Where We Eat – The Sportsman in Whitstable

Is it too early to call it for the best meal of 2026?

This one will be very hard to beat…

Earlier this week Henry, Alina and I went out for dinner to celebrate our birthday and finally ticked off a restaurant that has been on all of our lists for a long time, The Sportsman in Whitstable

As you can probably tell already, it was sensational!

The story of The Sportsman is a good one. It was bought by Stephen Harris back in 1999 after he quit his job as a financial consultant. At the time it was a slightly run-down pub, tucked between sand dunes and sheep-filled fields on the North Kent coast, just outside Whitstable…quite the challenge!

Over the next nine years they built a loyal following, cooking great food and championing local produce, which culminated in a Michelin star in 2008… an accolade they’ve now held for 18 years!

The five-course menu is £85 and represents some of the best value we’ve come across in a long time. Not because it’s cheap, but because value is about the balance between price and quality…and this was plate after plate of exceptional cooking

The food is imaginative without ever feeling over complicated. Familiar flavours, executed with absolute precision. There’s a thread of nostalgia running through it all, which makes every course feel both exciting and comforting at the same time!

It would be ungracious to pick a favourite, so instead here’s a glimpse of what we ate:

• Poached rock oysters with pickled cucumber

• Slip sole grilled in seaweed butter

• Roast trout with thousand island sauce

• Monkfish braised in fino sherry with morels

• Beef and stout pie

• Cheese soufflé with rarebit sauce

The service was just as impressive. Professional, warm and completely at ease. The kind of team that can hold a conversation when you want it, build a relationship with the table, and then quietly step back at exactly the right moment!

It’s a reminder of just how skilled hospitality at this level really is. In a preview of a future rant…it’s NOT a low-skilled job, it’s NOT something people do until they find a proper job. It’s a craft that takes years to learn, and when it’s done this well it’s genuinely remarkable!

The Sportsman is only an hour from Ladywell and if you’re looking to treat yourself to some of the best cooking around, it’s absolutely worth the trip!