Bedford Inn : Ramsgate

UPDATE : July 2025

The menu has changed, it has some (small plates) Nibbles & Starters, main courses include, Burgers, Tacos and Steak, see Bedford Inn website for an example menu.

Earlier visits before menu changes :

The Bedford Inn has recently been converted into an independent hotel that consists of 4 bedrooms with wet room en-suites, above a rather lovely Pub. The Bedford Inn also has a restaurant and an attractive outside seating area (with a sandy beach & deckchairs in the summer). We’ve visited a few times, indulging in their rather excellent cocktails, we were also very pleased to see that they had a Tapas menu (served after 5:00 pm on Thursday & Friday and after 12:00 noon on Saturday – and Sunday during the Summer), we just had to check it out. The Tapas was excellent, very authentic, definitely the best Tapas I’ve had in Ramsgate (and just as good if not better than some I’ve had in Spain).  We had six dishes for two people which is probably ideal for an evening meal. Two per person for a light lunch would work too, the Vegan Seaweed Croquettas and the Anchovies, Roasted Peppers, parsley oil worked especially well together. We also just had to order a couple of their rather tasty French Martinis. It was impressive that the lunch time staff made just as good a Martini as the evening staff. We returned for more Tapas, eating in the garden this time. The Serrano Ham, Manchego, Almonds & lavender infused honey was a real treat. The Calamari was excellent and the Cured Ham & Sobrasada Croquettes were so tasty. Just the perfect place for lunch on a sunny day. For more information on the Tapas see About The Bedford Inn Tapas. The Bedford Inn on West Cliff Road is a short walk up from the town centre. Addington Street & Spencer Square Tennis courts are close by. It’s also on the Loop bus route (Cannonbury Road Bus Stop) so it’s easy to get too. They’re doing Sunday roasts again too, and they elevate them to another level. I had the mushroom, lentil & root vegetable Wellington and I can’t recommend it highly enough. There’s a really lovely ambience in the basement restaurant and the service is first rate.

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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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Foliage : Ramsgate (moved to Broadstairs)

UPDATE : Ramsgate cafe closed May 2025 – Foliage moved to Albion Street in Broadstairs.

First visit Broadstairs cafe (July 2025) :-

We stopped by the new Foliage venue in Broadstairs and ordered cake & coffee from the bar. All the down stairs tables we taken, so we climbed the rather steep staircase to the upstairs room. Amazingly the waitress delivering out order managed the stairs while balancing a full tray!

The distinctive look and the menu are the same as the former Ramsgate cafe, although I’m not sure if it’s the same cake supplier as the selection on our visit was limited.

First visit Ramsgate cafe (July 2024) :-

The Foliage Cafe opened a few years ago and I’d never managed a visit until now as St Lawrence High Street is a bit off my beaten track. However I have to say that it’s definitely what I would call a “Destination Cafe”, that is somewhere I would now go out of my way to visit, it’s an absolute gem. We went on a Tuesday afternoon expecting it to be empty, it wasn’t. There was a steady stream of customers and I can understand why, excellent service, really good coffee and seriously good cakes are just some of the reasons to visit. It also has a lovely atmosphere based as it is inside a very attractive little Garden Centre and if the weather is nice you can also sit outside in the pretty garden area at the back. The Cafe is licensed and there’s an interesting range of Cocktails on the menu (they even run Cocktail making classes). They’ve started doing Cheese & Charcuterie boards as well and have fairly regular Live Music evenings. Foliage is actually only a few minutes walk from Ramsgate Station and Ellington Park, so if you’re in the area it’s so worth making the detour.

 

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The Cook’s Tale : Canterbury

My first visit to The Cooks Tale (aka The Ambrette) in Canterbury was an absolute delight. Not only were the rather delicious cocktails half price (part of their Thirsty Thursday deal), but the food and service was really good.  I’ve eaten at the now closed Margate Ambrette several time so I knew to expect some really good, innovative Anglo-Indian dishes. The food was even better than I remembered. I had the Dosai as a main course and it was fantastic. I regret not being able to finish the huge portion as every mouthful was a treat.

One of my companions ordered Chicken Supreme. The Cooks Tale’s take on this classic dish was beautifully presented and thoroughly enjoyed.

It was definitely not from the same continent as the version of the dish you typically think off when you see Chicken Supreme on a menu.

My other companion ordered the Lamb Fillet, Lamb Kebab dish and was delighted with the beautifully cooked lamb.

We finished off our meal by sharing a plate of chocolate samosas.

I should also make a special mention of the lovely amuse-bouches. The rather tasty pea soup with hot buttered naan bread and the theatrically presented stuffed popodoms – so good.

We went a la carte but there are also a couple of tasting menus available (including a vegetarian one) which based on the level of cooking I experienced, are likely to be somewhat special.

They also had a pianist playing in the background which was a bit odd at first but we got used to it as he wasn’t loud enough to disrupt our conversation.

This has to be one of the best restaurants in Canterbury, I know it’s top of my list for a return visit.

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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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