Sentado Lounge — Restaurant in Borough of Swale

This place opened about five years ago now, part of the newish development opposite the station, sitting underneath the Travelodge – it was a real bonus when it opened, somewhere different to get food and drink. Five years on, it remains good quality and well worth a visit for food. It never seems to have suffered a drop in quality in that time, which is rare.

Not really a pub or a restaurant, I’d say it’s more akin to a café that serves beer, given the hours it’s open and general atmosphere. Very European. There are even pavement tables outside, albeit you wouldn’t want to sit at them except perhaps in August.

Inside, the décor is eclectic, with lots of old pictures and things scattered around. Also mismatched tables. It’s a bit staged, but it works. It attracts a mixed crowd – a lot of families, but also groups. Old people seem to quite like it as well. There’s no gaming machine in here, but then I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of these lounges with one of those and there are quite a lot of them, scattered around the country. This place is also the same chain as the Cosy Club, which tend to be found only in city centres.

The food in here is generally good – I usually go for something like the fried chicken or the all-day breakfast. You order on the App, which is a bonus, given I am generally quite antisocial. 😝

Went for one of the chicken burgers on this most recent occasion – this was novel, and sometimes change is good for us, but I do tend to prefer my classics. There is a usually a chicken burger at Christmas with a little sausage pinned to the top, I like that one. They also do a selection of tapas dishes, which always used to be a good bet, but has gone through peaks and troughs over time – the time when the halloumi fries were included was a notable peak. They are quite expensive now.

The beer, of course, is Hofmeister – the 1980s classic lager reimagined. I wish more pubs would do this beer; it really is very good. Strong though and sometimes served in a pint glass with a handle, which can never be a bad thing. Deerdog follows bear, that is a given.

Overall this is a good place, better than average for the area and well...

Been here many times now and the service has usually been good. There is a great menu selection, but we've had a few issues in our last couple of visits.

On one occasion, the QR codes weren't working and we had to order at the bar - this got messed up, as we ordered 2 veggie breakfasts, but only 1 arrived, and we then had to wait for the second, but the first wasn't kept warm either, so we ate separately. There wasn't even really an apology either. On another occasion, an item wasn't available with our meal, but we weren't told until the food arrived and we queried where it was - we explained that if we'd known, we'd have ordered something different. The manager dealt with us on this occasion and was apologetic, and gave us cake to take away as an apology. Today, we ordered 2 Miami brunches, but one with fried eggs instead of poached. Only 1 dish arrived and we were told they'd done the fried eggs as poached so it was delayed (so again, we are separately), but both dishes were also missing the sweetcorn fritters. Normally we'd have mentioned this when they came to check on how the meal is, but no-one came, even though the restaurant was actually very quiet! We went to the bar at the end of the meal, and got an apology, and the fritters were then sent out - they're the best bit, so we were glad they were available, just a shame to not eat them...

Really enjoyed our visit to Sentado Lounge. On arrival we were able to choose where we wanted to sit, we chose a nice cosy corner. The decor is great with lots of artwork and portraits on the walls. It was a wet horrible day outside but it felt cozy and warm inside. There is quite a large varied menu to choose from. We used the app to order and pay from our table, which was handy as we had coffees while we waited for friends to arrive. We then ordered all of our food and more drinks through the app. Service was quick and efficient and the staff were friendly and helpful. We all enjoyed our choice of food. Our friends both chose salad, one chicken & bacon and one tereyaki salmon, both said how delicious they were and how fresh the salad was. My hubby tried the butter chicken with houses law and fries while I chose a selection of Tapas which was presented very nicely and tasted great. More coffees and drinks while we relaxed and chatted. We will definitely visit again and would recommend you try Sentado Lounge if you want good food in a relaxing atmosphere where you are not rushed and are made to...