On leaving Deal’s rather swanky swimming pool, complete with wave machine, we opted to make the most of the rare English sunshine and drove a few miles out of our way to lunch by the sea at the Zetland Arms. It proved, thankfully, to be one of my better ideas. This hidden away Kingsdown pub takes a bit of hunting down and maybe even an embarrassing phone call, but once there you’ll be chuffed you went. We dropped in on a Friday and stumbled upon a mix of friendly locals, walkers and cyclists. The menu is quite short, well priced and contains the sort of thing you’d expect in a pub. We ordered some drinks, plonked ourselves on one of the picnic tables next the sea and considered the menu in the windy heat. To start we chose the whitebait (£4.95), which arrived stacked high against a pot of magnificent tartare sauce and the Perard recipe fish soup (£4.95) that tasted better than many I’d encountered across the water. We both went for fish, chips and mushy peas (£9.95) thereby removing the possibility of lunch envy creeping in – a frequent problem in the Gannet household. Everything on the plate was of a gratifying quality. The only minor irritant was the slightly too weighty batter but this was more than countered by the ‘holiday’ chips that arrived with it. Superb. The four young chaps that appeared to be running the place were doing a grand job and nothing was too much trouble. I’ll be tackling one of the doorstep sandwiches (£3.25) when we return, which proved so popular with our beach companions, and may even try out the natural wave machine beside our table so I can I work up an appetite for a dessert too.
Wellington Parade, Kingsdown, Kent, CT14 8AF, 01304 364888.
A Gastronomic Guide to Thanet 