The Dove

.:kentandkentish:.

Which? Good Food Guide
The address suggests picture-postcard Olde England, as befits the old village pub, but the posh-plated, smart restaurant-style cooking is at odds with the scuffed floorboards, simple wooden tables and very casual service.

Corn-fed chicken and foie gras terrine with Armagnac prunes (£6.25) and fillet of sea bass with brown shrimp and confit of red peppers (£16.95) are well-prepared, if pricey, à la carte offerings. Go for lunch and look to the blackboard for confit duck and bavette of beef (both £10) or generously filled baguettes. House wine £14. Closed for Sun dinner and all day Monday.

.:kentandkentish:.

The Mobile Food Guide
Is it a pub? Is it a restaurant? No, it's The Dove – a splendidly rustic, ivy-clad Kentish hostelry just off the A229 at Dargate, a pretty village between Faversham and Whitstable. Inside, it looks like an honest local watering hole, with a maze of little rooms, bare-boarded floors, panelling and scrubbed tables; there are Shepherd Neame ales on tap and a blackboard menu of hearty, French-inspired food that hits the button.

Phillip MacGregor has recently taken over the reins as chef/proprietor (he trained here as a budding chef during the 1990s) and early reports are promising to say the least: 'I have not tasted such good food in a long time and the atmosphere was friendly and inviting', raved one Mobile Food Guide user. In fine weather, there's also a wonderful garden with glorious views.

The kitchen delivers easy light bites along the lines of roast pork and Bramley apple baguettes, croque madame and even Welsh rarebit together with more ambitious offerings such as seared scallops with black pudding and parsnip purée, confit of lamb with anchovy crushed potatoes, and fillet of sea bass with grilled potatoes, slow-roast tomatoes and fennel ceviche.

.:kentandkentish:.

A: Plum Pudding Lane, Dargate, Kent, England ME13 9HB
M: Google Map
T: (01227) 751360

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