• Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Major Foodie

Fine Dining Honestly Reviewed

  • About Me
  • Most Recent
  • Highest Rated
  • Restaurant Map
  • Locations
    • London
      • City
      • East
      • East Central
      • Mayfair & Central West
      • North Central
      • Southbank
      • South East
      • South West
      • West End
    • Rest of UK
      • Central England
      • Jersey
      • North England
      • Northern Ireland
      • South East England
      • South England
      • South West England
      • Scotland
      • Wales
    • Rest of World
      • Europe
        • Croatia
        • Denmark
        • France
        • Germany
        • Ireland
        • Italy
        • Malta
        • Norway
        • Portugal
        • Spain
        • Turkey
      • Asia
        • Bali
        • China
          • Beijing
          • Hangzhou
          • Hong Kong
          • Macau
          • Shanghai
        • Japan
          • Kobe
          • Kyoto
          • Tokyo
        • Singapore
        • Thailand
          • Bangkok
          • Phuket
          • Koh Pha Ngan
          • Koh Samui
      • Dubai
      • America
        • Chicago
        • Las Vegas
        • Napa Valley
        • Nashville
        • New York
        • Washington DC
      • Australia
  • Cuisine
    • African
    • American
    • Asian
    • British Modern
    • British Traditional
    • Chinese
    • Classic
    • Creative
    • Croatian
    • French
    • Indian
    • Italian
    • Japanese
    • Meats and Grills
    • Mediterranean
    • Modern
    • Nordic
    • Peruvian
    • Portuguese
    • Regional / Country
    • Tempura
    • Turkish
    • Seafood
    • Spanish
    • Sushi
    • Vegetarian
  • Best For
    • Atmosphere
    • Breakfast
    • Brunch
    • Burgers
    • Counter / Bar Dining
    • Celebrations
    • Fish & Chips
    • Michelin Starred Pubs
    • Pizza
    • Pre-Theatre
    • Private Dining
    • Romantic
    • Set Menu Under £25
    • Sunday Roast
    • Top Major Foodie Rating (90%+)
    • Value Set Menu
    • Vegetarian
    • View
  • Filter Search
  • Blog

Thackerays (Tunbridge Wells)

10th September 2016 by Richard Bagnold Leave a Comment

Modern cuisine from a long-standing venue in Tunbridge Wells - visit and review made at time of having a Michelin star

The headline for this visit is that this was simply outstanding value for money.  I have only been to one other Michelin starred restaurant with better value and sadly that has now closed.  Lunch at Thackerays was £20 for three courses which included snacks and an amuse bouche, so for the 5 elements, this is the best value Michelin starred meal I have come across and is available at time of writing – I challenge the others to do better than this!  The food itself was crafted well as one would expect and appeared to sit in the 1 Michelin starred family with a couple of high notes and other mostly fair dishes.

Read full review

The wonderful snacks of salmon and dill deep fried bon bons and mozarella & tomato soft biscuits were a very good start in comparison to the cold carrot, ginger and gin shot which was not as comforting (a warmer, frothier soup would have gone down better for me).  The chicken terrine starter was perhaps the low moment of the meal and the fatty collection of cold meats I thought were a little bland and needed a lot more shallots or pickled elements to lift it in to the really enjoyable zone.

However, all was saved with the lamb main with its wonderful tomato sauce and utterly divine side of creamed mash with parsley.  Dessert was fine but again, simmered at this level – still, very well presented, as were the petit fours.  Service was homely and more engaging at the senior management level.

I can’t say that the meal made me explode with happiness however, it was a pleasant experience and for the value for money, one of a kind to have at this level.

Food Grade: 76%

Thackerays
Opening snacks
Carrot, ginger and gin soup
Chicken roulade starter
Breads with salted and paprika and chorizo butter
Lamb main
Creamed mash
Jersey potatoes
Lime dessert
Petit fours
The lunch bill for 2

Location

Leave a Review of this Restaurant Cancel reply

  • Food Rating - 76%
    76

Summary

Exceptional value for money.
Homely restaurant.

Acoustics.
Stretched service on occasion.

Restaurant Details

Michelin Stars: N/A

Cuisine: French

Address: Thackeray's Restaurant 85 London Road Tunbridge Wells Kent TN1 1EA

Website: Thackerays (Tunbridge Wells)

Wine List: Click Here

Telephone: +44 1892 511921

Recent Visit – 1 Star

L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon Saint-Germain (Paris)

30th May 2025

Recent Visit – 2 Stars

Brooklands by Claude Bosi (Hyde Park)

16th May 2024

Recent Visit – 3 Stars

Frantzén (Stockholm)

6th June 2025

Recent Visit – Not Starred but Recommended

Dishoom (Covent Garden)

5th November 2022

Food Consultancy

Concierge Services

Concierge food-themed experience

Concierge day out experience

Concierge tea experience

About Me

meMy hobby-turned-passion began to evolve during my assignments to London where I was fortunate enough to be able to explore all the Michelin starred restaurants in my spare time and as a result, I gradually built up a catalogue of all these venues.

Recent Additions

  • Frantzén (Stockholm) 6th June 2025
  • L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon Saint-Germain (Paris) 30th May 2025
  • Kioku (Raffles at The Old War Office) 8th May 2025

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Sign up to be notified whenever a new review is posted.

Read our privacy policy here.

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy (UK)

Copyright © 2025 · swank WordPress Theme By, PDCD

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}