As someone who loves food, I’ve decided to make more of an effort to sample my local eateries. There are plenty of restaurants in Folkestone, Kent but I’ve hardly been to any of them, which to be honest I’m quite ashamed of. My grandparents always want to know where we can eat when they come to visit but we always end up going to the Beefeater in Ashford, which is even more shameful but a bit of a guilty pleasure!
On Saturday, Marc (my husband) treated me to a wonderful, fresh lunch at Blooms, a restaurant that opened earlier this year at the bottom of the Old High Street in Folkestone. I’ve been meaning to visit ever since it opened but when you’re on a budget, you don’t get to eat out as often. We chanced our arm Saturday afternoon and walked in without booking. When we replied “no” to the lady who asked if we’d booked, she looked a bit concerned. Looking around the restaurant, this was a bit strange since it was almost empty! It turns out that most of the tables were booked but the diners obviously were after a late lunch since we got there about 1.30pm.
Once seated on the surprisingly comfortable yet massive wicker chairs we were able to take in our surroundings. There were pictures of Folkestone adorning the walls, which reflected the locally sourced ingredients. The menu is quite extensive and comes presented on a wooden clipboard. In addition to the printed menu, they have a selection of daily specials including both meat and fish. Since I’m on a diet I decided to go for salad, but of course Marc had a burger, his favourite! To start with, we had the bread and oil, which had to be done because Blooms bake their own fresh bread every morning. Even Marc’s burger bun was homemade.
The Avocado and Pancetta salad was a sight to behold. The bright colours of the beautifully fresh food made the dish look particularly mouthwatering, and it certainly lived up to my expectations. The boiled egg was perfectly cooked with a soft yolk, the avocado soft and ripe, the pancetta crunchy, and the croutons delicious. All in all, I was very impressed. The salad filled me up a treat and was one of the tastiest I’ve had in a long time. It reminded me of the epic salads that you find in Europe.
Marc’s burger came with fabulous chips that were perfectly crisp on the outside, yet fluffy on the inside, as well as fresh onion rings and a salsa that tasted a bit like mango chutney. The burger was beautifully juicy and judging by the way it was wolfed down it must have tasted pretty good!
It brilliant to be able to eat freshly cooked food that tastes so delicious. You do have to wait a bit for your meal, because every dish is cooked to order but as long as you’re not in a rush then that’s not a problem, and the wait is worth it. We took a look at the desert board but decided we were too stuffed to eat any more! The chocolate fondant sounded amazing though.
In total, the bill came to just over £30 including my tomato juice and Marc’s pint of Heineken, which is not too bad really. It’s not somewhere we could afford to eat every weekend but for a treat it’s fantastic. If you’re looking for a restaurant in Folkestone, you’ll struggle to find somewhere offering such scrummy food at such reasonable prices.
If you’re a fellow food lover and would like to share restaurant reviews, recipes and food photos, check out my newly created Google+ Community, Kent Foodies.
By Rachel Birchley