Review: The Fordwich Arms

Kent is super-beautiful. Seriously got some of the most stunning countryside in the UK. I’m using the word bucolic here, and I’m meaning it sincerely. So many of the villages are staggeringly pretty. Visit Chilham, Ickham, Wickhamburgh, Fordwich and Lenham, then tell me it ain’t true. Actually there’s a mistake in that list: Fordwich isn’t a village. It’s the smallest town in Britain.

The Fordwich Arms looks great inside, all cosy wood panelling and comfy chairs, a real squire’s bolthole after a long day sniping at poachers and dealing with unruly tenants. Or whatever squires do. The welcome is warm too and we were nicely looked after. It might look like a pub but it’s a fine dining restaurant to the bone. Please note that we enjoyed a potent Negroni and then sucked down a bottle of 2005 Tondonia Rioja. This may impact the crispness of the reviewing!

Three little snacks at the start were all lovely, with a tiny roll of celeriac around ricotta and crisp chicken skin being the prettiest. Best taste was the pure pleasure of a slice of pickle and a blob of whipped cod’s roe sandwiched between two potato crisps. Do yourself a favour: buy a tub of taramasalata, a bag of ready salted and a jar of gherkins. Make your own. They’re AMAZING.

First starter was an absolutely magical slice of trout, intensely deep pink and yielding like butter, served with a vivid pea mousse and a good blob of horseradish snow. It’s not an unfamiliar combination but this was cooked and balanced to perfection.

Followed by a more complex dish of hake with (follow me here) asparagus, wild garlic, baby onion, swede puree, wild mushrooms, semi-dried grapes and a cream sauce made with the lees from Gusbourne vineyard. This was a triumph. The sweetness of the grapes, swede and the onions picked up and intensified the wine-cellar-y flavour of the cream and made a real wonder of the smartly pan-fried piece of hake. Very clever. I’d have left the asparagus off, but that’s me.

Now, what can I say about the suckling pig dish that followed? Hmm. How about OMGBESTPIGEVER!? This was a monstrously good fall-off-the-bone piece of meat with perfect crackling and a deeply piggy flavour. In a pan to one side, hay-smoked belly was equally profound. Some sensible veg and a deeply good Grand Marnier sauce. Oh, and a couple of pieces of charred apricot that made a tangily brilliant relish for the meat.

Good puds to finish us off. Seasonal and delicious muddle of strawberries and strawberry sorbet. And then a white chocolate dish that paired up very effectively with confit lemon ice cream and coffee crumble. Solid finale from the blob school of fine dining desserts.

The Fordwich Arms is already a serious contender for meal-of-the-year. Faultless cooking, full flavours, three absolutely stunning dishes, a beautiful setting, great service. The tasting menu is £65 at the moment and that’s great value. Get thee to Kent! And do thyself a favour, make a weekend of it.