Keston, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

This smart neighbourhood restaurant and bar from Stuart Gillies, for many years Gordon Ramsay’s right-hand man, “never lets you down with quality, value or service – can’t get enough of this place”. The menu offers a mixture of classic British and modern European cuisine, with bottomless brunch on Saturdays and traditional roast on Sundays. There’s now a sibling restaurant on similar lines, Number Eight in Sevenoaks.

Following a £10m refit, this the Grade II-listed coaching inn on Bromley High Street is being ressurrected as an ambitious multi-purpose venue with co-working spaces, a private members’ club, a boutique hotel, and dining options from a vibrant Main Bar & Grill to a stylish Garden. The project is spearheaded by local businessman Mark Goldberg, with advice from entrepreneur Nick Gold and family-run Shelana Investments. Originally slated for autumn 2025, opening now seems likely in early 2026.

2024 Review: “A super addition to Bromley” – the borough’s old Town Hall has had £20m spent on a refit as a boutique hotel, complete with this new landmark dining room which launched in late 2022: an imposing chamber, with a soaring vaulted ceiling, wood-panelled walls and clerestory windows. It serves a menu of British classics, and is aiming to be a linchpin of the area. Our early feedback (and press reports) are up-and-down: one reporter liked the “very friendly staff and great building”, but thought “the menu needs to be a little more adventurous”. Another was “slightly disappointed all round, but went shortly after it opened and they were obviously still ironing out stuff”. (Both comments have echoes of Grace Dent’s review in The Guardian: “a gorgeous space…with a brief menu… service is delightful… prompt and friendly, but it’s hard to regard the place as much more than a cafe”).

2024 Review: A sibling to Birch in Cheshunt, set in a very large, 18th-century mansion in 200 acres which follows a similar formula combining hotel, club and co-working space. The top culinary attraction is this dining room in the heart of the old property offering foraged fine dining from ex-Typing Room chef, Lee Westcott. It opened in August 2023 (after our annual diners’ poll had concluded) and offers a five-course tasting menu for £69 per person (with a wine pairing at £49 per person). There is also Vervain: an all-day brasserie (plus three bars, a spa, and Lido).