The Goods Shed

I had a day to kill in Canterbury and fond memories of this place from visiting a few years ago with my wife. It’s an instantly seductive atmosphere – akin to a French Provençal market housed in an old railway goods shed as its name suggests, right next to Canterbury West Station.

The farmer’s market buzz complete with deli, fishmonger and bars provides the bustle and the restaurant is along the side on a raised mezzanine level enabling you to regard all the activity across the floor.

Atmosphere though is nothing without food and service: that is what brought me back here and several years on it didn’t disappoint. Just the right amount of choices and clearly fresh-product influenced with seasonal rhubarb running through the menu at the moment. The herb crusted bread and salty butter were superb and I plumped for the amuse bouche of devilled eggs, perfectly spiced.

A light and fresh salad starter and the main, hoggett, was cooked to tender perfection with lentils and pink potatoes making a robust and memorable dish.

I realised that although rhubarb is one of my favourite things I had contrived to avoid it in my choices and wondered aloud to my waitress if it would be possible just to have a taste with some cream and brown sugar. The chef obliged with an off-menu dish which was delicious and ensured the final star added for cheery off-piste flexibility.

The wine list was reasonably extensive with a good selection by the glass which is what you look for in solo dining. Service was attentive and certainly charming – perhaps a mite on the inexperienced side: there was a small glitch when the first course proper arrived before the amuse bouche was finished, which always gives the feeling, rather disconcertingly, that you’re being hurried along. This proved not to be the case as I was allowed to linger well past my allotted slot without any issue and my menu queries were helpfully answered.

Price perhaps slightly more than I was expecting but to be quite fair I did start with a kir royale and ended with the suggested house rhubarb sour cocktail as well as two other glasses of wine and four courses. With the quality of the cooking I did not feel overcharged, it really is delightful food in a wonderful setting. Highly...

I booked the restaurant at The Goods Shed based on recent reviews and it was a big disappointment. The management I would point to as the main issue. The restaurant manager was indifferent at best and seemed to have little or no experience in hospitality and customer service. We were not greeted properly as we entered, we were not shown to our table, it was merely gestured at as the waiter rushed by us to other customers, the manager did not approach us at any point in the evening to see if we were comfortable or enjoying ourselves, or the meal, or ask if we needed anything or to say goodbye, please come again, nothing. To the contrary, we were both very cold and the manager left the door open despite our request to close it, and he didn’t explain why it was left open. It was 8.c outside, windy and raining, and the door was left open with the heat pouring out, very wasteful energy management, quite out of sync with the energy climate. He did offer to sit us elsewhere thankfully, however it was still cold. I’m not sure what his role really was as he didn’t seem to do anything or interact with guests. The manager didn’t bring our bill when I requested it from him directly, he asked his already busy waitress to do it, while she was attending others. He seemed unable to interact with or serve guests. He passed our table more than several times during the evening to direct the two waiters to do things, while he did not appear to assist them, which I found strange. The food itself was underwhelming and over-salty and overpriced. This restaurant has clearly gone downhill and relies on its former glory. The two waiters were very sweet but not well trained and made several mistakes on our order and on our bill. No one said goodbye to us as we were leaving or asked us if we had a nice evening, or to thank us for our visit. We were both surprised at the poor training of floor staff and particularly of the attitude of the manager. There was no music and no ambiance. We will not return and will not be...

The Goods Shed is very busy, definitely make a booking in advance, if they say you want to go. They are situated about 15 minutes walk from the cathedral city. They are near the train station. They are in a converted warehouse with a farmers market you can buy fruit, meat, vegetables, bread, cakes, wine and dried goods. You can buy drinks and something to eat in the farmers market area. Ingenious idea idea making use of the space, but also the next to a train station, if you need to purchase anything on your way home. It's nicely laid out and the restaurant is up a few steps and they have outdoor seating/eating area, which looked very busy.

We were brought some bread with butter covered in salt, I requested not salt on my food and I was brought some butter with no salt.

We ordered the sea bass and the lamb roll with potatoes and vegetables (cabbage) to share. The waitress suggested we share the potatoes as they were a large size, and so they were!

The food is delicious 😋, freshly cooked and piping hot. My husband had red wine and had the homemade lemonade, they put a jug of water on the table. We decided to have dessert and both chose the churros with chocolate sauce. This seemed to take a lot longer to arrive than our mains. Unfortunately I couldn't eat mine, it didn't taste right, not sure if it was the oil or something else. They were very hollow and oily. I know some places do a twist on certain foods to make them interesting, but I think stay with what works for these.

They put a 12.5% surcharge on the bill its in the small print on the menu , barely noticable that's quite high, we normally leave a 10% tip for the staff. We paid £133.88. We don't have an issue paying for good food or service, but I suspect most people don't tip hence the surcharge.

5 ⭐ given regardless of the dessert, worth...