BITE CLUB: Ft. Forts Coffee, Water Lane, Staks Souvlaki and Market Square
From banging breakfasts to the porky post-gig snacks and garden-grown flavours to health-choice nosh, we have been all over the county in this edition to find four pucker purveyors of choice chow to suit every purse...
FORT’S CAFÉ, MARGATE
INSTA: @fortscoffee
Having come under new management in April 2020, Fort’s Café up on Cliff Terrace in Margate is a place reborn.
Not only has its outstanding repertoire expanded to include evening openings complete with cocktails (Bloody Mary, Gorse Flower, Sour-Cherry Old-Fashioned and Vetiver Espresso Martini) but it is arguably setting the bar on breakfast/brunch in the county.
Having recently opened a second site in Chandos Road, Broadstairs, Fort’s takes ‘rustic café’ and puts a f*cking rocket under it.
On our visit we obviously tried out the Fort’s house beer Frothyboi Lager, created by Harbour Brewing Co. (it was gone 11am, after all), but not before the Fort’s signature cuppa, Tastyboi from Origin Coffee Roasters – the owners of Fort’s used to work in the Origin cafés in Cornwall and London.
For brunch we chose the vegetarian dish of scrambled eggs, confit tomatoes on sourdough toast, spiced up with an exquisite salsa verde (£8.50); this is serious stuff, it has changed our views on what ingredients can be used at brunch. Add to that the tingling Korean chicken focaccia, slamming with kimchi slaw and kicked up with some gochujang mayo (£9.50). Outrageous scenes.
LOOK OUT FOR - The tasting flight of coffee, a great way to try all the single-origin coffees.
MARKET SQUARE, FOLKESTONE
INSTA: @marketsquarefolk WEB: Marketsquarefolkestone.co.uk
Sitting in its own little corner of Rendezvous Street, Market Square brings an international flavour to its open and airy garden kitchen-style restaurant and relaxed bar.
From burgers to bao buns and kale hash to flatbreads, there are dashing elements in each dish covering mealtimes from hot breakfasts and smoothies through to ‘social plates’ in the evening (5pm onwards). This is all-day dining… and drinking.
Sourcing from Kent is a priority, with salad leaves from Appledore, tomatoes grown near Canterbury and potatoes from Thanet. Plus there’s a conscious effort to create clean eating options, for example the chefs use no refined sugars across the Market Square Kitchen, while the inclusive menu has vegan and vegetarian options from breakfast through to, well... the wine and beer (of which there are also gluten-free options).
We were feeling healthy and so chose the Asia-inspired Summer Bowl – complete with shredded carrot and lettuce, avocado, radish, pickled ginger (wow!), edamame beans, garlic rice, spring and crispy onions and sesame seeds in an Asian dressing. Topped off with lime-cured salmon – but we had the option of marinated tofu (£12.50).
The Classic Chicken Burger came in a toasted sesame brioche bun, with grilled chicken, garlic mayo, lettuce, tomato, red onion and sweet onions (they love a double onion option in this place), plus sweet potato fries (£11.50). Fresh and clean!
LOOK OUT FOR - The grilled halloumi flatbread with beetroot hummus, herb freekeh grains and heritage tomatoes in a citrus dressing.
WATER LANE WALLED GARDEN, HAWKHURST
INSTA: @water.lane WEB: waterlane.net
Idyllic walled garden with a vinery and Victorian glasshouses on the Kent-Sussex border, Water Lane is a mini sanctuary away from the hustle and bustle of mile-a-minute Hawkhurst. OK, that was a joke, but in the warmth of the sheltered garden it does feel like you can be in a Mediterranean hideaway.
It is now in the hands of new custodians Nick Selby and Ian James, who bring with them a wealth of food and horticultural passion from their previous business, the Melrose and Morgan grocery store and kitchen
While restoring the Victorian garden will take time, the new terrace with tented stretch awning, open kitchen, Portuguese wood-fired oven and chef Jed Wrobel at the helm, didn’t take long.
The idea is that the short and ever-changing menu is guided by the seasons, using ingredients either grown in the garden – like the edible flowers and lemon cucumbers – or nearby organic farms.
LOOK OUT FOR - The monkfish with nduja, chanterelles, peas and aioli
STAKS SOUVLAKI BAR, TUNBRIDGE WELLS
INSTA: @staks_souvlaki_bar WEB: stakssouvlakibar.co.uk
If you’ve ever spent any time in Greece, you’ll know that on most street corners are the giros or souvlaki bars. Food designed to be eaten on-the-go, everything (even the chips) comes neatly wrapped within a flatbread – no, not a pitta, a flatbread! Very different from the kebab world.
Popping up all over London, and now with a permanent site in Central Market, Staks has the genuine feel about it. Choose from pork gyro souvlaki, chicken gyro souvlaki, lamb kofta souvlaki or the vegetarian halloumi souvlaki, all served in a Greek flatbread with fresh dairy and garlic-packed tzatziki sauce, beef tomatoes and oregano salted chips all wrapped in paper. Beautiful.
LOOK OUT FOR - The Meritha box meal, packed to the brim with Hellenic goodness.
