Reads | 1* Michelin

www.reads.com

The restaurant’s widespread reputation is founded on the distinctive cooking of Michelin-starred David Pitchford, whose seasonal dishes blend herbs and vegetables from the manor’s own walled kitchen garden with local game and fish fresh from the quayside at nearby Whitstable and Hythe. To complement the food, an extensive wine list balances the French classics with a carefully chosen and imaginative selection from Europe, the Americas and the New World.
Read’s now also offers six restful and relaxed guest bedrooms, each one individually designed and furnished in period style, with traditional English fabrics and all of them with modern, en suite bathrooms.
It's location, close to Canterbury, means that Read’s is perfectly placed for anyone in search of somewhere rather exceptional to stay while exploring one of Britain’s most historic cathedral cities and the delights of the surrounding Kentish countryside. It is also wonderfully convenient for an overnight stop en route to the Continent via the Channel ports or the Channel Tunnel. Best of all, perhaps, a short break here offers a rare opportunity to enjoy the very essence of English country living.

Read’s Restaurant With Rooms. A sumptuous blend of wonderful food, relaxing comfort and discreet but attentive service.

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FIRST COURSES

A risotto of Crown Prince pumpkin with crispy lardons, and Reggiano Parmesan.
Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside. Mark Twain.

A raviolo of wild mushrooms and chicken mousse with beetroot, wilted gem lettuce and a tarragon butter sauce.
Grub first, then ethics. Brecht.

A hot soufflé of mature Montgomery Cheddar cheese set on glazed undyed smoked haddock in a creamed sauce.
When ordering lunch the big executives are just as indecisive as the rest of us. William Feather.

Seared and marinated loin of tuna with pickled white radish and a ginger and soy dressing.
Remember gentlemen, it's not just France we are fighting for, it's Champagne. Winston S. Churchill.

A terrine of foie gras, ham hock and roasted winter vegetables with Madeira dressing and warm brioche.
The palate is as worthy and as capable of education as the eye or the ear. Brillat-Savarin.

Fillets of locally smoked eel on a salad of celeriac and potato with tapenade and crispy bacon.
It is wonderful, if we chose the right diet what an extraordinary small amount would suffice. Gandhi.

A plate of thinly sliced Langhirano Parma ham with caramelised pears and a rocket salad.
Music with dinner is an insult to both the cook and the musician. G.K. Chesterton.

MAIN COURSES

Char-grilled calves liver on chive mashed potato with crispy Pancetta, melted onions and a balsamic dressing.
A good meal in troubled times is always that much salvaged from disaster. A. J.Liebling.

Pan fried red mullet on leaf spinach, pan-roasted potatoes with Seville orange and thyme sauce.
How long does getting thin take? Pooh asked anxiously. A.A. Milne.

Roasted breast of Gressingham duckling on crushed minted peas with an onion tart tatin, almond crumbed potato and a Madeira sauce.
No man can be wise on an empty stomach. George Eliot.

Medium-rare fillet of Chiltern farm beef with rainbow chard, wild mushrooms and a red wine butter. (£5 supplement)
Never eat more than you can lift. Miss Piggy.

Coopers farm lamb three ways with puy lentils, Savoy cabbage, baked celeriac and rosemary jus.
If you throw a lamb chop in the oven, what's tokeep it from getting done? Joan Crawford.

Crispy pork belly on black cabbage with honey roasted turnips, apple puree and crackling.
My wife and I tried to breakfast together but we had to stop or our marriage would have been wrecked. Winston S.Churchill.

DESSERTS AND CHEESES

Kentish apple mousse with a cider and cinnamon soup, Granny Smith sorbet and toffee apple jelly.
Cuisine is when things taste like themselves. Curnonsky.

A Drambuie soufflé served with cardamom ice cream and home made citrus shortbread. (Please allow up to 20 minutes)
Strange to see how a good dinner reconciles everyone. Samuel Pepys.

A dark chocolate tart with a prune and armagnac ice cream and white chocolate chantilly.
Cookery has become an art, a noble science cooks are gentlemen. Robert Burton.

Poached Champagne rhubarb on a light sable biscuit with a rhubarb trifle and rhubarb ripple ice cream.

A selection of British cheeses served with grapes, biscuits and bread.
Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese. G. K. Chesterton.

Teas or Coffee with sweet nibbles: £3.00
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