Places To Eat In Kent: The Blue Pigeons, Worth

Roasted cod sitting in a pool of tartare sauce with a softened baby leek and a salt cod croquette on top.

We used to live in a world where I was able to get excited about somewhere new and fresh to eat almost every other week, but due to the increasing pressures on the hospitality causing so many places to shutter, or having to shift their focus, in recent years I’ve found myself zeroing in on the same few local eateries where I’ll be guaranteed to have an excellent meal, made from good ingredients by people who really, really care what they’re doing. Happily, I’ve stepped back a few years this week in discovering somewhere brand new (well, an old building with a brand new chef and stunning re-model) that has instantly made my go-to list: The Blue Pigeons at Worth. Sandwiched on the road between Sandwich (see what I did there) and Deal, it’s a (currently) hidden gem you need to book a table at.

The front of The Blue Pigeons in Worth.
Picture of the dining room at The Blue Pigeon in Worth.
Hugo Spritz on a patio table.
The back of The Blue Pigeons restaurant in Worth.

They have a beautiful dining room and bar / lounge, but this time of year you’re going to hope the weather is good to sit under a parasol in their beautiful garden. They have rooms upstairs, so if you’re looking to visit from outside Kent rather than stay in the busy bustle of nearby Deal, why not stay here instead? After complaining in my Palermo food newsletter that the British could not make a proper Hugo Spritz, I can confirm the version at The Blue Pigeons is perfect, and the perfect pre-meal tipple (though they have a great wine list with extensive by-the-glass options too!)

A bowl of pork puffs sprinkled with seaweed salt with a sploge of apple sauce topped with crispy sage on the side.

To start, you can’t miss the pork puffs: dusted with a little seaweed salt and with a crispy sage-topped apple sauce for dipping and dunking, they’ll vanish in moments and prove a lovely start to the meal.

A composed plate of goats cheese, beetroot and lindseed crackers.
Torched macletel on top of tomato pieces topped with basil emulsion and pickled shallots.

I’ve eaten the chef, Scott Hubble’s food before, so I knew his style and that the food would be good, but I want to reiterate how the dishes were both simple but complex, highly seasonal and accessable. The whipped goats cheese with glazed beetroots, truffle honey and linseed crackers was both more-ish and light, but it was the torched mackerel with heritage tomatoes, pickled shallots and basil emulsion, sitting in a pour-over pool of wonderfully light plum tomato water that stole the show: delicate, fresh fish, perfectly seasoned tomatoes, all in a broth which had me adopting Japanese manners and picking up the bowl.

Plate of roast chicken with braised lettuce, gnocchi, peas, broad beans and a chicken gravy.
Close up of a piece of roasted cod with tartare sauce, baby leeks and a salt cod croquette.
Plate of sliced lamb rump with wilted spinach, potato croquette, sheep curd and an aubergine puree.

Moving onto the mains, you’d be onto a winner with all three we had: the chicken with braised baby gem lettuce (both sweet and bitter), fresh peas, broad beans, pillowy tarragon gravy and a nice sauce was both a generous portion and had a beautiful flavour (my only criticism is the tarragon in the gnocchi was a delicate under-note, and I think it could have done with more oomph), the roast cod loin sitting on a generous puddle of warm tartar sauce, with baby leeks and a salt cod croquette was perfectly cooked and balanced, as was the roast lamb rump with slow cooked shoulder, smoked aubergine, chimichurri sauce, a slice of potato terrine and a genius lovely quenelle of sheep’s curd.

Bowl of panna cotta topped with fresh strawberries, strawberry sorbet, honeycomb and wine jelly.
A block of chocolate ganache topped with caramel with a tuille.

We shared a couple of the puddings: the vanilla panna cotta with local strawberries (both fresh and as an excellent sorbet), white chocolate, honeycomb pieces and tiny cubes of sparkling wine jelly was lovely with a very light set, a great flavour and beautiful presentation, though I think the wine jellies were a bit lost amongst the other flavours (though beautiful by themselves!), and the ‘chocolate’ (which came in the form of a tender ganache-like bar topped with a bubble of caramel), toasted hazelnut, and under that piece of brittle was a lovely milk ice cream. Get this.

You can book a table at The Blue Pigeons (and check out the menu – I think my next visit needs to be to try their Sunday roast!) here!

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