The Fordwich arms, a beautiful pub in Fordwich, three miles east of Canterbury, has been end of last year taken over by Daniel Smith, the winner of Observer Young Chef of the Year 2016, ex-sous chef of The Clove Club. The beautiful building, offers to the guest a beautiful garden in the summer and two fireplaces in the cosy dining rooms to make the cold evenings more pleasant.
My visit at Fordwich Arms happened in winter, on my birthday. It was a spontaneous last minute booking during the weekend spent at Herne Bay – we just managed to get the last table at 9.30 pm. We were lucky having been seated at a table beside the fireplace which was warming us up in the cold windy and rainy day. So did also the food which was delightful! Dan is basing his cooking on sourcing of great ingredients reworked into dishes that call for more. Go to this lovely pub which is bold, delicious and ambitious.
I am of an age where I regret that most professional cooking today seems to concern itself more with the appearance on the plate than to the fine art of cooking. But not so the new Fordwich Arms. Of, course presentation is as one expects these days but the quality and the flavours were outstanding. Certainly the best I have had for an extremely long time. I am an instant fan but do wish the dining room was more inviting. Tablecloths would help a bit and a carpet would be the icing on the cake.
Dear Dearek, I am sure Dan Smith will be happy about your feedback.
From my personal point of view I actually found ambient very pleasant and I didn’t miss the tablecloths and carpets. I think opinions/preferences regarding that will always be very diverse and no chef could ever satisfy everybody. I am glad you love their food and I suppose you will start liking also the ambient more and more when you get used of it. Carpets and tableclots and not very common anymore today in such places.