On the outskirts of Ashford, new owners have opened the restaurant, while 10 bedrooms & on-site pub will open in December

Located on the southern edge of the North Downs in Kent, Boys Hall has undergone months of painstaking restoration to transform into a beautiful restaurant with rooms set within 3 acres of grounds.

On the outskirts of Ashford, owners Kristie and Brad Lomas, along with Head Chef Robbie Lorraine and team have now opened the doors to their restaurant - meanwhile upstairs 10 bedrooms will open in December 2022, along with the hall’s very own pub.

The restaurant is housed in a capacious, oak-beamed dining room, looking out to beautiful walled gardens on either side complete with terraced seating. With 70 covers, the restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner service, Wednesday to Sunday and the menu will centre around seasonal, local produce from the ‘Garden of England’.

The restaurant will serve an a la carte offering for lunch and dinner and there is a premium wine cellar that sits beneath with a large capacity for globally renowned wines and Kentish fizz as well as a seasonal cocktail list and local ales.

Boys Hall was originally built in 1616 and is Grade II-listed. Husband and wife team, Bradley and Kristie have painstakingly restored the house to its former glory with the help of family, friends and a variety of local specialists. Bradley was the former operations director of East London Pub Co, and Kristie is the founder of Drink, Shop & Do as well as Keystone Crescent members club in London’s King’s Cross.

The couple departed the capital in 2019 and on finding the hall, a mere 35 minute train ride from London, set about using their combined wealth of experience to create the ‘getaway destination of their dreams’.

From December 2022, the property will comprise of 10 ensuite bedrooms, multiple reception rooms and private dining rooms, plus the 70 cover restaurant and their very own wood-clad pub for a pint of local ale and bar snacks.

Boys Hall’s menus are inspired by classic British comfort food and the best seasonal produce available, which Robbie and the team will use to create contemporary twists. Example dishes might include:

Snacks

Giant pork scratchings, spiced pear compote

Scooped pink fir potatoes, creamed leek

Lobster Doughnuts

Starters

House cured blackened salmon, cultured cream jelly, balsamic pearls, puffed spelt, dill oil

Cauliflower cheese, Kingsctott Blue cheese, cauliflower salad

Slow braised short rib of Longhorn beef, crushed potatoes, watercress, puffed barley, pickled onions

Main Course

Butternut squash tortellini, creamed spinach, baby onions, cobnuts & garden sage (v)

Marmite Glazed Celeriac Steak, Chickpea Chips, roasted portobello mushroom, oven dried tomato &

peppercorn sauce (ve)

Cider braised belly of pork, pork ‘quaver’ with bacon jam, black pudding,

grilled leeks, sour cabbage, apple puree

Confit Halibut, English rose veal tortellini, savoy cabbage, baby onion, fennel & red wine reduction

Dessert

Brown butter rice pudding, pickled blackberries, parsnip crisps

Millionaire shortbread, hazelnut shortbread, milk chocolate mousse, salted caramel, dark chocolate,

malt ice cream

Kentish Cheese selection

In the house there will be 5 grand suites each with super-king beds, spacious bathrooms and features including rolltop bathtubs in the room, idyllic window seats overlooking the estate and original fourposter beds. A further 3 bedrooms will have ensuites, some with bathtubs and 2 cosier rooms with ensuite showers, though cosy only be name – all 10 bedrooms are luxurious and stately sized.

The large, landscaped grounds have become a passion project for Kristie and will include a rose garden, a formal front lawn (featuring garden games in the summer months), beehives producing the hall’s own honey and of course the all important kitchen garden for growing herbs and flowers for the restaurant and bar. Future plans are afoot to further extend the food and drink offering in a few years’ time to open a garden room bar with outdoor pizza oven.

“We have loved every minute of restoring this timeless and beautiful period property. We cannot wait to see life back in the venue with people being able to enjoy themselves whether they choose a cup of tea in one of the reception rooms or a Gin & Tonic out on the lawns admiring the gardens.

“Located in the heart of Kent we are very lucky to have some incredible producers and suppliers work with us. ‘It’s been such a privilege to be able to combine our background and love of home comforts and become a part of the rich history of this house, which we immediately fell in love with. It’s been the privilege of a lifetime to combine our backgrounds and love of home comforts and become a part of the rich history of this house and its stunning, evolving gardens. We want our guests to feel at home and for everyone who stays in the first year, a tree will be planted in the gardens,” say Kristie & Brad Lomas.

For more information please visit: www.boys-hall.com