Tower Hamlets, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

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”.

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.

“A real treat of a place” – this stylish restaurant was opened five years ago by a talented pair, Kent-born chef Allister Barsby (head chef at Gidleigh Park on Dartmoor at 24) and Italian Alice Bussi (food & beverage manager of the year in the 2018 Catey awards). The praise is unanimous: “we go when there’s something to celebrate. We’ve been three times over the last few years and it has never failed to be a joy – the food is fabulous and the service and front of house exceptional”. “One of the most amazing dinners I have had, in a very serene environment with exceptional service”.

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”.

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”.

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.

“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”.

“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”.

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.

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”.

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.