Edenbridge, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

“Straightforward and generous Sunday lunch in a very nice village pub” is a regular occasion for many fans of this “thoroughly enjoyable” local pub in the Kent countryside, which numerous reports attest is particularly “good for families and family occasions”. Its “quality food in a lovely environment” also wins praise, though, from a much wider audience too.

Recently relaunched, this hotel dining room set in an Arts & Crafts boutique hotel and wedding venue with “excellent views” over Happy Valley is a “real treat”. The original interior includes a stained-glass window and a fireplace, and chef Scott Goss makes best use of locally sourced ingredients.

“For us, as garden lovers, a magical place” – this Elizabethan country house in the Sussex countryside sits in grounds laid out in the 1880s by the famous landscape gardener who then owned the property (and has been a hotel since 1958). “It‘s probably best to enjoy Gravetye in the summer when it is delightful to wander round the beautiful gardens with an aperitif” and to get the most out of “the modern, conservatory-style dining room, which is simply dazzling in design, creating a feeling of almost being in the garden”. Since its 2019 relaunch, there has been a major upgrade to the cuisine here, with chef George Blogg preparing “beautifully balanced dishes with assured use of ingredients”: “seasonal produce is allowed to shine and sing”. (The food would score even higher if the odd reporter did not find it “a bit safe”). Staff generally “can’t do enough for you” but ratings slipped slightly this year on one or two “hit ’n’ miss” experiences in this regard. No complaints of any significance were highlighted, and the general impression is that a meal here is “so smart, and of such quality”.

This “extremely popular” 16th-century free house with four bedrooms, in a hilltop village in the Sussex Weald, has everything you want in a country pub, from “very good cooking” and beamed interiors to “a lovely pint of Harvey’s”.

“In a delightful village”, this “scenic” gastroboozer-with-rooms continues to please, two years after longtime owners the Pullan family handed the keys to the Young’s group; the “best atmosphere is in the bar” (as opposed to the annexe), though the “great garden” remains the standout here, offering lovely views of the Ouse countryside.

“Very interesting flavours and excellent cooking” lead to an “excellent-quality” experience at Rob & Donna Taylor’s “lovely” venue: a small room in a converted townhouse in Southborough, which burst onto the local dining scene in 2021 and was instantly fêted with awards and boosts from ‘big name’ restaurant critics in the press. Service is “incredibly friendly and knowledgeable” and serves a focused à la carte menu that changes on the first of every month: some of the same dishes are available in a five course tasting format for £85 per person. A typical autumnal meal might start with Roast Pigeon with Pickled Kentish Cherries, then proceed via Roasted Monkfish with Celeriac and Apple puree to Warm Ginger Parkin with burnt Honey and Thyme ice cream.

“Notably creative dishes chosen for flavour not curiosity” are the hallmark of this community-owned village pub operated by a remarkably young team headed by ex-Goring Hotel chef Alex Yates, 25, and his younger sister Grace, who runs the “engaged and well- informed” front of house (their father, David, is an ex-Balls Bros wine merchant). “The room is a traditional old pub bar smartened without changing its character”. This “good neighbourhood community venture deserves to succeed and is trying very hard”; and “well done them for retaining à la carte as well as tasting menus in the evenings”.