[GOOD FOOD GUIDE 2023] “A fittingly quaint old building for picture-perfect Rye, complete with original features including exposed beams and brickwork, given a suave modern twist via grey panelling and contemporary furniture. Chef-proprietor Martin Peacock has built his menu on classical French traditions and impeccable sourcing and there’s real creativity and originality on show here – so expect everything from a textbook chicken liver parfait to scallops with pickled cauliflower, chorizo crumble, cauliflower panna cotta and honey-roast pork belly. A recent test meal began with a mini salt cod fishcake with a perfect romesco sauce, some ‘beautiful’ focaccia (with a lovely oily, caramelised crust) and perfect agnolotti pasta filled with ceps and showered in finely grated Parmesan. A main course of guinea fowl in puff pastry served with white wine jus, carrots and confit potato was a showcase for great ingredients, accurately cooked, while a tarte tatin hit all the right buttons, with lovely light crisp pastry, just the right level of sweetness and a serving of thick, creamy Madagascan vanilla ice cream on the side. The international wine list offers a decent but not overlong selection, with accessible pricing.”

[OPEN TABLE 2023] “Landgate Bistro has been chosen as one of OpenTable’s Top 100 Restaurants in the UK for 2023! Compiled from over 1.2 million verified diner reviews and dining metrics including diner ratings, percentage of reservations made in advance, and five-star reviews, the list highlights some of the top spots favored by diners this year.” See whole UK list at OT’s blog here.

[HARDENS 2023] “Small and perfectly formed”, with a “short, locally sourced and interesting menu, plus a reasonable wine list” – this “lovely little bistro” is “a must for visitors to Rye” and provided a number of reporters with their best meal of the year. Top Tip – “the local Romney Marsh lamb”.

[GOOD FOOD GUIDE 2020] “Striding confidently into its 15th year, Martin Peacock and Nilla Westin’s cottage restaurant shows no sign of slowing down – ‘a gem of a find’ is one first-time visitor’s heartfelt comment. The appealing menu will never shock or startle, but the food rings with confident sense of place and season. […] sharp list of global wines.”

[HARDENS 2021] “Chef-proprietor Martin Peacock can be relied upon to provide ‘locally sourced food (including Romney Marsh lamb) cooked with flair’ at his small and stylish modern British bistro. A longstanding Rye favourite, fans sum it up as ‘fine-dining food at mid-dining prices’ ”.

[TRIPADVISOR] by ‘Sarsont, a Londoner’, January 2020: “EVERY TOWN SHOULD HAVE ONE. ‘Towns’ have had a bad press recently, a new political poster child for provincial decline, dead end employment prospects and bleak high streets. Rye is of course one of a small number of rather lovely, self-sufficient small towns and cathedral cities that are the exception to the rule. A busy high street, local businesses with the chains in their rightful place, no multi-storey car park, no bleak end of the street full of pound shops and empty premises. Something it shares with the likes of Totnes, Ludlow, Winchester.
All such places have somewhere like Landgate bistro. A tastefully done up townhouse or series of knocked through shops where staff take your coat on arrival, there’s an amuse bouche, and the main courses always celebrate local produce (in this case fish and marsh lamb). Some do it better than others. The worst can tend to become a bit up themselves and the staff complacent. Landgate is one of the good ones. Just the right size and balance of helpings, a decent enough pudding course had we felt in the mood, and really charming, efficient and smiley waiting staff.”

All photos on this website are @ Nilla Westin