Category: UK

Frog and Scot : Deal

The Frog and Scot is a popular small plates venue in Deal, so it’s best to book your table a few weeks in advance.  The bookings are timed for 1 hour 30 minute slots, which means you need to order all the small plates you want in one go (they’ll come out of the Kitchen in stages as they are prepared). It’s not really practical to order extra small plates if you find there are some dishes you especially like or if you want more than originally ordered.

Three Small plates per person is recommended.

We started with one of the bar snacks, some tasty ‘Cantabrian anchovies, tomato concasse, pickled garlic’ and ordered seven small plates for three people.

The quality of the dishes varied quite a bit on our visit. The stand out dish for me was the ‘Gnocco, burnt red pepper aioli, parmesan’. The ‘Bayonne ham croquettes, green romesco, basil’ and the ‘New potatoes, coronation mayo, coriander, pickled shallot’ were very tasty too. The ‘local heritage tomato carpaccio’ and ‘Trout tartare, kohlrabi, cherry, ponzu’ were fine, but the ‘Courgette ribbons, mint, pistachio, buttermilk’ and the ‘Burrata, charred peach, basil, toast’ were not so successful.

Time slot bookings are a bit of a pain if you’re looking to have a relaxing meal, ideally I’d have liked to have had time to order dessert and perhaps try one of their cocktails, but as we only had 15 mins minutes left in our time slot and rather than rush our dessert, we decided to just get our bill and have Cocktails elsewhere.

Our meal with a bottle of wine was about £40 per person.

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Le Pinardier : Deal

Le Pinardier in Deal High Street is a great place to chill if you’re into wine and cheese. It’s a Wine Shop/Bar with a fabulous selection of wines (mostly French).  There are several tables in the shop area and a few outside. We took refuge from the baking sun and grabbed a table inside on our visit. We ordered a cheese board (Comté, Brie & Camembert) and a bottle of Vouvray from the extensive wine list.  It wasn’t very busy, so we had excellent service and stayed for an hour or so, happily people watching.

Definitely recommend this place if you’re visiting Deal.

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Vincent’s : Ramsgate

Vincent’s is a gem of a cafe in Ramsgate, one you would struggle to find without local knowledge. It’s located in Spencer Square in the little hut overlooking the Tennis Courts, I didn’t even realize that it had inside seating, but it does and it’s surprisingly spacious. It’s a friendly place serving good Coffee and homemade Cakes. The outside seating is on both sides of the hut, so you can also sit overlooking the rather stunning Vincent van Gogh sculpture.

Spencer Square leads into Addington Street where you will find some interesting independent shops, see the Addington Street section of the Ramsgate Shopping Guide for details.

Vincent’s is also located at the start point for the Vincent van Gogh self guided walking trail.

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Flavours by Kumar : Ramsgate

I have been eating regularly at Flavours by Kumar for a while  now and just realised that although it is included it in the No Expert – Eating and Drinking Guide it does not have a more in-depth review in its own right; which it most definitely merits.

The restaurant is tucked away in a side street in Ramsgate (2 Effingham Street). It is in a converted pub that still looks like a pub when you enter, but don’t judge this place by the decor, this is not your average Indian Restaurant. The owner and Head Chef, is Anil Kumar, who worked at The Cinnamon Club in London, and in restaurants in Dubai, Jordan and India.

We go for the set lunch which is amazing value. You start with a welcome drink usually a mango juice concoction. Then a small amuse bouche, which is a mouthful of deliciousness. They have a nice selection of starters, the Masala Dosa is a work of Art, and I highly recommend the Squid dish.  Next there is a small complimentary cup of spicy soup. There is also a good few main courses to choose from. We have tried several of them, the highlight for me is the Goan Fish Curry, it is served with rice and warm freshly made naan bread.

The service is good and there is a small selection of  wine.

The restaurant is well regarded, it won a Tiffin Cup award to find the UKs best South Asian Restaurant and has been favourably covered in the national press, see Guardian article which described the food at Flavours by Kumar as some of the tastiest Indian Food in the South East of England and they are so right. If you are in the area, this is a treat not to be missed.

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Pit Stop in Sandwich town for Le Weekend

A favourite breakfast venue of ours in Sandwich was the Beach Hut, but that was a while back and the location on Strand Street was taken over by the Smokehouse which didn’t seem to last very long, but we’d notice that there was a further change of ownership and the cafe was now called ‘The Pit Stop’. So when we made a visit to Sandwich for the ‘Le Weekend’ event, we made sure to make a pit stop and check out their breakfast offerings. They do several English breakfast variations, as well as, Omelettes, Eggs Royal, Eggs Benedict and various toast and sandwich options.

We had Breakfast 1 & 2, so between the two of us we had a nice range of quality ingredients. Nicely cooked bacon & mushrooms, plenty of black pudding & hash browns. An excellent breakfast all round and reasonably priced (just over £20 for two breakfasts & two coffees).

There is some nice outside seating, so it’s a great place to have a leisurely breakfast or brunch in the sunshine. Good service too, quick & friendly.

Le Weekend is an annual event in Sandwich where the town hosts a French Market and an Anglo- French Medieval Encampment. There is also Live Music and lots of stalls mainly in Market Street.

Several cafes (including the The Pit Stop) offer classic French menus over the weekend.

For more information see www.sandwichevents.org.uk

UPDATE : August 2024 – The Pit Stop is now closed.

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Travellers in Italy – Pizzeria & Rosticceria (Closed)

On our visit to Ramsgate’s newest restaurant (it’s only been open for three weeks at the time of writing this review) executive chef Craig Mather was manning the small Kitchen area and pizza oven left over from Pizza Express, the previous tenants of this landmark building overlooking the Royal Harbour.

Travellers in Italy may be a strange name for a restaurant but I think any travellers to Italy would be more than happy to find somewhere that served Pizza this good. The sourdough base was lovely, but what really stood out to me when I took the first bite of my Tartiflette Pizza (crispy smoked pancetta, slow cooked onions, confit garlic, Jersey Royals, cream, parmesan and thyme) was the delicious fresh ingredients used to create it.  My companion had the Gamberi Pizza (King Prawn, chilli, cherry tomatoes, rocket and parmesan) which he was equally enamoured with. GB Pizza in Margate make excellent Pizza and are understandably renowned locally, but I have to say based on this visit, Travellers in Italy can give them a run for their money.

I couldn’t manage a whole Pizza, so they very kindly boxed the remaining slice. Here’s hoping it reheats ok, as I’d hate to waste it.

The room looks lovely now, so much warmer looking than its previous incarnation and the staff are both friendly and efficient.

James Thomas the owner of the Royal Harbour Hotel is building a small restaurant empire here in Ramsgate, first with the Empire Room in the basement of the Royal Harbour Hotel, then Little Ships the excellent brasserie overlooking the harbour and now Travellers in Italy. I wonder what’s next.

UPDATE September 2022 – Recently dined here with visiting friends, who were very happy with the quality of the pizza, the efficient service and the lovely view over the Marina.

The Empire Room mentioned in the above review is now closed.

UPDATE July 2023 – Travellers in Italy is now closed.

 

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