The Dolphin — Restaurant in Canterbury

A lot of time and money has gone into transforming this establishment into a huge beer garden - come here for drinks in the sun and enjoy the lovely service from attentive waiters but whatever you do, don't bother with the food. Just. Don't. Bother. Stick to drinks ONLY.

Our table came to the consensus that the food ranks a lowly 3/10 points; we rounded up to 2/5 stars because one star felt a little too harsh.

One problem appears to be that the kitchen simply cannot cater for the number for tables that were added in the recent refurbishment, the number of seats went from 54 to 280! We were the fourth table to be seated right after the venue opened and we still waited around 50 minutes for our food. With all tables filled, it would take well over two hours. Again, stick to drinks and get food somewhere else.

However, the wait was the least onerous thing; the food itself was shocking to say the least. The spicy chorizo macaroni and cheese was a bowl of dry macaroni pasta topped with a dusting of cheddar cheese that was burned to a crisp, inedible layer - not a shred of chorizo or edible cheese to be found underneath. Simply shocking - the price to recreate this dish would be 20p at best, mostly the energy cost of incinerating the top.

Second, the vegetarian tofu gyros that was allegedly marinated in Greek spices was served with a dry bowl of chopped cabbage they called "coleslaw" and a semi-dry paste with the texture of putty or gypsum that tasted like plaster board - dry chickpea flakes without any other ingredients. A person of Greek extraction may have committed ceremonial seppuku at the mere allegation that this was hummus. It felt like yet another offense against vegetarian diners who are expected to put up with cruddy options.

Third, the spicy chicken burger was very dry and burned to a charred lump, corner fragments were so heavily carbonised that they snapped off into black dust. The fries were described as "oily".

Lastly, the Jack Daniel's Honey BBQ Ribs were clearly from Tesco or Sainsbury - the vacuum-sealed bags you get for £3 that are heated in the microwave. There is a way to cook these pre-marinated bags in a way that the meat falls off the bone but even this wasn't done, they were tough and rubbery. All this may have been forgiven if they had supplied the actual trademark Jack Daniel's Honey BBQ sauce that was listed in bold on the menu, alas the marinade on these ribs was red in colour - anyone who has ever sampled the dark, rich molasses of real Jack Daniel's Honey BBQ sauce knows that it's pitch black in colour and not red.

Again, ALDI sells an identical version of these ribs that - according to the Good Housekeeping Institute - fall off the bone in taste tests for just £2.99 so how exactly The Dolphin charges £17 for a rubbery imposter is beyond me. Not supplying the real BBQ sauce that is listed on the menu is unforgivable...

In the first got day of the year I googled pub with beer garden and came across the Dolphin. The garden was nice and a nice gentlemen shared a bench as me and my date moved from a rowdy table. When I went to get a drink the barmaid was lovely and said I should go behind the bar to order. So when time came to order food I went to said place and waited.. And waited. So I caught the attention of a young lad who was clearing tables and asked if I could order food. He walked up to the POS and hesitated. I asked can you take orders? He replied yes but (name removed) takes orders when it's busy. I replied, that doesn't make sense if it's busy shouldn't Every one take orders in any case she is waiting another table. He then stopped another remeber of staff and said to her this gentlemen wants to order food and I don't want to up set (name removed). She also was hesitant. These poor guys were obviously capable but to intimidated to take my order. So I asked if I could order drinks while here and was that ok she took my order and asked what my sign was. Perplexed I just stared at her and said the table didn't have any markings I checked before coming up here. She then kindly explined I should choose a sign from the fire place, the sign was approximately half a metre in length. When the other waitress came back after a short wait she took my order. By this time I guess the landlord came around with a basket and drinks. There I was left to fend for at self with 2 bottle 2 glasses a sign and a basket for condiments and cutlery. I chose to abandon the sign and take the drinks to the table and do another trip for the signs and basket. After a short time out meals came out. Fish and fries. I did order fish and chips but it was fish and fries. The fish was nice but odd to serve fries with it. I guess that was a preference. After our meal about an hour after we finished I stacked the plates and put to one side. After another drink we left. Would I come back? Yes to drink. (Some how charging London prices)...

UPDATE:

Decided to give here another try and wasn’t disappointed. We ordered food from a recently refreshed menu, good options for most diets (appreciated good gf option variety). Was served quite quickly when going to the bar to order (the place just opened so wasn’t busy though, to be fair) the food came within reasonable time and was delicious. Will come again if it continues to be as good as this! 😃

Original review: Our first visit here was enjoyable—good food, albeit with somewhat slow service.

On our second visit, the food remained good, but the service was even slower.

Our third visit was a disaster. We arrived to an empty dining area, waited 15 minutes without any service, and I finally went to the bar. The young bartender told me he couldn’t serve and the waitress would come soon. She eventually appeared but seemed more interested in her phone than her tables. After 25 minutes of waiting, we left and went elsewhere, but since it was full, we reluctantly returned. This time, they noticed us and took our order right away.

We then waited. And waited. After 40 minutes with still no food, the manager noticed me looking and casually said, “your food will be there in a minute, it’s because of the big booking.” Another 20 minutes passed before our food finally arrived. The beef burger was bland, underseasoned, with maybe seven chips on the plate—for £16.

Yes, there was a large family booking, but to make the only other guests wait an hour and twenty minutes for burgers, blaming it on “a big group of 12 in the other room,” is ridiculous. How would they handle anything busier?

We’re done...