The Sportsman — Restaurant in Canterbury

I decided to book a table to celebrate my hubby’s birthday. I wish I hadn’t. From the outset we felt it lacked a warm welcome - they met us asking if we’d booked our taxi home - no? - then they’d do it (do they want us out of here ASAP?). We were waved to our table “over there”. We chose the 5 course tasting menu and ordered it with a G&T each. There was no mention of wine and we’d expected someone would come separately for that order. The food started to come very quickly - too quickly - and we were rushed through canapés, bread and butter then the first 2 courses. We asked about ordering wine as we wanted advice as the menu held no description other than its vineyard and year but were told they have no sommelier. The manager gave us some description of one of the two bottles we were considering. The bottle arrived with our third course and the fourth course, true to form, was rapidly delivered. All this had taken a little over an hour. I asked to see the manager to complain mainly about the breakneck speed the food had been served but also our overall experience. She agreed the speed the food was served too fast and said she’d speak to the kitchen. This did not help appease me especially when we were told it was up to us to order the wine as they don’t want their customers to feel pressured into buying it. I pointed out that our treatment from the start did not make for a relaxing evening. We agreed that our taxi would be brought forward as, with only one course to go, we would still have had a wait of an hour and a quarter until the time they had booked the taxi for. Our dessert arrived 10 minutes before the taxi. The manager discounted our bill and only charged us for drinks - we had not asked for a discount although we said we would not be recommending The Sportsman and certainly will not return. A pity as the food...

A fabulous lunch at The Sportsman. The staff were very friendly on arrival, throughout service and patient with me when I managed to spill a glass of water on the table and floor. The dining areas are very spaced out, offering reassurance for even the most Covid-cautious.

Despite the name, the tasting menu is currently a tasting menu/a la carte hybrid: the price and number of courses are fixed but there is choice at each course.

The gorgeous homemade breads barely survived long enough to accompany our starters. An amuse-bouche of a cooked oyster and some canapes was followed by a gloriously creamy pumpkin soup and a roast celeriac.

In a recent Telegraph column, Chef Stephen Harris described the “before and after” picture of his signature dish (and my second course) of slip sole in smoked salt butter - the “after” resembling a cartoon fishbone. It was exactly that, the sole perfectly cooked and pulling easily away from its Warner Brothers remains. We also had the braised turbot, again beautifully cooked.

The main course of roast saddle of venison was wonderfully rich and the accompanying chestnut stuffing would have made a meal on its own.

Desserts were great although we had buyer’s remorse at not choosing the quince soufflé which the neighbouring table wisely chose.

There is a decent wine list with a good selection of wines by the glass. At this level, mark-ups are reasonable.

This is not one of those Michelin star tasting menus that leaves you wanting a bag of chips on the way home. We waddled out of The Sportsman having had a substantial lunch, vowing to...

A dining triumph with fantastic local ingredients and a tasting menu that will leave you perfectly full and satisfied. The Sportsman has held a Michelin star since 2008 and it's easy to see why. From a trio of starting snacks with cold asparagus soup, a tomato crostini and beautiful duck in bone pastry, your expectations are set for a fantastic meal. Everything is deep and rich in flavour, and cooked to perfection. The starters of rock oysters and charred asparagus were incredibly good and cleverly constructed, a lovely opener followed by monk fish and sea bass, crackling pork and lamb - a beautiful ratatouille under the pork and a each piece of fish succulent and well matched to their sauces. Home made rosemary bread stood out alongside this and then the desserts (with a pre-dessert panacotta that was a little beauty) were clever - a blackcurrant souffle standing to perfect attention and a chocolate tart that was divine and one of the favourite dishes.

This is an extravagance for sure and well worth it for a special occasion, but there is a midweek menu that is affordable covering many similar dishes.

The setting is a lovely old classic seaside pub, roomy, yes cosy and intimate at the same time. The service team were lovely and impressed by keeping an eye out on drinks and needs throughout.

Recommend advance booking, but it never hurts to check if you happen to be in the area and want...