I’m from a lovely little coastal town called Whitstable, famous for its oysters and quirky little shops located less than 1.5 hours out of London, you can get a train from Victoria or Stratford. It’s full of cafes, delicatessens, pubs and most notably known for it’s seafood and local ales and beers. I wanted to share some of my favourite places in Whitstable for those who plan to visit, there are many venues in Whitstable not listed of course, these are just the most notable to me. Most pubs, cafes & some restaurants in Whitstable are dog-friendly.
Coffee, cafes & baked goods
‘Blue Print’ coffee is the perfect place to get your caffeine fix, they have a van at Whitstable train station and an espresso bar in the town offering arguably the best coffee in Whitstable, they focus and pride themselves on their coffee and sell just a few small bites. They sell coffee in 3 sizes (4, 6 or 8 oz) with a choice of house or decaf and for filtered coffee you can chose between the V60 or Aeropress, or for two you can get a Chemex.
‘Hubbards Bakery’ sell freshly baked goods such as the classic gingerbread men, cream buns, sugary donuts and fresh bread. This is great if you’re staying in Whitstable and want some fresh croissants for breakfast. There are numerous coffee shops/cafes throughout the town such as ‘Windy Corner Stores Cafe’ (I worked here for many years), they use and sell both beans and ground coffee from the ‘Micro Roastery’ in Canterbury. They sell huge sausage rolls, full meaty or veggie breakfasts from around £7 (they’re big) & thick veggie bruchetta bites full of goats cheese! Windy’s bread-maker is German and owns the ‘Slow Bread’ company, you can buy his sourdough, rye, and other bread loaves at Windy from £2.60. Around Christmas time you can often find stollen & mince pies baked by Slow Bread. Also.. get a hot chocolate, they’re heavenly, very creamy! Windy has been established there for many years, it was a little newspaper shop years ago and still holds its charm, it is popular with the locals and is in an area that’s out of the busy town closer to the sea, right next to the tennis courts and close to the Old Neptune pub (see below).
If you’re after a vegan and or vegetarian grub there is a place called ‘Revivals’ which not only boasts halloumi fries, nachos, falafel meze plates from £7 and great takeaway picnic boxes (you must pre-order) but they are a mental health social enterprise which were set up by ‘MIND’ to raise awareness and fight stigma, I love this place. ‘The Bubble Cafe’ is situated above the public toilets on the seafront (don’t let this put you off), it is close by some lovely hotels and bars and is a bit more of a walk past the harbour towards Tankerton but is not at all far (10 mins from the main town). They have a nutritional therapist who works there and therefore are vegan friendly, they sell turmeric lattes for £3.50 and offer a range of protein filled vegan bites!
‘The Umbrella Cafe CIC’ is a social enterprise that is full of home-baked cakes, homemade teas, excellent decaf coffee and vegan fair-trade wine. Vegan pancakes can be found here for £2. It is one of the most child-friendly cafes IMO, they have a garden and it’s actually located in the building I went to playschool in. This is where the local ‘Farmers Market’ takes place (above the cafe, every 2nd and 4th Saturday of every month). ‘The Beach Cafe’ offers excellent milkshakes, wippy ice cream with a flake for £1.50, free refills on tea and coffee (I think this may be the only cafe that offers this) and great cooked breakfasts including the choice of black pudding (this is not common in Whitstable). ‘The Whitstable Produce Store’ sells produce as well as runs a cafe (similar to Windy in this respect), they sell scones, teacakes and bacon butties (for only £3).
Pubs and microbreweries
‘The Old Neptune’ is a wonky Shepherd Neame pub that’s been there for years and can been seen in many old photos of Whitstable, here you can watch the sunset on the beach (this is one of the best spots to do this) with a pint of ‘Whitstable Bay’ larger or ale. They often have live bands playing where it is packed with locals dancing around. There are also microbreweries that are much newer to Whitstable such as the ‘Black Dog’ and ‘The Handsome Sam’ which both boast ales and ciders with both venues having unique characteristics. I’ve been to the ‘Twelve Taps’ many times, it is perfect for your fancy Gin needs, prosecco by the glass (£4.50) and wine (including organic choices). Every time I’ve gone in the Twelve Taps it’s been a great atmosphere.
The ‘Duke of Cumberland’ is both a hotel and a bar, I’ve been into the bar many times, it’s one of the biggest pubs in Whitstable with a lovely beer garden and room to dance when live music is on. This Shepherd Neame pub is also very old and is situated in the heart of Whitstable. It is full of local people, has a log fire and is very old-fashioned looking. The ‘Marine Hotel’ in Tankerton is another Shepherd Neame venue that offers fine dining, you can reach this hotel by walking the promenade that runs parallel to the sea, it’s a gorgeous walk. Perhaps the tide will be out and you can walk out on the ‘street’ where the sea splits either side — it’s beautiful. You’ll also walk past beautiful colourful beach huts on your way.
Restaurants
The ‘Pearson’s Arms’ is a cute and classy restaurant and pub which boasts a Michelin Star chef and excellent cocktails, drinks can be quite expensive but their measurements are 35ml for a single as oppose to the normal 25ml for a single shot. This beautiful pub sits on the beach and is a few minutes walk from the Neptune, it has a log fire and often hosts some incredible live music. I’ve eaten fried pigs ears here before — creative foods!
The ‘Whitstable Oyster Company’ is a restaurant that I’ve never actually been to but I felt it was important to note as it’s considered one of the best restaurants in town (right next to the Pearson’s), selling local oysters and other seafood such as crab, lobster, sea bass and prawns. When I was growing up this was the local cinema and now it’s a thriving hot-spot for seafood. You can just go in for coffee and cake, which I hear is superb! This company owns and operates the ‘Lobster Shack’ located at the East Quay in Whitstable, my brother got married here, it’s a beautiful venue that over looks the sea, the food is delicious. You can actually see the oyster beds at Whitstable beach when the tide is out, this aquaculture technique supplies Whitstable with fresh oysters.
‘Samphire’ is a restaurant I’ve been to quite a few times, they offer hearty creative meals and the decor is classy, service is always with a smile and they offer a great eggs benedict, brunch and fish of the day! ‘The Forge’ is not really a restaurant, it’s an outdoor food vendor/shack, it has outside dining with deck chairs, perfect if you just want to grab some grub and sit on the beach. It is very close to the harbour and is reasonably priced, they sell donuts, fish & chips, lobster, cod, oysters and local beer. This place can get super busy and there can be quite a wait on food, but most say it’s worth the wait.
‘Harbour Street Tapas’ is a great restaurant that I’ve visited many times, there service is incredible and are very accommodating to dietary requirements. They put together delicious food for me when I was vegan with no-notice at all (and it wasn’t just hummus and bread!). This is a nice little restaurant that looks out into harbour street where you can people watch (especially if you sit at the bar), it’s quite small so it’s a nice quiet atmosphere. You can see the chefs cooking too! As this restaurant has a meze style it is very accommodating to groups and those who love sharing food.
‘JoJo’s’ is a very popular meze, meat & fish restaurant based in Tankerton, everybody knows the wait to get into this restaurant is usually quite long as it is in such demand. I’ve been here once, a very long time ago and the food and service was excellent!
Classic Fish & Chips
Although many restaurants in Whitstable offer fish & chips, there are the traditional ‘chippy’s’ that are unbeatable and perfect for take out so you can sit on the beach…
Growing up, ‘VC Jones’ was the place to get your fish & chips with queues blocking up harbour street. This shop has been there for many years and is popular with good service, reasonable prices and is still loved by the locals!
‘Ossies Fish Bar Whitstable’ is much newer to the town and has quickly gained popularity, I visited this year (2020) and was impressed with the food, I sat in and ate which is of course a bit more expensive, but the food was still reasonably priced and delicious, I had cod and chips with a side of curry sauce (of course!).
Indian Restaurants
The ‘Shobab’ is a popular restaurant which my family have been going to for many years, their poppadoms with sides and peshwari naans are incredible, lovely flavoured foods at reasonable prices. The Rogan Josh is a winner.
The ‘Krishna’ is another Indian restaurant in Whitstable that has a good name, its decor is beautiful and the spices and flavours are great. This is right by the train station (1 minute walk), so it is great if you want to eat then jump on the train.
Other things to do
The ‘Cheese Box’, here you can buy some of the best Manchego! At the harbour you can visit the ‘Harbour Market’ (not open every day, lots of arty stuff here), and the ‘Whitstable Fish Market’ to try an oyster with some Tabasco. Check out the weird ‘Squeeze Gut Alley’ and consider the walk from Whitstable to Faversham (great breweries) ~12 miles and pass the famous ‘Sportsman’ (you can get a train back to Whitstable, ~7 mins).
