Outside the Rose on a particularly sunny Deal day.
What do we need to know about The Rose?
This once down-at-heel boozer turned stylish inn sits on the high street in the Kent coastal town of Deal. The current owners are Christopher Hicks (grandson of the pub's owner back in the 1950s) and his wife, former style editor on Wallpaper, Alex Bagner.
On the food front, they brought in their friend and chef Nuno Mendes of London's Lisboeta, to work on the menu alongside the hotel's head chefs, David Gadd who was formerly at The Sportsman and Luke Green who comes here via Quo Vadis.
The main restaurant in The Rose. There's another room the same size on the opposite side of the building too (behind the bar).
How do you get there?
It couldn't be an easier journey from London - the bullet train from St Pancras goes direct to Deal in under 90 minutes. From there it's a five-minute stroll to The Rose from the station.
We were in Room 5 which can be turned into a twin room. It's a bright room, overlooking the high street with a roll top bath in the ensuite and record player complete with vinyl collection.
And you can stay?
Yes, there are eight very appealingly decorated bedrooms (as you'd expect, given owner Alex's background). On every landing there's an amenity area complete with Nespresso machine, jar of shortbread biscuits and a decanter of brandy for late night tipples.
The hotel has a lovely garden with climbing roses and olive trees, along with a terrace for hotel guests and there's a separate dining room with open kitchen and another room/bar which would be great if you needed to catch up on work emails with a strong cup of Climpsons coffee.
A lovely touch - a decanter of brandy for late at night post-prandial tipples.
What's the food like?
In a word: excellent. We enjoyed the best of the late summer bounty with a menu designed to showcase the best ingredients from the local area like Kentish cherries, and locally landed fish from Deal fishmonger Jenkins & Sons. Here's what we had:
Shrimp and crab doughnut (£6) - you might remember Nuno's crab doughnuts from his time heading up the kitchen at Chiltern Firehouse. Here they get an update with the addition of fresh shrimp.
Pork terrine (£10) - a generous slice of terrine made even better with a load of delicately flavoured tomato jelly and pickled carrots.
Dry-aged feather steak with tender onions, herbs and shoots (£23) - the sweetness of the onions married with the perfectly cooked steak and all that gorgeous sauce made this a stellar dish.
Confit sea trout with dill butter and trout roe (£24) - a fish in butter sauce dish and then some. You'll want to drink that sauce with a spoon.
A special mention for the side of potatoes smothered with romesco sauce. The mains were very generous but this was such a spectacular side dish that we hoovered these up too.
Room for dessert?
Just about. While we were tempted by Nuno's olive oil cake (which we'd had recently at Lisboeta) or the mille feuille with fig leaf creme diplomat, this summery dish won out.
Grilled chiffon cake with strawberry ripple ice cream (£8)
And breakfast the next day?
Blessed with some late summer sunshine it wasn't a hard decision to move into the garden for breakfast (which is included in all stays). In addition to the dishes we had they also do a herby take on shakshuka - baked green gypsy eggs - along with a Scandi plate of smoked salmon, pickles, rye bread etc and the always-on avo on toast.
Our full English (£13) was very good, but the below just pipped it to the post.
Eggs Benedict (£10) - The Rose's version with rosti instead of a muffin was great and what tipped it over the edge was the choice of smoked bearnaise rather than hollandaise sauce
Overall thoughts
If you're looking for somewhere to escape London where as much attention has been lavished on the food offering as the aesthetics then book a room at The Rose right now. It's a perfect spot for an overnight bit of decompression from city stress. Walk the seafront, breathe in all that sea air and...relax.
Hot Dinner stayed as guests of The Rose. Prices are correct at the time of writing.
More about The Rose
Where is it? 91 High St, Deal CT14 6ED
How to book: Book a table or room online
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @therosedeal.
Hot Dinners stayed as guests of The Rose.
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