A bright spot in the middle of nowhere
A fairly nondescript pub, now primarily a restaurant. The decor is stark; bare boards and simple lighting, the service is warm and efficient. The food is splendid!
The chef actually strives to deliver your food as you request it, bringing a slim menu to real life.
The Seasalter marshes are well worth a visit.    [29 Dec 1999 17:14:14]

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Recommended Dishes: Beef

     ­Quagga   quagga at quagga dot freeserve dot co dot uk

surprisingly good
The menu is none too elborate but what they do have is cooked to perfection. Nice atmosphere, simple but effective just like their food    [09 Jun 2002 06:11:03]

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Recommended Dishes: parsley soup with soft boiled egg and soldiers

     ­Anonymous   

Great Food, Very Poor Service
Nice pub in a good location. The food was very well presented and very tasty. To start, we had the Anti pasta for 2, which was not all meats as usual but more Scandinavian influenced, tasty! Followed by a slow roasted rib eye steak cooked to perfection. Be careful, some portions are very generous with the pork leg being enough to feed two. A good selection of cheese to finish. Nice wine list. Unfortunately though the service was awful, slow, snooty, and sometimes there was no one around to order drinks from. They really were trying to make the job harder than it should be. Maybe a little training would help.    [25 Oct 2004 10:07:47]

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Recommended Dishes: Anti Pasta, Beef, Turbot

     ­Ginger   

Don't Bother
Booked in for Sunday lunch. Roast Beef for £12.95 - a complete rip off. I have had better roasts for less than £8. With the beef came three small roast potatoes, a fairly soggy Yorkshire pudding, some non-descript cabbage and ONE carrot. The "red wine gravy" must have been limited to a teaspoon per plate. ALL OF WHICH WAS LUKE WARM. I can't say it was horrible, just very average and very over priced.

My mother had the roast pork, which was one large pork chop, served with mash which tasted very similar to instant, although I'm sure at £12.95 again, this can't have been the case! As she got to nearer the bone, it was decidedly underdone. Beef on the rare side = lovely. Pork on the rare side = salmonella.

We had just come from the beautiful coastal village of Whitstable, with an abundance of fantastic places to eat. Why didn't we just stay there? Instead of driving, for what seemed like forever, down Faversham Road, only to come to a run down looking place next door to a caravan park.

The place was incredibly busy. Maybe its just me, but I really can't see what the attraction is.    [06 Apr 2005 10:00:52]

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     ­Laura Carter, Southend on Sea   

We Enjoyed It !!
Walked in on a Sunday in December, without a reservation, to find it packed. The owner explained it was generally always booked in advance and it was nearing the end of service. He noticed our accent (who wouldn't) and asked where we had come from. We explained we drove over from Rye, visited Canterbury, and decided to try his place for lunch. He made room for us - the wait staff was wonderful (checked on us constantly)and we ate like royalty. Had never seen oysters served with a slice of chorizo sausage atop. Great idea. We had turbot and sea bass - done to perfection. Veggies were plentiful and tasty. Both fish had a distinct sauce which added a great deal extra to the dish. All in all, a wonderful meal - well worth the price. Great selection of lager and ales. All was made possible by the owner and staff going the extra step to take care of customers. As to the "Ratings" below - please note that the negative points are attached and cannot be removed. In my opinion, this is an outstanding restaurant.    [31 Dec 2005 16:46:14]

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     ­William, McLean, VA, USA   

I Work There!
I've worked at the sportsman for two and a half years now, having started as a wash up and now cooking veg. Even though I do work there I have to say that the food is amazing, as I have eaten there several times. The food is all prepared on site and cooked to the best of the chef's ability. If you are ever in whitstable looking for somewhere to eat- give it a shot and you will be gastonomically delighted.    [12 Jan 2006 10:36:40]

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Recommended Dishes: Risotto, Ray, Bass

     ­Anonymous   gremlin_rad at hotmail dot com

Food was very tasty. Carrots were out of this world.
Service was very quick, cheerful and charming.
The beer was of a fine quality - even though it was Sheps !!
The ambiance was of a high standard.
The menu was explained in a friendly detailed way.
I would go again and soon.    [14 Apr 2006 23:23:58]

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Recommended Dishes: Pork

     ­Peter, Canterbury   

Really Disappointing
Maybe this place has been taken over my new management or somthing?, but I went as a special celebration lunch on the recommendation of a friend. We got off to a bad start in that the lunch menu board had a very limited choice and there wasn't something one of the party actually wanted. He therefore chose soup (which was a starter). We all therefore had the soup to keep on the same timeline. Soup (celery) was fine - nothing special - but miserly on the bread. 2 small bits each and no hint of a refill. The girl who served us initially told us they weren't busy and pointed us to the table. After we order just soup, she quickly told us the table was booked and could we hurry up. How very, very rude!! The actual pub is a dive - the gardens are (or at least were when we were there) badly overgrown - the weeds were almost through the window. If that is your idea of rustic, then great. But to me, its a bit of a hole quite frankly and I couldn't help wonder whether the expensive lunches were trying to get some money in the coffers to finish the rest of the job, as it looked about one quarter a way (at best) to a super rural rustic gastro pub. Actually, the mains, apart from having a very limited choice, were pretty expensice at c16 pounds - given that the place itself is in the middle of nowhere and is a bit of a dive. So very very diappointed. Largely by the cheek of the greedy staff. But I was also very very disappointed by this below par place, having gone out of my way to go there. A few days later we went to Eastwell Manor in Ashford for lunch which served 2 immaculate courses for 10 pounds in sumptuous surrounds served by a fabulous waitress, Jasmine. The Sportsman is a dive, its food is (relatively) over priced and the staff turned nasty at the first hint that they're weren't to get 20pounds+ a lunch cover. I wouldn't mind if it was exceptional in every other respect, but frankly the place was a dive and I was very very very disappointed. Don't believe the hype and find somewhere better to get decent food where they are nice to you, give you hearty portions and don't over price things. It shouldn't be hard. Quite frankly the Sportsman just so failed to live up to the hype. There are bucket loads of better places than this. Avoid.    [18 Sep 2006 16:00:21]

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Recommended Dishes: Eat elsewhere

     ­Anonymous   

Overpriced & arrogant
Overpriced food.
Waiting staff arrogant & snooty - the gentleman behind the bar was very pleasant but sadly let down by his staff.
Atmosphere is cold and uncomfortable and the entrance is through a scruffy "lean-to" - which really needs a make-over.    [10 Oct 2006 11:19:46]

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     ­Anonymous   

Judge for yourself
I have to say these reviews make me very sad.
It shows exactly why one shouldn't read unqualified anonymous opinions on the Internet.
I know how hard the staff at The Sportsman work. The food has been reviewed by people who know what they are talking about, and each time has been highly praised.
The opinions here are obviously those of people whose idea of good food extends no further than the nearest Hungry Horse.
The prices compare extremely favourably with places in the area. It is cheaper for instance, to eat at The Sportsman (which is highly rated in the good food guide), than it is to eat in many of Whitstable's other restaurants (which are not rated in the good food guide).
Which other restaurant in the area recently (or ever) had a four page review in the American “Gourmet” magazine? A highly respected international publication, which raved about the quality of the food.
The best test of how good or bad a place is, is ultimately how busy it is….
The Sportsman might be out in the middle of nowhere, yet it is always booked weeks in advance. I think that says more about it than the miserable offerings of people not qualified to judge a jam sandwich.    [14 Dec 2006 15:47:18]

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     ­Anonymous