Thackerays

We had a lovely evening here, I’ll be back for sure. The food was really good and the service was excellent. 10 out of 10 in my book.

I took my first date here. It started a love affair! (unfortunately he died of cancer 6 years after this though, but Thackerys has fond memories for me. It felt old fashioned but classic, and waiters ‘leave you alone’ quietly to talk. It offers an interesting range of food, something interesting, which was why we went. It was just ideal for a romantic evening for two. It is nice place of escapism, away from the chainy gastro pubs. It has another special thing for me, it’s connection with Thackery, who was a friend of my ancester, a Shakespearean actress

Lovely period property (apparently the oldest home in Tunbridge Wells) that houses a wonderfully upscale restaurant without the usual accompanying pretentiousness. Only negative: The risotto was a bit watery and compared to what you can get in Italy at much less acclaimed establishments was a small disappointment. The positives: Excellent setting that maintains the feeling of a private home and offers several smaller dining/​drinking areas but with modern touches to the décor. The rest of the food was delicious and lives up to the reputation I heard about — locally shot pheasant, veloute of parsnip and black truffle, terrine of maize fed chicken, and a to-​die-​for lemon soufflé. In fact, the soufflé was taking a bit of time and the maitre d came to our table to apologize that it had collapsed so they were starting over with another one. I thought this bit of honesty was refreshing, and following it with a complimentary «pre-​dessert dessert» of raspberry panna cotta was much appreciated. Definitely will return here –the daily lunch menu of 2– or 3-​courses for under GBP 20 is a steal.

The best restaurant in Tunbridge Wells !!! Utter luxury, food is AMAZING !!! I took a friend out for lunch who is allergic to just about everything so alwasy high maintance in restaurants and guranteed to get frowned on by waiters, not here instead of telling her that she could only eat 1 dish which is what you get in most restaurants, they asked her to choose whatever she wanted and they would cook it to make sure that it worked for her no wheat, dairy, cealiac diet !!! I literally invent special occasions to have an excuse to eat here.

I took my wife to Thackery’s for a pre-Valentine’s meal on the weekend. The restaurant is located in Tunbridge Wells which is in many ways a perfect little slice of England and the restaurant itself fits in perfectly with the town centre surroundings. It is a quaint little building, white on the outside just infront of the Green. There is enough parking around that is free after about 6pm, (although this isn’t mentioned on their website and would have been useful).
We went for the taster menu which at £65 per person (and I went for the paired wines at £30 extra) is quite ambitious with quite a few courses… Here’s what I had, (my wife had the other choices as there were only 2 starters, 2 mains, 2 desserts. This way we sampled everything)
Amuse Bouche
PAN FRIED LANDES FOIE GRAS
TIAN OF CORNISH CRAB AND AVOCADO
SORBET
ROAST LOIN OF LOCAL VENISON
’CHEESE PLATE’
DARK CHOCOLATE AND HONEYCOMB FONDANT
Coffee and Petit Fours
As you can see quite a long menu. The portions by the end of the meal were just right, I myself was quite full so that was great. In detail, the Foie Gras was good, very smooth and a lovely rich taste. The Tian of crab was excellent, sweet and beautifully presented. The sorbet, very small but a perfect «cleaning dish» and a lovely rich taste.
My Venison was great, I loved it and it was generous however my wife had the baked atlantic cod and she was disapointed with this. It was under seasoned. Her starter of Dover sole terrine was also the same, slightly bland.
The cheese plate was good, but it was at this point that the service really seemed to start to drop away. For a start, no one explained the cheeses (or named them) until I grabbed a passing waiter. Then, the fondant was overdone and not at all soft (my wife had a great dessert though, really lovely).
At this point we were asked if we wouldn’t mind having our coffee and petit fours in another room. We hadn’t been slow but they seemed to have got other customers wanting our tables. So we were moved upstairs to a bar next to a rather noisy group. Sadly we werethen forgotten about. Eventually the tea arrived, but without the petit fours. Eventually these were brought into the room but left on the counter (the waitress obviously not knowing who they were for).
The room was pretty cold for my wife in her dress and with the party next door it wasn’t a great way to end the evening. They then got the bill wrong (after not bringing it for about 20 minutes after asking) by charging us for the tea and coffee despite it being included. We pointed this out, got a refund, but they didn’t refund the 12.5% service they had put on these incorrect items. I know it was only about £2, but the thought didn’t cross their mind that the gratuity amount was wrong due to their error.
At £65 + £65 + £30 (wine pairing which was very very good) and more for bottled water, this is expensive. Just under £200 all in.
Three stars for the total fall away in service, incorrect bill, incorrect gratuity, moving us upstairs and for the fact that my chair was on a floorboard that whenever a waiter walked behind it, would sink then bounce upwards. Heh.
Overall, lovely food for the most, but we wouldn’t come back again. Chapter One in Bromley retains a Michelin Star, is about £32 for a three course set menu and the service is better.

Wonderful food and good service, its just sometimes you can feel as if everyone in the room is staring at you, and the atmosphere in the right hand room is a little quiet and the room with the bar has all the atmosphere.
make sure that you go here if someone else is paying though, expect to pay £150+ with wine for two.
Lovely private room and bar on top floor for diners and great little courtyard Garden out the back for Al fresco dining in the summer
Overall you must try, the cocktails are to die for and the food outstanding

The flagship of Richard Phillips’s growing floatilla of fine dining venues in Kent. Undoubtably the outstanding gourmet menus which has been serving it’s well-​heeled clientele for almost a decade, collecting almost every accoldae there is to be had along the way.
Predominently French-​based dishes, as you would expect from a patron-​chef who trained under the brothers Roux and Marco-​Pierre White, with with unique contemprary touches.
The service is exemplorary in the historic former home of the C19th novelists, WM Thackeray after whom the restaurant is named.

Yes this is by a mile the best restaurant in Tunbridge Wells, hence you should have very high expectations for the food and level of service as you are paying for the ultimate dining experience.
I’m a local and have been half a dozen times in the past two years unfortunately when my wife and i went in June 2010, things had changed the service was appalling (relative to the size of bill, ok in Pizza Express or similar), all running around like headless chickens, inattentive and ineffective.
After offering Richard Philips (ok it was a generic email address, which i doubt he reads) some feedback, the Maitre D who was absent that night (hence the drop in standards) invited us back as guests.
Keen to restore our faith in the restaurant we took up the invitation at the end of August 2010. Things started well, but when more diners arrived the service was reminiscent of the last visit, culminating in coffees without Petit Fours, once we had completed our coffee the Petit Fours arrived, so we thought we’d have another coffee to accompany them, a 20 minute wait before they came and when they did, one was incorrect.
Some may think this review O.T.T, no one died, but when the experience is billed the finest all facets need to perfect, this is not something Thackerays can currently claim.

The best restaurant in Tunbridge Wells, if not the whole of kent, by a distance. Modern Frech cooking of the highest order with exemplary service. It can be a bit hard on the wallet, but the du jour and market menus offer excellent value.

Wow! Went for Sunday lunch and thoroughly enjoyed it.
The building is lovely and quirky and stylish inside with private areas upstairs. The restaurant had lots of seating and was comfortable.
The little touchers are lovely, the amuse bouche, the freshly baked varieties of bread etc.
The set Sunday lunch menu was delightful and all dishes did not disappoint. Particularly recommend the roast beef which was so thoughtfully done and very impressive.
Only niggle was over the service, could do with a bit of improvement for this style of restaurant. Dirty napkin, having to ask for drinks refills etc.
Other than that though it was superb and will not hesitate to return.