The Poet at Matfield

The Poet is our go to place for celebrations. Consistently good food presented well and great service in a lovely space. We can’t fault it - it ticks all the boxes for us

What an outstanding place. Without doubt, one of the best restaurants I have ever visited, and I have been to quite a few top restaurants in my time. The food was outstanding, and the service second to none. Will most definitely be visiting again, soon !!

It’s the second time we’ve been to The Poet and both times the food has been excellent. I love the venue itself and was also impressed with the service; particularly the care given to catering for vegan dietary requirements. It’s not cheap, but you get what you pay for; the best restaurant in the local area that I’ve been to. Recommended.

As always superb food and great service! Fantastic evening.

Great food, lovely restaurant, excellent overall really enjoyed it and the price reflected the excellent quality

Fantastic food, well cooked, fabulous flavours, high quality ingredients.

Very attentive staff, we were a table of 8 celebrating a special birthday, luckily we were given a private area/room so I hope we didn't disturb too many other diners!

Great restaurant, with a terrific ambience and superb service

The food is excellent and is the highest quality. We enjoyed every mouthful
WELL DONE THE POET.

Wonderful pub- excellent food, well presented and using quality ingredients. Wide selection of gin! The staff are very attentive, friendly and welcoming. We’ll be back!

Another fabulous meal from the team at The Poet - the food was sublime and the service excellent!
Always a pleasure to eat here...

We had been recommended to visit The Poet and we finally had the opportunity to go on Friday in celebration of our Wedding Anniversary.
From the lovely rose sparkles that greeted us on our arrival to the complimentary petit fours at the end of our meal, everything was absolutely perfect. This included the welcome our 2 dogs received!
We all ate from a combination of the set menu and specials board. The pea and mint veloute and fish cakes were especially delicious, but we all enjoyed our choices and could find no fault with anything.
We definitely will be returning and have already recommended it to friends and relatives.
Thank you to everyone there for making our day so special.

Food exceptional. Excellent service and lovely old pub with a great atmosphere.

Outstanding , as usual

Can’t recommend the chef’s tasting menu highly enough. The food was sublime and the chef was very obliging with adapting some dishes for my partner’s shellfish allergy. The staff are so well trained and really know their stuff. Wonderful knowledge on both the food and wines. Give this place a try. You won’t regret it!

Always a good experience with great food, a real pleasure.

Still the best restaurant in Kent and we will be back on Saturday night and also on my birthday.

The staff are very attentive and make you feel welcome. I can't fault the service at all. The food however wasn't amazing, it was just good. The four of us were of the same opinion. Presentation was great but I feel this overshadowed the food slightly. I felt each dish lacked something. Two of our group had the fillet of beef which were both quite tough, and then one had the hake while I went for Pork belly. All of them were quite under-seasoned, the hake especially lacked flavour .... but ..... it was still nice and we enjoyed it; I just feel that the price you pay is very much reflected on presentation and service rather than the execution. I would definitely go back and I will recommend it to friends. I will say that The Poet is definitely worth a visit and base what I experienced on perhaps just an off day.

An excellent Saturday birthday lunch. The usual excellent standard as to food and service. Well worth the expense and makes for a memorable event. All our guests were delighted. We’ll be back...

Lovely food and overall experience

Great food great service,lovely atmosphere , very welcoming, highly recommended

Another great mean at the poets - had the taster menu was great. Very good value for the quality of food.

Excellent food and service. Really good for catering for dietary requirements.

Outstanding as usual. Quality food, great atmosphere and service was exceptional.

Great experience as always

I have recommended lots My friends and I really like it there

Fantastic lunch as usual. Requested we change tables as we wanted to have a good catch up without being overheard. Was no problem & we’re moved immediately. Thanks to all the staff who were attentive but discreet. Pauline’s

I don't want to sound over the top, but this was one of the best Sunday roasts I have ever had - I can't recommend it highly enough. It's slightly more expensive than elsewhere, but once you are eating you can understand why as it really is thoroughly delicious. We will be back!

We celebrated my Wife's Aunts birthday on Saturday night with six of us. The food was outstanding, and the service was excellent. I would thoroughly recommend the Poet for excellent food and service

Our first visit to The Poet. Very impressed by all aspects. The mid-week set menu excellent and a formula that should be widely available. Efficient, unobtrusive service. We'll be back.

Another great evening at The Poet, our friends enjoyed it immensely too.
The ambience provided by Andy, Simon and the team is relaxed and friendly but with great attention to detail. Patrice creates outstanding dishes to a very high standard and the Menus are varied and interesting. You will not be disappointed.

What a wonderful find, couldn’t have asked for better food or service.

We have been there many times Sunday roasts are excellent ! Best we've had locally During the week is also top for us We have been with. Different friend /family and they loved it we always recommend it to many friends the staff are very friendly and attentive The food is excellent well presented You have to book well in advance to get a table at least 2 weeks on a Sunday Not so bad during the week at lunch time have not been in the evenings they cater for large gatherings(family parties /birthday ) Would certainly go again

We always have a lovely time at the Poet. Food is consistently good, it has a lovely atmosphere, and the staff are lovely.

Great service and friendly staff. Accommodating with our 2 year old. Set menu was great and good value, matching wines recommended with each dish which was great too.

The quality of the cuisine at The Poet has always been of a high standard each time we have been over the last couple of years. The standard of service is very good too. We would highly recommend this restaurant.

I had read good reviews and thought I’d give it a try. Fabulous food, friendly staff, cosy setting and no noise, wonderful ! The rhubarb and ginger gin was delicious as was the food. The highlight for me was the rhubarb soufflé, my friend did ask if the chef was Married, sadly he is, so we will just have to keep going back for the food.

Outstanding again. Never have I encountered a bad evening.

Just went for a light lunch with a friend. Everything was brilliant!!

Having been highly recommended to us by a friend, I took my husband to The Poet at Matfield for dinner for his birthday.

The Poet at Matfield exceeded all of our expectations. The decor and ambience were elegant but cosy, the food was *delicious* and the service was outstanding. It felt like a fine dining experience; from the complimentary amuse bouche to the miniature delices - it was wonderful.

Everybody we interacted with were friendly, helpful and beyond accommodating. I requested a 'Happy Birthday' plate for dessert when booking with Open Table and I was not disappointed.

My husband and I cannot wait to return and have already recommended to friends! :)

Second visit in two weeks. Family meal out for my husband's birthday. Excellent as before. We will be regular diners from now on. Cannot find fault with anything !

We had Sunday lunch as a family of 4 and every dish each of us had was superb. The staff were attentive and helpful. I can't wait to go back again.