Kilndown Restaurant Guide

“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”.

Named after the coppiced woodland upon which it sits – Flimwell Park, an über-modern 46-acre sustainable community – this three-year-old is the third venture for Will Devlin, whose nearby The Small Holding holds a Michelin Green Star. “The standard bearer for excellent, locally sourced food” – small and large plates served in the “well-designed but canteen-style” interior or (preferably) on the stunning terrace overlooking the forest – it’s “pretty unbeatable for a fixed-price lunch”, though they’re also now open until 20.00 on Friday and Saturday night.

2024 Review: In a cute market town in prime English wine country on the Kent-Sussex border, this wine-focused pub from Sam Maynard (ex-Hotel du Vin) opened three boutique bedrooms in 2023. The 30-cover restaurant offers local seasonal dishes from chef Adam Sear alongside a list of 80 English wines (and there’s also a more conventional bar menu). Too little feedback for a rating as yet, but such as we have is ‘all good’.

“Home-grown seasonal produce” means meals “as fresh as food can get” at this daytime café-restaurant (plus dinner on Friday & Saturday) at a long-term project, the restoration of a Victorian walled garden in the High Weald using organic no-dig methods. It makes a “super setting” for lunch or a “slice of lovely cake”.