The Hengist in Tonbridge and Malling

Great food , brilliant service and we were Made to feel so welcome.

It’s a shame to see a restaurant go from the top to the bottom. And that’s what happened with this restaurant. The photo of the leather folder they put the receipt in tells everything.I remembered about five years ago the beautifully cooked pork belly with the most delicious mashed potatoes – just perfect. And today, we tasted the most disgusting food you can ever imagine. It declined in the years between, and we always hoped that it would get better soon. It never did.This morning I reserved a table for lunch and was surprised that they still had tables free on an Easter Sunday – now I know why this was the case.First, we ordered the Sharing Board in the nibbles section called “for the waiting time”, and I thought, “Yes, we have time for a long and nice Easter lunch”. The board came about 3 minutes later, and 1 minute after that, my starter arrived. The board was boring stuff like cream-cheese filled peppers out of a jar etc. My starter, “Potted Brown Shrimp & Crab,” was bland and boring and just edible with lemon juice which they provided at least.We havened even finished our starters when we were already served the lunch. The waitress was amiable, but she was not happy to serve the main before we had finished our starters. My wife had a bland burger in a quality you would expect from Harvesters but not from a posh Hengist. Only one liked the food of my three kids, and my Sunday Roast was just unedible. The beef was incredibly overcooked, dry and tough, and the lamb (I had the mixed roast where you can choose two types of meat) was not better. I returned it, and you can see on the bill that I did not have to pay for it.I ordered the grilled sea bass instead. This was served in under two minutes. Obviously, it was pre-cooked and held warm. How long can you keep a grilled sea bass fresh after cooking? Exactly zero minutes. How deep do you need to sink as a chef to pre-cook sea bass and keep it warm? The “spring” salad was also a pre-mixed salad and just disgusting. The truffle chips were pre-cooked as well, soggy and covered with greasy truffle oil. Completely inedible.The waitress called the manager, and she was very sorry and offered free deserts for the whole family. We declined and left. Even if the manager was friendly, they obviously don’t care. None of the bad or good reviews has any comment from the restaurant. How ignorant can you be about your guests?This restaurant is done for me, as you may have guessed already. I’m sure this restaurant will go bust if they don’t change anything—what a shame.

Top quality restaurant, attentive staff , outstanding food & excellent wine , will definitely be going back

The website and socials looks amazing, but unfortunately when you get there only downstairs looks like that.We got seated upstairs, the music is from the 80s and i believe the decorations are too. The room gets very noisy unfortunately and means that you can hear everyone but the people you came with.Food was average and does not deserve the price being charged. Would recommend west malling for better food and atmosphere at the same price tag.

Excellent and impressive food and nice, attentive staff. 80s music playing quite loudly throughout dinner was a bit odd but generally its a nice place for fine dining. Upstairs atmosphere feels a little added on, like the upstairs of a pub rather than a firm dining venue.

Great food and good service. The Sunday Roast Dinner was simply delicious

Lovely restaurant with great food and excellent service.

Table upstairs, felt like the poor relation. Very underwhelming compared to downstairs. Lighting too bright, far too many lights for such a small space. Didn't feel intimate as very aware of how close the tables were to each other and could hear every word the other diners said, it felt quite uncomfortable. Had to ask for the heating to be turned down, not sure if the excessive lighting contributed to this but it was far too warm. Food was mediocre, I had the trio of lamb which was chewy and my husband had a very bland burger. In our opinion the food is overpriced and the ambience is lacking. The waiting staff were very young but I could not fault them for their attentiveness. Won't be back.

Emptied the broccoli/ Stilton bowl of soup. Delicious. Really enjoy eaing here. Our most regular eatery. Quality food and service at reasonable price. Great atmosphere even for lunch

Real Great experience being here today for the Alesford Festival. Really well organised with helpful staff to ensure everything went smoothly. I'll definitely be back to sample the restaurant menu on a normal night. Good balance between the ambience of the bar restaurant inside and the pleasant seating area outside. Even found an Elmer 😀