2012

Situated at the edge of Margate old town in an inauspicious building, this restaurant is not, on the face of it, an obvious choice for Kent foodies and yet it has deservedly garnered a reputation for fine dining that redefines how one thinks about Indian food.

The Curlew is situated not far from Bodiam Castle. An old coaching inn, it has a pleasant exterior with a pristine car park to the side and a terrace garden to the rear.

Finding myself in London most weekends, I have signed up to emails from Bookatable.com. The gist is this: they send you daily offers from restaurants of all kinds and you book through their platform.

For those of us who loved the Nepalese restaurant Mooli, previously on this awkward restaurant spot on the corner of Calverley Road and Street, the Giggling Squid with its promise of Thai Lunch Tapas at £8 looked like a good bet.

It has been some time since I have visited Rye. In fact, I had forgotten just how pretty it is. Especially the High Street area with it’s cobbled streets, architectural charm and cafes and pubs galore.

My friend J had booked 10 of us to see “Noises Off”, thus getting us all a nice discount, and we all arranged to meet at Sofra in Covent Garden for a bite beforehand.

We had originally booked in to come here the day we returned from holiday in Turkey, thinking the lure of a meal by the sea would deflate any of our holiday blues. But alas, a delayed flight and torrential rain upon our return scuppered any chance of this. So.....

This is in all the guide books, so we had to try it. It’s quite hard to find, the address is a bit misleading, but wander around, you’ll find it.

Look, I’ll come clean straight away, I don’t speak Dutch. Although half Dutch, I was born in England and all I know is about a dozen words and a few nursery rhymes learnt by heart as a child. If you get me drunk enough, I can be persuaded to sing them.

April is always a shocker of a month for our family as there are three children’s birthdays in that month.