The Ferry House, located on The Isle of Harty; better known for being one of the few restaurants in Kent being awarded 2AA Rosette’s for Culinary Excellence is situated in the Hamlet on the Isle of Sheppey. For years, The Ferry House has been a local hotspot for Sheppey residents, but a well-kept secret from the rest of the world. This Kent restaurant, just 60 minutes from London, is a beautiful 16th-century country restaurant, hotel, and wedding venue with spa facilities that have a fantastic plot-to-plate, field-to-fork and grain-to-glass ethos that is reflected across the entire business, keeping sustainability at the core and heart of the business and offering their customers something truly spectacular.

Their restaurant, led by Head Chef James Pilcher is situated at the front of their gorgeous trio of buildings; the reason we are here. To enter, you walk through the beautiful country-style pub, complete with a crackling log fire and a cosy seating area into a wide-open restaurant that is vast and spacious but still retains its cosy vibes. Even though they can seat a large number they have the tables spaced out giving you privacy and enough space to relax without feeling too cramped. Most tables that seat two are on a table big enough for four – allowing you to enjoy their deliciously new sharing platters with ease, and it’s not only the food that looks (and tastes) good, but the restaurant is also beautifully designed. Playing homage to its wild location with woodland and nautical décor adorning the walls and tables, such as the beautiful sea map that covered the entire cosy nook we were seated in.

From the moment you enter, you can immediately tell that the staff both front and back pride themselves on their quality and passion for food and drink, with each detail meticulously thought of beforehand to ensure a smooth pair and experience for all involved, from homemade (and award-winning) liquors to finish your meal, to their love and use of high-quality ingredients and everything in-between.

Their ability to use local and home-grown seasonal ingredients from their own Kitchen Garden, which cultivates over 150 varieties of produce to their unique advantage is a skill and craft the team has perfected - their bread and butter; a reason they have a prestigious 2 AA Rosettes and two ‘Taste of Kent’ awards. You can see this reflected across the food and drink served in both technical, classic and down-right-genius methods. These ingredients are grown in the Ferry House’s produce garden, located on-site and lovingly tended to by their chefs and ground staff, and featured in both menus. You can see seasonal produce being used to create delicious twists on classic cocktails and traditional dishes.

Their Garden Cocktail menu includes the use of seasonal quince in their Garden Quince Mule and Garden Tomatoes in their version of a Bloody Mary; their Mocktails are just as extravagant as their cocktails, with each one making a pure celebration of the incredible chosen ingredients, such as the Ginger Cooler which features Blueberry – a stand-out drink and one I will be trying to recreate at home. There is also a wide variety of their cocktails that can be made non-alcoholic, by simply swapping the spirit to a no or low version, increasing the choices available for non-drinkers even further. Not only do we love this because it allows more variety for all, but due to the remote location of the venue, you would have to arrive by car – meaning a large proportion of their clientele has at least one driver in their party and this option allows everyone to be included.

For those able to enjoy a tipple we particularly enjoyed their Garden Bay Old Fashioned made with Masthouse Whisky but the Elderflower 75 caught our eye too, made using Foraged Elderflower Sekanjabin (a sweet and sour syrup)

Their food menu, updated late last year now comprises small, large and sharing plates - each one working in perfect harmony so you can mix, match and pair across the entire menu, whether that’s just for you, for a couple or across the whole table. 2-3 small plates to go alongside a large is recommended by Abbey, our waitress for the evening, who was as friendly and attentive as she was knowledgeable and helped us to make some incredible choices when it came to picking dishes that worked great together.

Although the menu is made to be enjoyed as plates, the flexibility of the menu allows you to adapt it to your requirements – so we opted to treat it as a three-course-meal with the small plates to start, a sharer and sides for the main and then, of course, desserts to finish. The new menu reflects the upcoming season with game featuring heavily across the board, including Partridge with Estate Hedgerow Ketchup and Kentish Rabbit Loin with Pickled Garden Cherries. Even though we were only two dining, we couldn’t resist ordering the Devilled Kentish Livers and Kidneys on Sourdough to share, as it sounded too good to miss, and boy were we right to do so.

The livers and kidneys themselves were cooked to perfection and coated in a thick sauce that gave you that devilish pepper kick it promised, reminiscent of a very good peppercorn sauce. You get a sweetened firey kick from the added nasturtium leaves taking it to a new level and the sourdough is as perfect as you could ask for. Crisp exterior and a soft centre, grilled slightly to withstand the sauce, but without changing the texture inside.

The Partridge was a star dish. You got crisped partridge breast that was juicy and tender inside coated in a salty and spiced coating that paired perfectly with the Hedgerow Ketchup, which was sweet and tangy, smooth, and with a little kick. Completely and utterly Moorish and a favourite all around.

The Rabbit was cooked perfectly. Radish slices added a fantastic crunchy juxtaposition between the soft tender rabbit and cherry accompaniments. Although the dish, when you got everything all together in one bite was delicious, alone, each component was a little lacklustre – you did need all the flavours and ingredients on the plate on your fork to get the most out of this dish, but something that was easy to do and provided the best, and delicious results.

For those ordering as we did – we found the consistency between sizes very different in the small plate section. The Sourdough was very large and had a full starter size portion, especially when compared with the elevated tapas sized portion of the rabbit. So just be aware that the dishes may all be different sizes due to the nature of the menu style.

When it came to the mains, we were immediately drawn to the Hot Smoked Shoulder of Muntjac with Roasted Garden Shallots, Hazelnut Mole, Preserved Plum and Venison Jus. This was on their sharing plates and made for two. We added their Triple Cooked Chips with Parmesan and their Tempura Garden Spring Onions on the side.

Accompanying the deer was the Venison Jus. Rich, sticky and full of flavour. I could have happily dived deep into a whole pot. The Mole was earthy with the hazelnuts, heavily spiced and a great twist on the traditional and paired great with the deer itself, which fell off the bone. It was tender with a rich and delicious crust. The addition of the preserved plums was very welcomed. They were luxurious and jammy and helped to cut through the richness of the dark meat; the charred shallots, which were soft throughout with a braised consistency just took the meat to new heights. They thought about their flavours and textures here. A simple green oil drizzled around the plate that added freshness to a very heavy dish and rounded the dish off perfectly.

The Spring Onion Tempura coated in fabulously light batter and fat bistro-style chips that were crisped to perfection with a salty edge just made the meal complete. You probably don’t need to add two different sides to the sharing platter, as it in itself was quite large – but something we’d still highly recommend.

Even though our bellies were happy and full already, you can never say no to dessert. And here at The Ferry House, they do desserts – and they do them well. Creating a final hoorah of the meal that you will remember long after it’s digested.

Desserts that are elevated feel-good home comforts and desserts that are made for both the sweet and savoury tooth. With Garden Plum Tart Tartin with Kentish Vanilla Ice-Cream, Local Harty Honey and Toasted Almonds, and Garden Redcurrant Bakewell Tart with Garden Gallium Cream - which was fluffy and flowery with sweetened notes - and Toasted Almonds for the sweet and the Ashmore Cheese with Caramelised Garden Onion Flapjack with House Pickles for the savoury.

My dessert choice was the Tart Tartin, which had a beautiful honey sweetness that was perfectly sticky and gooey against the plums, with the addition of toasted almond crumble with fennel seeds mixed throughout, adding an aniseed, liquorice flavour with a touch of sweetness. The flapjack had piqued my interest so much from the first look at the menu days prior that it never left my mind that I just had to get it on the side. It was served warm with sharp cheese notes, umami depth, crisped on top to add texture and acidic pickles to cut through. A great take on the traditional Cheese and Biscuits, a new try for me and my favourite dish of the entire meal.

At the end of every meal, customers are treated to a shot of Sloe Gin. Created by Head Chef James, who, every 9 months creates a large batch using sloes grown on-site and added to partnered local distillery – Chatham Dockyard Gin. This small act adds a personal feel leaving you feeling as warm as the gin in your belly.

This new menu, paired with the extravagant backdrop and venue decadence is perfect for date nights, family gatherings or drinks and nibbles with your friends, the Ferry House is a pure celebration of seasonality, locality and community and is as beautiful and cosy in the winter as it is warm and breezy in the summer – with an open garden overlooking the moors, perfect for the latter.

Known as a local hotspot for birdwatchers and hikers in the summer, most of the clientele, during the week, are guests of the hotel, but every Sunday you can expect a flurry of bookings, most regulars, making the journey down for a beautiful Sunday Lunch – something the restaurant has become quite famous for and is next on our list to try.

Although in the middle of nowhere with a semi-decent drive to get there, the calmness of being away from the hustle of life gives you a serenity that pairs perfectly with your meal and is one we highly recommend making the journey for.

Sheppey's Must Visit Restaurant: The Ferry House

Home

food

drink

Contact

Subscribe