Fife’n Drum Restaurant

Everything here was excellent. I don’t give 5 stars on a first visit. I reserve that for places that are consistently excellent so as not to potentially mislead someone relying on a review. That said, the service was great. True professionals here. The food was excellent. We particularly liked the beet salad and the tikka masalla wings but everything was very good. Will come back when in the area.

Took my 90 year old mother there for Thanksgiving Dinner. Reservations had been filled over a week before the holiday.
The food was delicious (chipotle yams notable.) But best of all the staff made my mother feel great.
We had a small delay in getting seated, but the maitre d’ picked up on our concern. He personally brought us our refreshments.
In retrospect, I found out that they seated over 300 that day, but good fellow’s awareness will bring me back again and again.
Cheers!

Terrible service! Onion soup great when asked for water waiter rolled his eyes. Food good for lunch. Lunch came before we were done with the soup asked to bring back was told they are very busy reluctantly took it back.

The people who run this place is a group of comedic Mexicans who are usually nice and friendly. The food is quite good and the salad and the French onion soup are the some of the best I’ve had anywhere in the world so far.

This place is hit or miss. There are flashes of brilliance, just no consistency. The burger was good but the slaw was rancid. The Arctic Char was overcooked and the sauce was nasty. The spring roll was perfect. There are more daily special items than regular menu items. This is a sign of a failing business. I hope the chef figures out what direction he wants to take this place. If he/​she decided to, they could have a great business.

A Classic !!! such a great time with the nicest people !!! 5 star all the way !!!

My only disappointment is we didn’t get to eat off the metal plates waiting for us at the table, complete with the image of the Fife and Drum on them. They were whisked away in favor of glass plates which, I must admit, are probably easier to wash in mass.
My family and I went to the Fife and Drum for our Easter dinner. It was a little crowded for our three o’clock seating, and slowly died down the later it got. The Lobster Asparagus Bisque was plentiful with lobster meat, and my lamb was tender and well seasoned. For dessert, the Bailey’s cheesecake was a touch overcooked but creamy and well complimented with the whipped cream. My father was almost through with what he thought was a very fudge-​like Chocolate Mousse when the waiter came over with a new slice, explaining he had given him the chocolate ganache in error. Can’t hold free chocolate against them!
The staff was extremely quick and attentive. They kept refilling out water glasses, although had to prompted for a drink from the bar. The artwork on the wall looks homey and personal, although unremarkable. The bathroom was a single room, not multiple stalls, but clean and stocked with extra rolls of toilet paper. The meal ended with the check and festive proffering of a basket of Easter eggs, each with a handful of jelly beans. It was an adorable touch.

This restaurant appears to have mastered the art of using sexy upscale culinary lingo on its menu, like a siren, to lure the unexpected diner onto the rocks of dining disaster.
How else could I have been lured into ordering the LIVER?!
Can’t blame the Manhattan (which was perfectly prepared incidentally) as I had already chosen my entrée. I figured that if a place is brazen enough to put liver on its menu it had better be phenomenal. The description elicited anticipations of crispiness, baconiness, creaminess and savoriness.
What I got was a giant slab of overcooked apparently boiled organ meat atop and indistinguishable from a thick somewhat rancid slab of potato pancake atop a bed of overly sour, on-​the-​verge-​of-​turning cabbage slaw (at least I think it was cabbage). No bacon to be found or if it was truly there then it had merged with the general brown, gray and taupe mound of the rest of it.
It was like eating a cadaver. I dissected the dish, took a few mouthfuls and then pushed it all to the side to give the appearance of having eaten more. Just like a kid.
My dining partners had the moules-​frites and penne. Moules-​frites were good but the penne appeared congealed en masse, my dining partner plucking and peeling each penne with a tine. Just to throw it in I had taken the calamari as an appetizer which was coarsely tasty albeit ultra-​rubbery.
The apple crisp was fine enough although served with ice cream AND some sort of unnecessary synthetic whipped topping, although it simply said on the menu «a la mode».
The live music was wonderful. Three capable musicians serenaded my gastronomical descent into anatomy class and though the place was very busy the wait staff was courteous.
I will *never* go back and I wish I could write a better review because Fife ‘n Drum must be doing something right given the throngs of diners (although it was Easter weekend).

This is my favourite upscale Connecticut restaurant.
I always get the feeling that I may run into Bertie Wooster here. They say American Fine Dining but its perhaps better described as British.
Mr. Dolph Traymon has created more than an oasis of food and music — he has left open a doorway to a more elegant time.
Always good service. Always fantastic food. I recommend the Half Duck Roast Flambé. They make it table side and its a bit of a theater. Great selection of wine from all over the world.
I love this restaurant.

You know, I always had the feeling that this place was old school. That I would have only choices of bake stuffed scrod, but I have been here several times now and honestly could not be more pleased with their menu and their service. Prices are a bit steep but the food is good. The menu has a mix of old and new. There is French onion soup sure, old school, but then a winter panzanella, with kale, capers, roasted tomato and bulgur wheat which was delicious. Sea bass with olives, tomato, capers over couscous was wonderful as well. My son had a burger and fries and it was so juicy and the fries were well done! Yes, did see a Caesar salad on the menu, but it was made table side, a throw back to the old days, but isn’t that what made it so good? I am surprised to see some of the reviews as the service we have had has been very good, but for occasional over zealous water refills from time to time. If you are in Kent, give it a try for a nice meal that can appease all.

My wife and I had a terrible experience. Their was no staff to seat us, even though it said please wait to be seated, asked for a piece of beef to see if an elderly man (father in law), could chew it, and the response was a swift NO! What is this, I thought little Nazi. We had our tea and left, the staff was ungrateful, rude, i would never recommend this place, starting with the staff. Rude, and insentiive.

Only because I can’t give less stars. Food was poor quality, appetizers poorer quality than any supermarket, service glacial, portion size meager, price utterly ridiculous. Three tiny salads, two poor flat bread appetizers, a serving of spinach, and three servings of pasta with two bottles of sparkling water, all for a mere $ 160. Ya-​gotta-​be-​kidding-​me. The words «Never ever again» just don’t say it loud enough…

Fine for what it is. Good steak and tasty lobster pasta. Great piano player. Salad with pear was good but the pear did not have great flavor. Not cheap.

Poor. Seems like they have stopped trying. Went for Sunday Brunch, confusing menu, food no better than diner food and cost $ 75. Better places in Kent.

The Restaurant: Great Bar with friendly professional staff. Welcoming town regulars. Good American menu. The Inn: clean, comfortable. In two days you know everybody.

The food and beverages were fantastic! My husband and I split the margherita pizza as an appetizer and I also got the garden salad. Both were excellent. My husband got the scallops for dinner and I got the prime rib and we were very satisfied. The only reason I’m giving it 4 stars instead of 5 is because the service was a little slow but not dreadfully so. The food is also a bit pricey. A good experience all around. Make sure you make a reservation!

If you’re into the charm of an old world dinning experience, in a classic ski chalet type setting, then this is your place… 2^nd generation owned, and family operated situated right in the heart of historical Kent, CT!
Great food, a retro atmosphere with wood paneling throughout, fireplaces, cathedral ceilings, empty vintage wine/​champagne bottles, etc.
Speaking of which, great, great value wine list here with a myriad of old gems bought at release, and cellared perfectly. I had an 81′ Trotanoy, that was singing right out of the bottle…
The food is great with generous heaping portions… I highly recommend the Fife n’ Drum. Will be back for sure!

Uninspiring food paired with poor service pretty much sums up the experience. Their prime location in touristy Kent must provide them with enough first and only time visitors to stay in business, cant imagine anyone willing going here for a second time.
Your dining odyssey starts with no greeting at the door, a point towards an empty table which no one ever comes to take your order. After we tracked down someone to take our order, the drinks and food came out surprising quick. Now this is the first time we meet our waitress and the only time she came to table on her own.
For lunch I had the roast beef with peppers and Swiss cheese. Came with some potato chips, an old pickle, and a shot glass of cole slaw. Nothing particularly special here. I’ve made better lunches at home myself.
Do yourself a favor and try one of the other dining options in town. As a side note, and not really sure why, but all of the other diners were over 70 years old.

So we came here for dinner a couple of weekends ago because, frankly, this was the only place that was open in Kent over the winter. We were going to go to Doc’s but sadly discovered that they were closed — permanently.
I was not very enthused about the prospect because, well, this is such an institution in town and known more for the ambiance than the food. As evidenced by my four star review, I was very, very pleasantly surprised. I had the French Onion soup to start and the lamb sirloin entrée. The soup was okay. Not the best French Onion I’ve had, but perfectly serviceable. The main problem was that it was basically just salty with not very much subtlety.
But my entrée — the lamb sirloin — was legitimately amazing. It was a very generous portion, was cooked perfectly medium rare, had a great gamy lamb flavor, and was just one of the best lamb dishes I had ever had. The sauce with the mashed potatoes (I think it was some sort of red wine reduction) was also very tasty.
My companion had a special fried cauliflower entrée, which was very well done. Her pork entrée was extremely tender and flavorful.
The ambiance in the restaurant was very loud. It was hard to have a conversation over all the noise. The service was fine, although trying a bit hard to be sophisticated. All in all, I would definitely recommend this place for food in Kent (despite my prior reservations) with the lamb dish a particular favorite.

In the midst of a town recovering from a power outage, we had limited dinner options and wound up at Fife & Drum. The atmosphere was pleasant with a fire and intermittent live piano performances, but we were underwhelmed by the food, especially for the price.
We started with a salad, which had a good flavor and the most tasty lentils I’ve ever had. The Salmon was decent, but the Oven Baked Tilapia was disappointing with some of the fish not tasting very fresh.
Overall, a good spot for a drink and entertainment — just come by after dinner.