insideKENT Magazine Issue 55 - October 2016 | Page 53
FOOD+DRINK
With its baking roots, an ethos of fresh, local ingredients and a wonderfully welcoming
atmosphere, I can guarantee that you certainly won’t be left hungry at
The Hungry Guest, WEST MALLING
BY SAMANTHA READY
Primely located in the heart of West Malling, I
had heard only good things before my visit to
The Hungry Guest. The company, which won
Delicatessen of the Year last year, has a keen
ethos of artisan foods and fresh produce, and I
was intrigued to visit their second offering, this
high street café-cum-bistro.
Arriving for an early Friday evening sitting, with
two young guests (and a hungry husband) in tow
we were immediately at ease in the comfortable
surroundings of our cosy booth. The site itself –
which being in a medieval town, is steeped in
history, in places dating back to the 11th century
– underwent a thorough and sympathetic yearlong refurbishment before opening its shiny new
doors in April 2015.
18 months later and it still feels fresh, new and
exciting. The ground floor offers a host of comfy
booths, like our own, as well as intimate square
tables, all of which are situated to take advantage
of the views into the open kitchen as well as the
rather tempting display of sweet treats on the
counter. Upstairs offers a range of couches and
square tables which were popular with a host of
celebratory parties, groups of friends and couples.
We had the pleasure of being served by the lovely
Annette who, as well as being warm and
engaging, was adept at offering menu
explanations and recommendations, the first of
which was to explain that a TG next to a menu
option stood for Tiny Guest and meant that a
smaller portion could be ordered – perfect for
my mini companions!
We decided to order some bread and olives
whilst we made our choices from the evening
menu and were soon presented with a heaving
(and I mean heaving) board of freshly baked
breads, clocking our mixed reaction of awe and
trepidation (how could we possibly eat all of this
and our dinner?). Annette shrugged and laughed,
responding with: “We’re bakers, what did you
expect? Don’t worry we’ll send you home with
a doggy bag for anything you can’t manage.”
Amazing!
After working our way through the fresh
sourdough, doughball-esqe batons, tomato and
olive and white breads, we continued our feast
with some garlic bread with cheese (a great
precursor as to why the pizzas here are highly
recommended) whilst hungry husband opted for
the soup of the day: a rich, delicious thick
broth of fresh peas and mint, served with yet
more bread.
With just the right amount of between-course
downtime, our main courses arrived. The pasta
semplice for my littlest diner, listed on the menu
as a small bowl of penne and tomato sauce, was
in fact a more than ample portion of tasty pasta
which she happily finished off for lunch the next
day! Whilst daughter two opted for the HG Burger,
declaring it the fattest, biggest one she’d had!
The huge crispy onion rings and bucket of skinny
fries were also met with wide-eyed delight and
were promptly demolished.
The not-so-hungry husband opted for the Cajun
chicken slider – a huge spiced flavoursome
chicken breast in a brioche bun (homemade of
course) with pickles, garlic mayo coleslaw and
yet more fries – and I was met with various
mumblings of mmm, delicious, mmm. I opted
for the parmesan chicken, a beautifully seasoned
and delicately cooked (huge) breast of chicken,
with a crisp herby crumb served with salad and
a perfectly cooked potato dauphinoise that offered
just the right balance of flavour; not too rich, and
totally moorish.
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Already sated, we have to guiltily admit that we
were swayed by dessert, not only because we’d
been glimpsing sight of the puds on the counter
all evening, but also by Annette’s proclamation
that they are “really, really good – award-winning
in fact!” And that is how we came to be in
possession of two of those award-