The Port Arms — Restaurant in Dover

Last week if someone asked me where can they find the BEST Jamaican wings and burger, I would have said Soulchef's Kitchen at Port Arms. We went there last Friday and ordered about 50 wings (this speaks to how deliciously flavorful these wings were).

We drive from Ashford just to experience these wings, cod fritters, and dessert. However, today 22/07/25 we experienced the most disappointing food experience ever. I should have taken pictures of the food we had before and today's food...just so you can visually see the difference.

Soulchef's Kitchen offers lunch specials from 12-4pm daily with options of 2 or 3 courses. The 1st time we ate there my husband had the fritters as a starter (which had 4 medium sized fritters), the jerk chicken as a main (which had 4 big chunks of chicken with bone in), and coconut ice cream with brownie pieces...super delicious (served in a white rectangular container with many pieces of brownies) as his dessert. I had the chicken bites as starter (deliciously sweet and flavorful), the fish with rice and peas as main (fish was edible but the rice was on the dry side). We ordered 12 wings (1/2 sweet, 1/2 jerk/spicy). June 30 marked the day we became addicted to the wings and venue :). We've been going there since evwry week and have really enjoyed Debbie and Katie as the servers and met Bruce one of the chef (who is no longer there anymore).

Today, my husband ordered the usual 3 course lunch special. The fritters as his starter came with 2 small balls with the jerk mayo inside of the container as opposed to a dipping sauce served on the side, he had the jerk chicken as his main...(it had 1 TINY piece of boneless chicken that had bareky any spicyness). Honestly, it looked like a kid's meal. Finally, the dessert we were anticipating was served in what looked like a ripped carton, it had chunks of not sure what but it wasn't brownie pieces nor was it the same ice cream with real shredded coconut either. I ordered the Soul burger which we were raving about and today, it was not what i had envisioned. It had no cheese, it was a jerk-less piece of dark meat as opposed to a breast piece and the sweet plantain was under riped making this burger Soul-less.

Lastly, the most disappointing item today was the wings. We ordered 24 wings (1/2 sweet, 1/2 jerk/spicy). For starters the wings tasted stale as if they were 2 days old, we couldn't distinguish between the sweet or the spicy, they were dry and simply unenjoyable. If it wasn't for the money we spent, I honestly wanted to leave the rest of the wings on the table...that bad. The best item we had was the Inches Apple Cider.

Having owned a restaurant, I understand the economical demands and overhead expenses, however when food quality declines, that's when customers vanish and no longer recommend the establishment and reviews go downhill.

I don't usually write extensive reviews like this but this deserved a mention. Whether there's a change in management, chefs, or discord in proption of food something has definitely changed with...

Excellent open mic night here on a Thursday evenings. Food again delicious as always!

Had a brilliant Friday night here. Arrived 6:45 pm for a amazing meal from there Caribbean menu (soul kitchen) and ended up leaving at 12:30am! The young lady behind the bar lea was amazing! She basically served all night at a packed bar as the other team member took table orders and delivered the dishes from the kitchen. Live Music plays here Friday-Sunday plus karaoke on Thursday's. Average drink prices here for Deal.

Great location and the biggest outside shared seating area in deal. Foods typical pub grub and there can be a bit of a wait for food as it can get very busy, especially on a Sunday as there's live music in the square right next to it that start 3pm every summer Sunday (weather permitting). Also theres live music inside on the evening and karaoke on a Saturday night. Not the cheapest drinks in deal but great for drinking in the sun on...

We came in here as we were due to go to the kings head to celebrate our friends anniversary but the rugby was on so the Kings head suggested we eat at its sister pub for the quiet. Unfortunately my friends steak was not cooked as requested and was very sinewy which put her off eating it. My husband had asked for no veg with his pie....and got a plate full of veg ! And my cheesecake (which sadly was not homemade) came with ice cream and I'd asked for cream. 🤢 Everything was carried , uncovered (!) , from the Kings Arms to the port Arms...and where as they did deduct the steak we felt the evening, sadly, was not as it should have been. The dj came in at 6 to set up his set, to start at 9 !!! And tables were being moved around us which made us feel awkward. He then was playing / testing it really quite loud to the point we couldn't hear ourselves talk ! Sadly, we will not return. What should have been a special evening for our...