BITE CLUB: FT. Stubbs, The Cheese Rooms & The Toll Bridge
In this edition, we take a trip to a couple of newer restaurants entering the higher end of the Kent foodie scene, as well as one absolute stonker perfect for cheese fans
Stubbs, Ashford
It’s one of those places that you can legitimately say ‘Get your glad rags on, we’re going out for a slap-up meal’ to your significant other.
Opening at the end of 2021, Stubbs might be one of the most glam restaurants in the county. A reported £5m refurb job has resulted in a sparkling Champagne and oyster bar that also sells sushi, a chic bistro, a club house restaurant and even a cricket-themed snug.
Replacing the former Croft Hotel in Kennington, Stubbs was snapped up by renowned restaurateurs Alex and Helen Bensley, with a very experienced team running the day-to-day. Alternatively, you can soak up the sun on one of three outside terraced areas, which are being joined by a landscaped garden complete with fountain.
We can tell you now, there aint nothing else like it around those parts.
The menu is wide-ranging, so it’s worth turning up very hungry to try to get across items that span meaty grill, flavour-filled bistro and classical seafood dishes (plus a significant wine list).
We took on The Stubbs Burger, presented in a toasted bun with melting Cheddar, Stubbs sauce, skinny fries and fresh fried onion rings (£14.95) as well as a chicken schnitzel, skinny fries and tenderstem broccoli with Parmesan and Dijon sauce (£16.95). But arguably the star of the show was, of all things, the vegan sushi.
Crisp avocado maki, with fresh and smoked bell pepper, unagi, orange and mango salsa, sriracha and pickled ginger (£8.75), it set tongues buzzing and was a totally surprising show-stealer.
It’s not cheap, but it’s full of good food and great intentions as it strives to turn heads. The tour is worth the trip alone.
The Cheese Room, Rochester
What an absolute gem in the middle of Rochester’s picturesque high street. With its sister restaurant The Cheese Room Botanicals just round the corner, don’t be fooled into thinking this is ‘just the deli’.
OK, you can buy lots of cheesy things, plus wine, bread and charcuterie at the counter, but pull up a perch in the cosy cellar or the sun-trap, covered courtyard and feel the atmosphere.
Open from 9.30am to 3pm, the brunch crowd are well catered for with the breakfast-looking avocado with soft boiled egg and Black Forest ham on sourdough, breaking into the more afternoon snacky chilli cheese and sautéed mushroom quesadilla.
Obviously, the cheese and charcuterie boards looked epic, as you’d expect.
We went for the creamy and spicy chorizo and harissa mayo mac & cheese (£6) with the
New York Deli sourdough toastie, packed with Keen’s Cheddar, pastrami, mustard, gherkin and sauerkraut (£6.50). Banging.
For something out of left field, try the melted Raclette cheese with sautéed potato, salt beef, pickles and bread (£9.50). Beautiful.
The Toll Bridge, Sandwich
The riverside walk is a staple of a trip to Sandwich, and the likelihood is that if you’ve been there, you’ve walked past the Toll Bridge restaurant. Well, under new ownership, at the back end of 2021 it was reopened as a BBQ concept restaurant with food designed by Michelin-level chef Shane Hughes, starring alongside some quality cocktails.
New owners Jez and Laurence Brown have fully renovated the 1980s Fisherman’s Wharf building with a modern and contemporary-styled interior and a new seated courtyard in which you will often see live music.
The menu is inspired by combining the American smokehouse style and Korean BBQ food, with dishes like the bao buns packed with crispy pork belly and topped with sriracha mayonnaise (£11) and the Bento Box, comprising the signature five-hour-smoked pork ribs, king prawn tempura, Asian coleslaw, house mac & cheese and the nine-hour-smoked beef brisket with soy dip (£20).
On our visit we were delighted by the smoked focaccia bread with smoked garlic whipped butter and sundried tomato powder, alongside cauliflower hot wings fried and crispy in Cajun spices (£13) - we are very much of the opinion that chicken wings are now officially redundant - before our monstrous surf & turf pairing prime ribeye steak and half a native lobster with skewered and grilled vegetables (£30). The only thing they don’t have is a wheelbarrow to get you back to the car.
