Il Rustico Restaurant — Restaurant in Dover

We decided to visit this restaurant based on the reviews. We booked our table in advance over the phone, which was quick and easy.

We arrived really early, so had a walk around in the nearby area before heading here. We got a large table at the back of the restaurant.

There were so many options to choose from and we didn’t know what to have! After the long day we had, I tried the soup of the day for the starter. The flavour was good, but it was a bit watery. I should have picked the garlic cheese bread. I managed to pinch a piece from my sister and it was so fresh.

For mains, I had the seafood linguine, which was so good! Portion wise, it is on the smaller side, so we ordered a bit more. We ordered another pizza and seafood linguine to share. I don’t usually order pizza at restaurants but my sister told me to try it and the pepperoni pizza was actually really good too. It was topped with chopped jalapeño peppers which gave it more of a kick.

We couldn’t leave without trying some dessert so we tried the tiramisu and amaretto cheesecake. The tiramisu wasn’t too much to my liking, but I did enjoy the cheesecake. I would love to come back for the linguine and...

My girlfriend and I visited Il Rustico on a Wednesday evening outside of any kind of school or bank holiday. Despite this, there were still a few tables already taken up with big groups, which was encouraging.

I was due to run a marathon the next day so ordered two main courses which didn't raise any questions or concerns from the extremely friendly and attentive waitress. When the food came, the carbonara for both my girlfriend and I was delicious, and avoided the common issue of being extremely light on pancetta. It was cream-based, so not entirely authentic for the purists, but fantastic nonetheless. I also had the lasagne, which was very enjoyable, although I wish I had saved some bread to mop up the additional sauce.

The desserts were probably where the meal really shone. My girlfriend's orange panna cotta was creamy and beautifully infused with orange flavour and enhanced by fresh orange slices. I had the chocolate mousse which was rich but silky smooth.

Dover isn't somewhere that we ever really plan on staying, but if ever I find myself nearby, I'll definitely be heading straight...

Two years in a row, the samba band Drum & Blaze have adopted this fine establishment as our end-of-year reward following the Dover lights parade.

After the first year, I couldn't wait for our second visit. The food meets the band's high standards very well. I had bruschetta, pesto pollo rosso, and tiramisu - their bread is great and flavourful, the pasta wasn't flashy or overdressed which is just my style. The tiramisu was fine - compared to the amaretto cheesecake everyone got I think I made the wrong choice of dessert.

The staff are utterly brilliant, friendly and able to adapt to the needs of a 20+ person party flawlessly - the wine kept flowing, the amaretto was endless, and the smiles leapt from staff to party and back all evening.

At one point we were shushed, which stung a couple of us, but as a drum band from Brighton we may have different ideas of volume.

Altogether the restaurant was the highlight of our Dover visit, the perfect setting for our second end of year cheer, and well worth the wait.

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