Taken from the Good Food Guide 2008:
Dining Room at the Railway Hotel ~ informal town-centre dining.
Modern British £25
Cooking score: 4
As names go, this one accurately sums up the operation in the Railway Hotel, just across the road from Faversham Station. The light airy dining room is casually decked out with an assortment of wooden tables and feels just right, while chefs Anthony North and Jonny Butterfield bring pedigree backgrounds to the kitchen. One of the strengths of the cooking is its foundation on carefully sourced materials. Local suppliers come up with Kentish marsh lamb and Sussex beef. Fish arrives from the coast a few miles away, nearby farms produce vegetables and fruit in season, and a forager fills in the gaps. There's admirable restraint in the kitchen and while the techniques used are generally straightforward, timing is good and saucing fundamentally sound ~ witness a main course of roast and braised marsh lamb with a flavourful but not over-reduced sticky ale and rosemary jus. Other favourable results have included mackeral with horseradish, pickled beetroot and a lively tangle of foraged leaves, and an intensely flavoured roast pepper and tomato soup with a hint of basil pasto. Desserts impress too, if an apple tarte Tatin served with an unusual beer creme anglaise is anything to go by. Home-made bread and charming service are extra brownie points, and there's a short globalwine list with prices opening at £11.