I was visiting from Vermont and friends in Whitstable treated me to dinner. It was off the beaten…read morepath, full of locals and had I understand moved a while ago from the front of a standard house, where the concept started. The place is unlicenced, and provides a positive corkage charge to wine bought from Tesco...as a protest to that organisations take over of the UK! I loved this quirky feature, the design and style of the restaurant with old tables and chairs meeting modern lighting and colourful paint....and by god the food was good! Also they had not made the mistake of cramming as many tables in as they could, so one has space and the noise level was just right. Portion size was generous and the whole place seems to have been developed to follow a Spanish tapas style with a Kiwi twist. It works! On a cold damp Friday night in January the place was packed....shows me that locals go there as most places have difficulty filling tables post Christmas. Go visit but do book....they deserve the success and I want to go back!

Fabulous, welcoming little cafe/restaurant. The tap water is especially tasty...everyone thought…read moreso. The coffee was almost as good as Starbucks.

Looking for a day trip from London to have some excellent seafood?…read more Samphire in Whitstable is one of the places I wish I knew about sooner. I know places can sometimes only be as good as their chefs or staff so if that is true, honestly come here now. Everything I had was EXCELLENT. Truly spectacular, if I lived in Whitstable, you would find me here regularly. I tried a few things on the menu but only had pics of a few of the dishes. I love to enjoy the day lunch special that is offered week days. Some of the excellent meals we had included: Dayboat -skate wing (Dayboat option was my favorite) Risotto with Lions Mane Pork Chop with Mash and Gravy Truly, the food here is outstanding and Michelin worthy. I adore this place and can't wait to be back to try more. Staff was friendly, attentive and knew the menu well. Food is so flavorful and served at perfect temperatures and excellent. I'm so happy with our meal here and can't wait to try more!

Extremely disappointed with the food and the wait staff. To begin with the menu's did not match…read morethe online one. Some of the potatoes were under done while the Porter house steak was tough and chewy. Lastly the head waiter was wearing gym Shorts. Over priced and too expensive for the meal we received. Would not recommend!

Solid 4 stars for this seafood joint in Coastal England within this cute town of Whistable…read more Reservations are strongly encouraged! Luckily, I came for lunch with a reservation right when they open and got seated on their outdoor balcony with a lovely view. I can probably eat 12 fresh oysters just by myself, they were super fresh and tasty! I ordered the Crab and Winkle Fish Pie and they did NOT skimp on the fish. I was surprised when the entree was brought out, I expected the fish to be in the pie, similarly to American-style chicken pot pies. Regardless of the presentation, it was good. The lobster roll was delicious too, wish I had gotten that after sampling a few bites. Overall, a cute restaurant and a great experience. By the time I was leaving, the restaurant was packed. Opt to sit outside on the balcony if possible, especially on a sunny day! #19/2019

You will be sadly disappointed at this spot! Prices are extremely high for the food. The oysters…read morewere the smallest I have ever seen! I would recommend eating downstairs.

Best Fresh Caught Cod&Chips I had. Oysters are also excellent. Good local beer selection,…read moreuncomplicated service. I'll come back anytime.

We stayed in Whitstable for a few days. A lovely small town. Great location and lots of…read morerestaurants. We looked forward to dine here the first night. We knew there are no reservations, you just wait in line until a table of your liking gets free (inside our outside with a view). We arrived around 7pm and waited for a table outside. It only took about 20mins, which was less than expected. Our Bulldog was welcome as well. Got a table with amazing sunset views. Breathtaking. Sadly the location and the sunset were the only highlights that night. We enjoy fish and seafood. All over the world. Normandy, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Thailand, Japan. And so on. We've had our share of great and not so great fish and seafood. Sadly the food here belongs to the latter. Visually it was a feast for your eyes. But sadly not for your taste buds. The lobster was pretty small and very dry. Overcooked and overpriced. The oysters just ok, nowhere near irish, french or scottish quality. Not creamy enough. The shrimps were fine. But nothing near great. Best to drown them in the sauce and Mayo that came with The seafood platter was all cold food - but we knew that before ordering, nothing wrong with that. It's just the quality that was missing overall. The salmon was possibly the worst. Low quality, smelly fish. Seasnails were ok, but the small shrimp not. Just tried one. Fries came with the lobster. Soft and soggy. There was also bread and salad. I enjoyed the bread and butter the most of the whole meal. Which is a sad statement. Had some wine with our meal. 20cl mini-bottles of a quality that's best to forget. Staff was very very busy, but ok. And as I said, the views are amazing. But you could grab some take-out food anywhere and sit down somewhere on the Whitstable beach and get the same view. We really wanted to enjoy this place. But quality wasn't there. And the prices for that really way too high. Whitstable is a place to come back to one day. The Lobster Shack isn't.

I first went here 6 years ago...and my god the fresh fish & chips reminded me of the stuff I used…read moreto eat as a kid in Southport with my parents. They cook in beef dripping....and yikes and gazooks....it is BLOODY MARVELOUS! So I was again visiting my friends and have kept the smell and memory of this place in my mind for six years. Would I be disappointed.....no feckin' way!!!! The place still offers a simple style with formica tables a mug of tea and mushy peas...and that smell.....oh it's divine!!!! My lunch which I had flown 4000 miles for was better than I had hoped it might be. Bearing in mind Whitstable has been discovered by London and now has many trendy independent shops, galleries and eating places I am so pleased the V C Jones has not changed on iota. I will be back........unless anyone can do a quick take out for me...deliver it to Woodstock Vermont where I have some original Sarsons vinegar ready and waiting.....

This is the chippy of my childhood neighbourhood. Friday night was very often fish and chips…read morenight, and the only place that could cut it was Jones. This place is the real thing and a benchmark of what fish and chips is all about! http://www.vcjones.co.uk/

As one of the few local shops that opened late, we ordered various fried offerings to eat along the…read morebeach. Its not a super fancy spot but what chippy is? Staff were nice (maybe a bit rushed as being the only option for food people were queuing up for a bit). We ordered plenty of food between the two of us with an order of fish and chips, fried spam, fried scampi, fried mushrooms (you can see a theme here). The food came out fresh and fast and the best part is the beach is like a minute walk so we enjoyed our food by the beach, watching the sunset. The food itself was great. The cod was flakey and the batter stayed on the fish. The chips were perfectly soggy and crisp (not usually a good thing but always works for fish and chips). Fried mushrooms, awesome, fried scampi, awesome. My favorite actually ended up being the fried spam, they had a nice thick piece and it was melt in your mouth salty/umami goodness. Spam lovers and doubters should both try this and see what they think! This was definitely one of the highlights of my short Whitstable trip, esp since everything else was closed or closing. However, Ossies with their later close time and proximity to the beach saved the day!

Good service good value great food Excellent staff. Food…read morefreshly cooked. Cod Was excellent. Chips cook traditional way. Nice and crispy.

Deal's first proper destination restaurant, but unique as its also a members club, so if you pay…read morethe modest £5 annual fee to join you get delivered menus to your door and can book ahead! It's also BYOB so very reasonable. The menus are varied so you get to eat a wide variety of food over 3 courses with cheese as an option. They always do a fab petit fours with coffee as well to round it all off!

Make your own mind up about the owners response to me complaining about reservation errors and lack…read moreof response to reservation enquiries. It appears to be a lottery if you actually have a table. "Scottie Roberts here from the dining club.. I won't bore you with the details but our lovely guests will know that we have had an "interesting " year with my wife's father sadly passing away and myself having an awful accident so our lovely team have been helping us through this trying time.. sadly mistakes do happen and as you only enquired about a booking and never recieved a confirmation to say you are in to dine you felt you had a booking?. You instantly recieved your payments back from us and thankfully your membership so we no longer have to put up with your childish and bullying attitude to my staff.. I wonder if you'd have had the same vile words with myself?. I very much doubt it.. toodle pip old chap."

After a disappointing night out at the Seafood Shack we booked two dinners here during our stay in…read moreWhitstable. It's a smaller place, so better book ahead. It's a very nice, charming restaurant. A bit of Brasserie/Bistro style. Feels very warm and welcoming. Owner and staff were wonderful folks. Friendly, helpful and welcoming. Our Bulldog was welcome here as well. First night we've had the baked oysters (Rockefeller Style) and goats cheese salad. Both wonderful dishes. Fresh and tasty oysters, creamy flavourful goat cheese. For the mains we ordered mussels & shrimps and Beef Wellington with sides (veggies and potatoes). A bottle of wine with that. Both shrimp and mussels very fresh again and of high quality. The Beef Wellington was a real treat. Amazingly done! Kudos to the cook! A creme brulée for dessert. A really great dinner for a fair price. Happily we came back to other day and had another wonderful dining experience. Raw oysters and Terrine for starters. Both fantastic, they got great oysters here. Tasted a lot better than the ones at the Seafood Shack. Terrine was my thing...really like it. For the mains a chowder and shrimps...and another Beef Wellington. Beef was a great as the other night. Beautiful. Chowder was nice and creamy and the shrimps another winner. A winner was also the wine: Villa Des Croix. Nice, fresh, crisp. This is really a fantastic restaurant. Great food quality, wonderful staff and owner. A cook who knows what he's doing. Highly recommended.

Did a day trip in Whitstable. And found this restaurant. Really delicious food. They put together a…read moretable for the five of us so we did not wait at all. Love all the decorations they put on the wall, and mirrors that have the name of the restaurant.