Restaurant-Guide.com
hand picked restaurants

Frankie and Benny's combine classic American and Italian in both style and cuisine. They specialise in home style cooking 'just like Mamma used to make it'. This is a great place to take the entire family and represents excellent value for money. The restaurant and bar is suitable for any occasion, whether it's a leisurely lunch, a family meal or a fantastic evening with friends - they make sure you have a wonderful time.

Walking into the restaurant is like stepping back into 1950s New York, from the clatter and chatter of the open kitchen to the bottle lined bar. Walls with black and white family photographs showing life in Brooklyn's 'Little Italy' surround cosy booth seating and tables. Combined with the classic music of the fifties, a mix of American swing and beat, they definitely provide a fun and friendly atmosphere for all to enjoy.

Frankie and Benny's offers starters, main courses and delicious desserts, and favourites include char-grilled burgers, pizzas, pastas, steaks and house specialities such as chicken parmigiana, BBQ ribs, lamb shank and much more. The bar serves a wide range of beers, wines, spirits, cocktails and soft drinks.

Start with sticky wings, crispy coated chicken strips, tiger prawn skewer or Frankie's fried calamari and if you are dining in a group choose the giant sampler platter. The pastas, calzone and pizzas are all made freshly on order. An interesting dish on the menu is a the Boston 7 speciality pizza fully loaded with slices of pork meatballs, spicy pepperoni, ham, crispy bacon, chicken, peppers and red onion, served on a BBQ sauce base. They also serve a variety of sandwiches and burgers throughout the day.

A good value lunch menu is available on weekdays from 11am until 5pm offering a range of popular dishes from the main carte with one course at £5.95, two courses at £7.95 and three courses at £8.95.

For children up to the age of eleven, an all-inclusive menu features a selection of main courses, desserts and drinks starting at £3.95. As an added treat, they'll also receive an activity pack to entertain them whilst you eat.

Enjoy an American Italian meal at Frankie and Benny's with freshly prepared food and warm hospitality that makes you feel right at home.

Pizza Express remains a hugely popular bedrock of casual eating. Its popularity is testimony to the fact that across the country, they have restaurants where you will always be guaranteed a good nosh, with children's tastes being well catered for.

Pizza Express has gone even more Roman, and following the success of that particular example of listening to their public have introduced Romana pizzas, including the scorching Etna and the hearty Siciliana.

These pizzas are now thinner, bigger and crispier, and if that sounds like a marketing line, it is. However, unlike many such lines, this one is true, and their quality is always consistent, though cleverly they have still managed to retain a homemade feel to their pizzas.

As an alternative to pizza, try their pollo pesto - cavatappi pasta with torn chicken breast, mushrooms, red onions and mozzarella in a creamy gruyere, parmesan and pesto sauce and finished with grana padano - or the niçoise salad with mixed leaves, yellowfin tuna, free range egg, green beans, potatoes and tomatoes with olives, anchovies, capers and house dressing.

Many of the big chains have come a long way, and Pizza Express is certainly amongst them. One of the first to be quoted on the Stock Exchange - in 1993 - Pizza Express is not a franchise operation and retains tight control through its own staff.

Their wine list - though short - contains some surprisingly good offerings, especially their intense Australian Chardonnay, and a big, full-bodied Merlot from Cusumano, Sicilia.

The Mundy Bois combines the warmth of a traditional Kentish country freehouse with a first-class restaurant. Situated off the beaten track between the villages of Pluckley, Egerton and Smarden, the Mundy Bois lies in the heart of the Weald of Kent - 'Darling Buds of May' country.

The à la carte menu offers fully-traceable, local produce; featuring a range of dishes using Aberdeen Angus Beef, Romney Lamb and free range Berkshire and British Saddleback Pork. These traditional breeds are raised on local farms using welfare friendly, low-stress farming systems - free of growth promoters or in feed antibiotics - producing meats with the finest texture and taste.

For casual diners, the Bar Menu offers homemade bar meals and snacks. Come and try the Aberdeen Angus or minted lamb burgers, or their pork and cider gourmet sausage and mash. In the Village Bar - where Ted, their Labrador, can usually be found in front of the inglenook - you will find a range of real ales, lagers and quality wines. Their patio and garden allows al fresco eating and, for the kids, there is an adventure playground, or you can enjoy a game of pool in the games room.

Discover this authentic French restaurant set in a charming hamlet in the Ashford countryside. Chef Joel Gross has chosen Timber Batts, a fifteenth century pub built during the reign of Henry VII, to complement the cuisine and the crowds that are flocking there are ample proof that he has found the right combination. The interior stays true to the period in which the building was constructed with a beamed and timbered bar that features an inglenook fireplace the size of a small room. The restaurant has its own huge fireplace and old pine tables - some with low back settees - and candles.

The popular dishes include stuffed mussels, a classic duck confit salad, a perfect rack of lamb served with herbs and prime fillet of beef with Roquefort sauce. Puddings such as profiteroles, tarte tatin and crème brûlée fill in the chinks. The fine wine selection and the house beers provide another reason to give Froggies a warm welcome.

Nestling amidst 75 acres of farmland in the pristine Kent country side is Elvey farm. Parts of the main building like the stable block have been present since the medieval periods giving it more than a touch of history; the renovation has, however, turned it into a contemporary and stylish lodging. It provides an idyllic setting whether you are shopping in the village square after brunch or sipping champagne on the verandah of your suite taking in the charming sight of the vast stretch of fields, orchards and hills.

The restaurant is unique as it specialises in old Kentish cuisine. Sautéed mushrooms in garlic and cream atop a warm Kentish hufkin for starters, hop-pickers pie, a Kentish twist on the traditional steak and mushroom pie, with onions, herbs and gravy made from shepherd Neame's Bishops finger for mains, and apple and cobnut pudding for dessert will give a fair taste of the kitchen.

A 16th century manor house of great presence, everything perfectly in place - and that's just the outside. Inside the ambience is, if anything, turned up as ancient wood panelling, stone fireplaces with well-tended log fires and fresh flowers become apparent. Manor Restaurant offers guests a fine dining experience, with an extensive range of inventive and creative French and modern English cuisine.

Formal but intimate, this is the setting within the grand wood panelled dining room where you dine in the company of our resident pianist playing melodious tunes on the beautiful grand piano.

Situated in the village of Great Chart, The Hoodeners Horse is a small village pub which is on the outskirts of Ashford and is famed for the authentic Mexican dishes that are served together with traditional English cooking. Simple, pleasant and elegant, the pub is a welcome respite for patrons who like to have their drinks in relaxed surroundings away from the glitz of a general themed pub. The old world style brick structure in which the pub is housed, exudes an atmosphere of comfort while having food cooked with locally sourced meat and vegetables.

Chef John Gray, has used much of his experience in making dishes such as gammon steak, sirloin steak, various pizzas and burgers giving them his personal attention. Mexican dishes like nachos el grande, fajita chicken salad and chilli corn carne also lend a variety to the menu. Other options include wraps, burritos and tacos.

The Hoodeners Horse is also well known for its real ales which include Wells Bombardier, Westons Traditional Scrumpy along with a host of wines and other drinks.