The Tasting Menu at Read’s Restaurant, Kent

I’ve chopped half my hair off and I don’t know how I feel about it. I did it on a bit of a whim and part of me is like WOO change and oh look how much lighter and healthier my hair feels. And the other part of me is looking at pictures of me with long hair and being like what the eff have I done?

So that’s nice.

Other highlights of the past couple of weeks include a trip to Sheffield, several trips to the cinema (La La Land made me dance, Denial made me angry and Manchester by the Sea made me cry), getting caught up in the Doris storm travel chaos which was obviously so much bants and, guys, I finally own an Olympus Pen E-PL7 camera and I’m SO HAPPY about it.

But I came here to talk about the food highlight that was eating at Read’s Restaurant in Faversham, Kent where G and I went to celebrate our anniversary and my birthday.

The restaurant and rooms are located in a quaint country house with the restaurant split across several rooms, creating an intimate atmosphere. When you arrive, you’re shown into a lounge room where you can sit by the fire, sipping on prosecco. Whilst we browsed the menu, we were brought fancy nibbles; olives, anchovy cheese straws and mini-cheese-and-chive-on-toast canapés.

As it was a special occasion, we decided to go for the tasting menu which was £65 per person and included an appetiser, two starters, two main courses, a cheese board, and a pudding.

I cannot even begin to describe how incredible all the food was. If I had to pick, I would say the carrot mousse, king prawns combined with watermelon and hot black cherry soufflé stand out the most in my memory as being the most unique and delicious tastes. The carrot mousse tasted delicious when you least expected it (because who thinks carrot in a mousse is going to work? BUT IT DOES), prawns and watermelon are a surprisingly good combination and that soufflé was just so light.

And OH MAN that enormous cheeseboard. It needed two guys to carry it to the table and I nearly cried with cheese-induced happiness.

I also really loved how, despite the sheer volume of courses, you could still finish everything off. Yes you were full and yes the portions were smaller, but you didn’t feel like you’d over eaten. The food was such high quality and you were never rushed. We spent three hours eating, with large gaps between courses where you could relax and sip on wine uninterrupted.

Half the experience is the delightful service. The staff were very friendly and keen to go out of their way to make sure you had the best experience. It’s those little things that make it special; your wine never nearing the bottom of the glass, the fresh olive bread brought to the table between courses and giving us a slice of lemon tart to take home simply because we mentioned we would like to try it. I also had a plate of sweet treats decorated with a candle and Happy Birthday written in chocolate brought out for me at the end of the meal which was so lovely.

Spending that amount of money on one meal is clearly not something we can do every day but, as a food lover, going to a first class restaurant like Read’s is the best kind of treat and the incredible food and unique dining experience is well worth the money.

What we ate: