibbles and interesting flavours” and a high quality selection of wines. There is a luxurious à la carte menu (with mains around £40 each) or a seven course tasting menu for £95 per person. Top Tips – something of a favourite for business lunching hereabouts, they provide a lunch menu with two courses for £28 per person; “lovely terrace for outdoor dining in summer”.

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: “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”.

A “lovely recent edition to Tunbridge Wells” from Robin Read, who honed his pastry skills with the Roux brothers, before racking up a super-starry CV including time at Le Gavroche, then alongside Nico Ladenis and Marco Pierre White. The “intimate” dining room opened in May 2024, and quickly won the favours of Grace Dent, who proclaimed it “hard to fault”, although some reviewers this year did have a few quibbles, namely the “shockingly memorable” wine prices and less memorable food – even if these were counterbalanced by more positive reports of “really excellent” and “delicious” dishes (relayed via five- eight- or ten-course menus at £60, £95 or £125 per person, respectively, or a less ruinous three-course lunch for £40 on certain days).