Isle of Sheppey restaurant gets 2AA Rosette Award
Only 21 restaurants in Kent to have the award
The Ferry House restaurant on the Isle of Sheppey has won the prestigious 2AA Rosette for Culinary Excellence, placing it among only 21 restaurants in Kent to have it.
The award represents another milestone in over 20 years of ownership by local third generation farming family, the Burdens, who have taken the venue from humble country pub origins, to a rustically-refined country restaurant, boutique hotel and wedding venue in a beautiful wetland hideaway beside the Swale estuary.
With a long-standing family heritage of food cultivation, produce for the menu is cropped from the 1.5 acre Kitchen Garden, alongside salt marsh-grazed beef, wild game and foraged produce from the shoreline and Harty estate.
AA inspector Salvatore Scotti described the dining experience as “one of the highlights of my stay, with great pride taken in quality produce from the estate and vegetable garden. The hands-on team showed wonderful hospitality from making my reservation, to the time it came to leave.”
Also praised was the experience from the luxury hotel rooms. “The rooms are filled with coordinated style, elegance, comfort and quality. The bathroom displayed clear sparkle!”
Victoria Burden co-owns The Ferry House (@theferryhouseharty) alongside husband, Alex. She described the emotion of receiving the award; “we are beyond thrilled! The report highlighted everything that’s important to us – the quality of our home grown produce, a relaxed dining experience and warm and friendly service.”
“Most of all we’re happy for our team and proud of their contributions - every element of the AA report touches someone’s role here. Hearing the cheers and seeing the emotion among the team when we gave them the news was a great feeling. We are especially proud of and happy for Head Chef, James Pilcher.”
“We are passionate about home growing produce that is not easily available – perhaps because it’s perishable or is best handpicked to order. With our own kitchen garden we don’t have that challenge, so guests can be introduced to dishes with unique, seasonal produce, that’s exciting and creatively prepared, while being approachable and un-pretentious.”
Recent dishes on the menu include wild Harty Estate duck wellington, pan-fried stone bass with foraged sea vegetables, 10oz salt-marsh grazed sirloin and charcoal-roasted golden beetroot, with pickled golden beets.
