Wadhurst Restaurant Guide

2022 Review: They “recently extended the outdoor space and garden” at this imposing wattle-and-daub Elizabethan inn, built for the Keeper of the Privy Purse to Elizabeth I, no less. Together with a “new menu” of snacks and heartier grub it now makes a “great eating place” by all accounts.

“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”.

2023 Review: A “family favourite” for its “lovely atmosphere and brasserie food” – and handily close to Tunbridge Wells station – this spin-off from the ever-expanding Ivy operation is well regarded by most reporters, but also suffers from the complaints commonly levelled against its Identikit siblings: most especially indifferent cooking that’s “poor value for money”.

“My wife took me here for a “date lunch”… it was superb” – Richard Phillips’s well-known destination occupies an attractive and central Regency Villa and is “excellent for a special occasion” for which it provides “formal dining in the traditional manner with unusual nibbles and interesting flavours” and a high quality selection of wines. There is a luxurious à la carte menu (with mains around £40 each) or a seven course tasting menu for £95 per person. Top Tips – something of a favourite for business lunching hereabouts, they provide a lunch menu with two courses for £28 per person; “lovely terrace for outdoor dining in summer”.

This Arts & Crafts boutique hotel at the edge of Rusthall Common woods makes a “lovely setting” for a meal from chef Scott Goss, who trained under Gary Rhodes, served in a dining room with original stained-glass windows and wood-panelled fireplace. “Sunday lunches on the terrace are a summer treat” with “amazing views” over Happy Valley, and it’s “very popular for weddings”.

“A country pub with an above-average menu” and "consistently good food” from chef-patron Lee Adams that’s generally agreed to be “a cut above the others in the area”. (The unusual name references First World War poet Siegfried Sassoon, who lived in the village.)

“Good-quality food and friendly service” at this village pub, which was rescued in a rundown state by entrepreneur Sir Keith Mills and his wife Maureen a dozen years ago, and is run by well-known chef brothers Chris & James Tanner. “It’s great for families – you can watch the chefs at work in front of you!”.

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”.

“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”.

“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.

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”.

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’.

A “lovely recent edition to Tunbridge Wells” from Robin Read, who honed his pastry skills with the Roux brothers, before racking up a super-starry CV including time at Le Gavroche, then alongside Nico Ladenis and Marco Pierre White. The “intimate” dining room opened in May 2024, and quickly won the favours of Grace Dent, who proclaimed it “hard to fault”, although some reviewers this year did have a few quibbles, namely the “shockingly memorable” wine prices and less memorable food – even if these were counterbalanced by more positive reports of “really excellent” and “delicious” dishes (relayed via five- eight- or ten-course menus at £60, £95 or £125 per person, respectively, or a less ruinous three-course lunch for £40 on certain days).

2023 Review: “Absolutely delicious coffee and pastries” – all made in-house – are on offer at this “bakery with a couple of tables” – “and you can leave with a perfect sourdough loaf”. Founder Jamie Tandoh was the first independent sourdough baker in Tunbridge Wells when he opened in 2014. Top Tip – “the best croissants”.

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.

“Still a favourite in Tunbridge Wells by a mile” – Rob & Donna Taylor’s Southborough five-year-old occupies an attractive site and “is that rare treat – a top restaurant in Kent!”. The “staff are so sweet and friendly and always know so much about the menu” that it creates a “lovely, warm and relaxed atmosphere” and the food itself is “very thoughtful and well-prepared from a monthly-changing menu”. Dishes are priced individually à la carte, or you can order a tasting selection for £90 per person and there are “excellent matching wines”.

“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”.

A “brilliant family-run pub (father and daughter duo, Dale Skinner and Harriet Bull, are at the helm) with excellent food and a lovely garden with views of Bodiam Castle”, plus comfortable rooms if you wish to stay. A former CAMRA ‘Country Pub of the Year’, its wide-ranging menu of classic boozer fare is always “excellent and the service exemplary” (“for a pub I cannot rate it too highly – open fire, good range of beer and a varied, seasonal menu”).