The Windmill

When we arrived we waited to be seated and two waiters looked at us blankly and didn’t say anything, eventually the manager came over and sat us down — that part isn’t a massive complaint but just wanted to point out it was an extremely cold reception.
My husband ordered the meat platter as his starter, when it arrived the meat was 3 slices of salami and 1 parma ham which were very fatty and the parma ham was so dry it had gone rock hard.
I just want to point out it didn’t specify on the menu what type of meat it would be and it really didn’t have much meat for a ‘meat platter’.
I’m a massive fan of salami and parma ham but even i couldn’t swallow it.
My husband sliced the pork pie in half and it was literally glistening with so much gelatin/​fat which was very disappointing as the menu stated it was homemade one would expect decent quality.
The sauce which wasn’t to our taste was spread on the bread which meant he couldn’t even eat that.
When the waiter came to clear the plates he asked what was wrong and all my husband said was ‘it wasn’t to his taste’, he asked if we wanted him to tell the chef and my husband said its up to him.
He disappeared and came back 5 minutes later to say the manger would see us in a bit which was fine and removed our plates.
When he did arrive and I’m not exaggerating as everyone in the restaurant stopped and looked, he shouted at us for at least 5 minutes saying it is a meat dish, what did we expect, my husband shouldn’t have picked this dish if he is a vegetarian, its all locally sourced produce, theres nothing wrong with it.
He kept repeating these things and throughout it, myself and my husband kept trying to talk to explain but he was so loud, i ended up shouting at him ‘can you let us explain’ to which he suddenly stopped and we got the chance to go through and the issues we had with the dish.
Whilst doing this we had to continually ask him to stop butting in and to listen so we could explain and once we had done so he couldn’t have been more apologetic saying he had got the wrong end of the stick, but when we asked how could he have when he didn’t even ask what was wrong at the beginning, he couldn’t answer.
He then proceeded to shove a menu in my husbands face asking him to pick something else, even though the waiter was standing there with our mains in his hands.
He kept coming back and apologising and asking if he could get us a free drink, when we declined he then offered free puddings and tea or coffee which we also declined.
He had upset us too much.
I can honestly say there was no reason for him to attack us the way he did, especially telling my husband he shouldn’t have picked the dish if he was a vegetarian, not once did my husband say he was, nor is he and i just cant understand how he would think a vegetarian would choose a ‘meat’ platter.
If it wasn’t for the fact it was a wedding gift voucher we would have certainly walked out, it was disgusting customer service and we know we weren’t overreacting as the people on the next table told us how shocking his behaviour was.
I would also like to point out that it was so cold in the restaurant i had to wear my coat the whole duration and the waiter that served us never smiled, no please or thank yous and when we needed serving he was always saying one minute and going off doing other things which made us feel very unimportant.
The worst customer service i have ever experienced and can safely say we will never return not use any of their other establishments.

Très bonne adresse!
Vaut le coup de faire un peu de route après le tunnel sous la manche et en direction de Londres afin de bien manger.
La décoration est très chaleureuse et les plats sont délicieux.
Petit parking à l arrière.

No reservation and it seems one should make one. My friends and myself were highly anticipating the Pork Belly but was not available. Compromised with the Fish Pie x 2 and Lamb x 2.
Reasonable wine list enjoyed the Malbec as a good middle of the road Red. The Fish Pies were very good if somewhat on the small size. The Lamb proved very disappointing, dry, shredded and overcooked and the accompanying Rosti was merely a small lattice crisp of potato. Spring vegetables had red peppers although we were assured they would not be present. Service was on the slow side but one assumes likely relative to it being busy. Being seated away from the rest of the customers did allow us easier conversation so that was a plus.
Noted many happy and smiling customers as we left so maybe we had some bad luck. The outside seating is well appointed. Almost forget… the Crème Brûlée type desert was excellent.

The Windmill has recently been taking over by Richard Phillips, Richard Phillips is the man behind Thackeray’s of Tunbrigde Wells, Hengist of Aylesford and The Pearson’s Arms Whitstable. The Pub now leans towards being a restaurant, but this not your usual pub grub, this is fine dining at a reasonable price.
The food is very good, very good indeed, the staff a very helpful and super friendly.
For starter I ordered Dorset Crab on Toast, which was delicious crab mixed with onion, shredded lettuce served on broiche toast, it also had a bit of a kick to it, very pleasant indeed. Our table also ordered the Scotch Egg with Black Pudding to try, OMG it was heaven, crispy on the outside, the egg nice and runny on the inside really pleasurable.
For mains I ordered a old classic, Cod In Whistable Bay Ale Batter with Triple Cooked Chip, everything you want from posh fish n chips, cod was nice and tender, batter nice and crispy, chips were lovely and fluffy.
I really recommend this place to you, really good food at a reasonable price, also good just for a pint or a spot of lunch, go check it out.

This is a lovely olde worlde pub set in the quiet village of Hollingbourne near Maidstone, just a short distance from Leeds Castle.
We have been here twice, once on a Sunday for lunch and once on a Friday for dinner.
On both occasions we found the food to be superb. It is plentiful and well presented and the menu has something to suit everyone from home made burgers to Lobster Thermidor. I’m not sure that anyone could manage 3 courses here.
I had the roast lamb dinner on Sunday which was lovely and served with roast potatoes, yorkshire pudding, mange tout, carrots and corn. My husband had the mixed grill and it was enormous — rump steak, gammon steak, lamb chop and 3 sausages, served with chips and mixed salad. If you like desserts they have home made cheesecakes and fruit crumble, apple pie, as well as ice cream sundaes and sorbets.
They have a fairly comprehensive wine list, although I didn’t partake of any (sadly).
All in all, both visits were lovely and we look forward to going again. From Monday to Thursday they do a 2 course menu for £10.95.