Kent Restaurant Guide

Set in a converted stable block that was once part of the neighbouring coaching inn – now their sister venue, ‘The Oak on the Green’ – a “lovely village restaurant with real talent in the kitchen”. As per the name, it’s all about the “very good quality fresh fish” which fans proclaim “a bargain” (particularly the “excellent value lunch”).

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.

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.

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”.

“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”.

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”.

A “seriously dramatic room” plays host to meals in the restored 1873 pump house at Chatham’s historic dockyard on the Medway, which has been converted into a distillery and restaurant by Bob Russell and his sons Matthew & Stephen. Top Menu Tip – “amazing roasts on Sundays”.

This “independently owned and managed” old village inn “in a lovely setting” has been thoroughly stripped out and modernised, providing a comfortable venue for an upbeat menu that features oysters, Cornish caviar and a 500kg Chateaubriand steak to share.

2023 Review: The dining room “upstairs in a rickety old pub, with wonderful views over Whitstable Bay”, offers a “good mix of innovative food” – including “beautifully cooked fish” – “and homemade pub classics, served by staff from the kitchen on the floor below”. “Eaten there many times: the ambience is excellent and always found the food good”.

A “great atmosphere” reigns at the first – and sole surviving – branch of a once-beloved, now-defunct chain: an oyster parlour and seafood bar, est. 1856 by Richard Leggy Wheeler, which also happens to be this town’s oldest restaurant. From scallops, mussels and crab cakes, to a tasting menu on weekend nights, it turns out some “exceptional cooking with refreshing zingy flavours”, all served by “very good, friendly staff”. BYO booze for a small corkage fee or make a pitstop at the literally titled ‘Offy’ just opposite.

“You just can’t beat a plate of ‘natives’ while sitting at a bench on the seafront in the sun” – and this is the place to do it, just a few feet from the sea where the oysters were bred. “The fish is also fresh, and cooked to perfection” – “just don’t come expecting anything experimental, they just let the quality produce speak for itself”. It’s equally “fantastic” in the winter, eating inside while “overlooking windswept Whitstable beach – it’s warm, it’s yummy; you leave happy and ready to brave the cold again”.

A Whitstable fixture since 1984 – this “lovely local French-style bistro” run by Philip & Sue Colthup (helped these days by son Rhys) offers a “well-cooked and presented menu” that’s “heavily dependent on seafood, given its proximity to the harbour”. It recently added “a lovely courtyard garden” to help cope with demand at busy times of the year. Top Tip – “very good value set lunch”.

There’s no doubting the provenance of the ingredients at this “very buzzy”, simply decorated corner establishment (est. 2016): “very friendly” owner Lee Murray is a staple of Canterbury’s The Goods Shed, where his ‘Murray’s General Store’ supplies locals with Kentish fine foods and speciality goods from further afield. Here the formula is “great, fresh” tapas from a “menu that changes frequently”.

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!

2022 Review: “Superb, ultra-fresh seafood, including excellent Whitstable oysters” can be enjoyed bang in front of the working harbour at this straightforward café and terrace, with views over the sea as a backdrop.