Monday, February 18, 2008

Another Culinary Tour of Tunbridge Wells


A while ago, I reviewed a few of the restaurants and cafes in my home town of Tunbridge Wells. Since then, my wife and I have sampled many more establishments, so I thought its was time for another round up.

ID, 26 London Road Map
ID has a nice extensive menu, including vegetarian options and a veggie set menu, although some of the dishes come with oyster sauce, so you'd need to check these to see whether they are using the “Vegetarian Oyster Sauce” that you can get that is made with mushrooms. The service was good, and the food was very tasty. They have an outside patio area that may be nice during the warmer months.

Junahki, 63 St Johns Road Map
The thing that stood out for me was the service. After waiting in the bar area for a few minutes, we were shown to our table which was already set with poppadums and pickles – a nice touch. The food was tasty and there were plenty of veggie options.

Himalayan Ghurka, 31 Church Road Map
I was a little disappointed with the Himalayan Ghurka. I was expecting the kind of food that I used to get at the Ghurka Kitchen, a Nepalese restaurant in Oxted, but it was pretty much standard Indian fayre. There was plenty of it however, and the service was fine, although the waiter could give us absolutely no advice on the wine list.

Woods , 62 The Pantiles Map
We went here for breakfast one weekend. The service was good and the food, I had Eggs Florentine – poached eggs with English muffins, hollandaise sauce and spinach, was really nice.

Pleasant Sandwich Bar, 7 Mount Pleasant Road Map
This is your fairly basic no-frills greasy spoon, but if you want a cheap filling “Full English” then this is the place to go.

Coffee House, Mount Pleasant Road Map
We tried the Coffee House for breakfast one morning. It's neater and tidier than its near next-door-neighbour, the Pleasant Sandwich Bar, but I preferred the “Pleasant”.

New Diamond, 51 Grosvenor Rd Tunbridge Wells Map
This is my “local” Chinese takeaway. They do a really huge selection of veggie dishes and a great veggie set menu. The Aubergines in Black Bean Sauce is a particular favourite of mine.

McDosa, 49 Grosvenor Rd Tunbridge Wells Map
I've only had a takeaway from here once. The dosa was great, but the rest of the meal I had was nothing special.

Java Bean Café, 67-69 High St Map
It's generally a toss-up whether to go here or Carluccio's for breakfast, and the Java Bean often wins, mostly on price. The juices that they do are really refreshing and the breakfasts are tasty. The service could be better, often there seems to be a lot of staff standing around unsure what to do.

Café Divine, 5 Castle St Map
I discovered this independent coffee-shop on Delocator, a website well worth a visit if you're fed up with the Starbuck's and Costa's that are taking over our high streets. And Café Divine is worth a visit too. The service is friendly and the coffee is superb!

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