As you know, this blog was borne out of the fact that Tonbridge has been regaining its mojo thanks to the plethora of new eating places we have now. Just in case featuring on my blog isn’t recognition enough (ahem), over the coming weeks I am going to be highlighting places that you might like to nominate for categories in the Kent Life & Kent on Sunday’s prestigious Food & Drink Awards 2016. Wouldn’t it be GREAT to have some Tonbridge winners? One of the categories is Café of the Year and several have sprouted on or around Tonbridge High Street this year alone. I visited Beyond the Grounds this week to meet the founder Jennie Kenny and, of course, to sample the food. A full review to come soon but here’s a taster to kick start the nomination suggestions… I received a warm welcome as I entered Beyond the Grounds, just next to HSBC bank. The founder Jennie, wants the café to be hospitable and homely, and the ambience certainly is that, the staff helpful and smiling. The children had the tomato & roasted pepper soup which was delicious and perfect for their palates. The waiting staff was considerate, thinking ahead and bringing the little diners teaspoons, rather than large soup spoons. My friend and I both had burgers – the BTG Bistro special is steak burger this week and the Slow Roasted Meat Bap is pork, both of which were accompanied by garlic potato wedges and a green salad. They were both really tasty and the portions were perfect, not overwhelming as sometimes burgers and their sides can be. We had shortbread for pudding (excellent – apparently it’s a secret recipe!), and finished off our coffees. Our every need had been met in here, teaspoons for children, soya milk for my friend and an accommodating atmosphere for three noisy children! Positioned conveniently betwixt park and high street, Beyond the Grounds is a community orientated café that is well worth a visit. I asked Jennie what it would mean to her and the team if they won Café of the Year. “The Kent Life awards are prestigious! It would be amazing to win, to think that people actually connect with it, like what we’re doing & love it for what it is. I would think I’ve achieved what I wanted to achieve.” Hopefully that has started your brain ticking about where you like to go for a coffee and a piece of cake; perhaps it’s Beyond the Grounds, perhaps it’s somewhere else. But if it’s in Kent, nominate it! http://kentfda.co.uk/nominate/ It is easy to nominate! I did it within five minutes, on my mobile, on a dog walk! And in that time, I added the all-important comment that could help to add my favourite foodie haunt to the short list. Will yours be on it? Closing Date – 7 August 2016
Tag: child friendly
****COMPETITION TIME**** Win a meal for 4 people + a bottle of prosecco!
“We’re still here, still good value for money and the food’s better than it used to be, “ says Danial Palmer-Johnson, the new manager of The Slug & Lettuce, Tonbridge which has joined forces with Eat Around Tonbridge for this exciting competition to launch their new menu. I visited recently on a Saturday night and left feeling surprised & impressed…. Asian platter from the new menu If you think you know The Slug & Lettuce, then think again. It attracts ladies who lunch, professionals on their way home from the station and families too thanks to it’s ‘Kids eat for £1′ offer on Sundays. Danial, an experienced Slug & Lettuce manager having worked all over the country in the bar chain, has honed in on the community spirit in the town and the Slug & Lettuce is now sponsoring the Tonbridge Juddians Ladies’ team. He’s keen to stock local suppliers too. Very tasty Khichdi from The Slug & Lettuce menu Myself & three friends visited The Slug & Lettuce one Saturday night – none of us had been for ages (years). It was really busy & buzzing at the bar, tunes playing, but it didn’t take us long to be served or be shown to our table, despite the FA Cup Final being shown and a hen do enjoying a cocktail masterclass. The menu is large & varied, covering all bases with specific menus for meals such as salads, burgers, sandwiches & light bites. Large menus often concern me (you know, quality vs quantity) but I needn’t have worried. We ordered a broad selection of dishes from the main menu (fish cakes with sweet potato fries, a super salad, chicken skewers & Khichdi, an Indian inspired rice dish which was sweet & tangy) and were impressed: our food was very tasty and full of flavour, all delivered by our attentive server. Seafood grill from the new menu We had a really good night and it’s somewhere to which we all said we’d return – the (sometimes loud) music, hen do & general hustle and bustle of the place on a Saturday night, only added to our enjoyment. **** Competition **** And now you can experience it for yourselves! To enter the competition: Identify 3 fruit & veg characters from The Slug & Lettuce children’s menu Enter by commenting on this blog post on the Eat Around Tonbridge Facebook page OR reply to the blog tweet on Twitter @eat_tonbridge. The deadline is Thursday 9th June 2016 10pm. The winner will be chosen at random & announced on Friday morning. The prize could be used on Father’s Day too! Enter now for your chance to win!
Shamo’s, Tonbridge, 19 May 2016
It has been a busy couple of weeks for Eat Reviewer – thanks for keeping up with the posts. Next week, it’s competition time so keep liking and sharing! Read on for a review of Shamo’s: they invited me to review them & I was accompanied by my two sons aged 6 & 3. Shamo’s on Avebury Avenue, South Tonbridge Shamo’s is the latest addition to our growing gastronomic scene & is positioned in South Tonbridge, on Avebury Avenue. Sharan & Amo (hence the name) opened Shamo’s, about 3 months’ ago. The menu is succinct which I like (quality over quantity) & there is a children’s menu too. Shamo’s markets itself as a burger & milkshake joint, but there is something for everyone: fish dishes (these are starters but Shamo’s are happy for diners to order the starters as ‘tapas’), veggie dishes and they happily accommodate coeliacs with gluten free chips & bun-less burgers. After our very warm welcome, my sons both ordered one of Shamo’s trademark milkshakes: made with ice cream, they’re decadently thick & have lots of different flavours, including alcoholic ones for grown-ups. They are served in lovely Kilner jars with lots of whipped cream on top – a real treat. My sons and I chose the calamari (from the main menu) as a sharing starter & it really was a joy to eat – it was cooked to perfection, with the right amount of bite, encased in delicious, golden batter. We pondered over the menu for some time but I finally settled on the Tonbridge Cheese Steak. This is inspired by the Philly cheese steak, a baguette filled with cheese & steak from Philadelphia, USA & I thought it was unusual for somewhere in the UK, let alone Tonbridge to be serving it! It arrived in a brioche bun (the Tonbridge twist – & it worked) with gluten free ‘fat’ chips (menu says fries but they’re definitely chips) and a pot of ‘slaw. I only intended to eat half of the cheese steak as it looked enormous….but it was so good that I polished it off. The steak was just right and the cheese was all gooey, melting all over the chunks of meat, just as I remembered it. Clean eating this is not, but, boy, it was really good. The ‘slaw on the side was a little disappointing though: too heavy on the mayonnaise for me; I like some crunch. The boys both chose the breaded chicken burger from the children’s menu, freshly breaded in Shamo’s kitchen. Our waitress was more than happy to take instruction to remove any hint of salad from the burgers at my sons’ behest and so they arrived ‘naked’ in their brioche buns accompanied by chips and corn on the cob. Sadly, my younger son had filled up on his milkshake and so he barely touched his burger, chomping only on a few chips. Luckily Shamo’s kindly provided a doggy bag, complete with fresh chips & the boys could decant their milkshakes into takeaway cups. We visited Shamo’s at about 5pm & it was quiet so a good time to take children, despite lacking a little atmosphere. The customer service was excellent, our every need met; we left, replete & content. The food was definitely a hit with my elder son who said Shamo’s was his new favourite place to eat in Tonbridge, and with me. I will certainly return and think an evening visit with a group would be fun….but I’ll make sure I have my alcoholic milkshake as a pud rather than an aperitif. Experience Ingredients In the group: 1 ad + 2 ch Consumption & cost: 2 x milkshake, 1 x sparkling water, 1 x starter; 3 x mains £32
Gaab Kao, Tonbridge, 2 May 2016
I took my friend out for dinner for her 40th birthday (for the record, she’s older than me) and as she loves Thai food, the new Thai restaurant in Tonbridge, Gaab Kao, was an obvious choice. We were so excited but, left feeling rather underwhelmed… Gaab Kao – 117 High Street, Tonbridge It was a Monday evening & the restaurant had been open for just over a week. When we arrived at 7.30pm the restaurant was pretty busy – a great sign. There was a big group with children, even those that still need a high chair (which was provided by the restaurant) so it was good to see that Gaab Kao is embracing family dining. (For those of you who don’t care two hoots about family dining, those two children were the only ones in there!) We were seated at a table for two next to another table for two & really, we were a bit too close (niggle one). Throughout the meal we could easily eavesdrop on our neighbour’s conversation & there were times when we could tell they were listening to our highly intellectual chat about my friend’s 40th party that I’d missed. It isn’t a very large restaurant so dining is rather cosy. The menu is really varied but not overwhelming, although it didn’t make it any easier to choose. We finally settled on the Gai Satay (chicken skewers with spicy peanut sauce) & some good ol’ spring rolls, Poh Pai Tord for our starters: they’re traditional & we thought they’d be a good benchmark. The chicken of the Gai Satay was moist and tender, and the satay sauce was really peanutty, not too runny & not too thick. The spring rolls (shown on the right of the picture) were presented with a modern twist, packed full of the veggie filling you’re expecting. Gaab Kao starters The starters were nice but not remarkable so we were hoping to be more impressed with the main course. I’m a sucker for mushrooms so had the chicken Pad Nam Mun Hoi (stir-fried chicken in oyster sauce with broccoli, mushroom & onion) with sticky rice, the rice served authentically in the bag. My friend had the Panang curry with chicken: at first bite, it was creamy and full of interesting flavours, and then the heat hit you very subtly at the end (there are little red squares on the menu to signify the heat of the dish). Coconut rice accompanied the Panang curry: the coconut was extremely subtle…verging on non-existent. Throughout our time in Gaab Kao, the service was excellent. The waiting staff are trying to be one step ahead of their diners: free flowing water (I don’t mean the plumbing – in some other places you have to keep asking for water top-ups); doggy bags offered really discreetly, no big fuss; giving us time to taste our food before checking our meals were OK (again I find in other places, the waiting staff are over too promptly). They never felt intrusive. My second niggle though, would be that our mains were ready very quickly after our starters had been cleared; this might not be the place for a long, lazy meal. Something that may upset some of you is that there isn’t a dessert menu: in Thailand they don’t ‘do’ dessert like we do & tend to eat fresh fruit or a ‘dessert’ made of sticky rice & banana, & it’s the latter that’s on offer at Gaab Kao. We were rather full & so declined pud, preferring to quaff more prosecco. The service was excellent but aside from that, there wasn’t anything outstanding to report and that’s a problem for me. The word that springs to mind to describe the food is ‘nice’, not amazing or delicious, and I certainly don’t feel as though I’ll rush to go back. I chatted to the manager of Gaab Kao about my experience and he couldn’t think of a reason why the food may have not been up to scratch that night, except that perhaps it was still early days. I’m not sure how long the term ‘early days’ applies but I will go back in a few months’ time to see how things are going…. Eat Reviewer Experience Ingredients In the group: 2 ad Consumption & cost: 2x prosecco (small bottles rather than a glass), 2 x starter, 2 x main, 2 x rice – £55 (including 10% tip)
Graze, Tonbridge, Feb-Mar 2016
It’s Friday night, the weekend is upon us. If you’re wondering where to dine in Tonbridge this weekend, here’s one suggestion…Graze. The Graze Kitchen & Bar is the old ‘The Castle’ pub – prime location on the big bridge, lovely views of the illuminated castle at night. Graze – looks a bit shabby on the outside but lovely on the inside; big windows at street level – not the place for a secret rendez-vous It had some bad press on opening regarding the quality of the food and service. I think some of the bad press is justified but more of that later. Graze by name, graze by nature: a tapas style menu, three dishes for £15, & there’s a really interesting variety of dishes spanning veggies, fish and meat. This allows you to eat less formally with friends, dip your chips in their sauce, fab for a girls’ night out – the Graze cocktails are also good! Graze also has a creative non-grazing menu, for want of a better term. I love the ‘wild mushroom melt’: you think it’ll be snack-ish as it’s basically egg on toast with mushrooms but it’s so much more than that! Wild Mushroom Melt – delicious! The moules in Thai broth – plentiful & a great kick to them; braised beef cheeks – tender & full of flavour; banoffee pie is, I would say, slightly deconstructed (been watching too much Masterchef obviously), so feels modern but it’s served in a retro Kilner jar, all in keeping with the décor. The kids’ menu is really good & the Graze team is very hospitable to children. The portions are large though despite being for little ones, so small children may feel overwhelmed. Now onto that bad press – the service. The staff is lovely: friendly & helpful but each time I’ve been, some aspect of the service has been slow. I’ve had to wait ages for drink service, they have taken too long to bring kids’ puds (kids getting restless etc etc), they have laboured over bringing the bill. I have given them feedback on a couple of occasions and they have reasons….. but it is a little frustrating. Having said that, I have grazed in Graze several times now despite the service. But I do need to make sure I’m in a patient state of mind when I go… Experience Ingredients I have been to Graze three times during February & March, with family and with girl friends. All those experiences contributed to this review. Some of the menus are in the Gallery or, you can find them on the Graze website.http://www.graze-kitchen.com/
Cafe 1809, Hildenborough Jan 2016
So this café actually has a proper name and isn’t just called the ‘Kelly café’! There is definitely a ‘fitness’ theme throughout the café as you’d expect with Dame Kelly Holmes at the helm but it’s not over bearing & the display of mouth-watering cakes nicely balances it out! I certainly felt as though if I came in sweating after a run, I would be welcomed. But walking in with two boys I felt welcomed too! All of the menus are aiming to be healthy which is no great shock given the exercise apparatus dotted around the place. There was a delicious looking butternut squash and halloumi salad (called ‘Starter’s Orders’, apparently DK’s fave), plus other salads which could be accompanied by hunks of bread or generous helpings of quiche; I went for the soup which was sweet potato, chickpea and carrot. It was very tasty but if I’m honest, perhaps a little over salted. It was presented on a mini breadboard, in a miniature pan with a lid. Well, it impressed me…. The children’s menu has pasta + different types of sauce, boiled egg with ‘running soldiers’, different types of sandwiches (marmite, cheese, banana and honey). The boiled egg’s soldiers were butterly tempting and the egg was boiled to perfection, the golden yolk dripping down the sides with my son frantically trying to mop it up. Junior #2 had pesto pasta as that’s his favourite meal in the world and he wasn’t disappointed! I didn’t manage to ask whether the pesto was home made but the bonus was that they provided me with a ‘doggy bag’ to take home the remainder! And this seemed like a perfectly normal request, not a lash batted. Onto the juice: I had a super green juice which they stated wasn’t for the faint hearted but it was amazing! Who knew kale could taste so delicious?! My son tried a berry mix juice and loved that so I felt like a good mummy that at least one child had consumed some of his 5-a-day (make sure you ask for the smaller juice for a child as they’re very large – they only let me know about the smaller glasses when I suggested it at the end which was rather frustrating). The array of cakes was very tempting including some gluten free treats, but I was surprised & disappointed that there weren’t any dairy or sugar free options (especially as there was an advertisement for a course about going sugar free!). I would return and recently did, slurping a juice post work-out, of course…. Experience Ingredients: In the group: 1 ad + 2 children Consumption & cost: soup, children’s boiled eggs & toast, children’s pesto pasta, children’s hot choc, large oaty cookie, Americano coffee, fresh juice x 2, carton juice x 1 – £22