Brasserie ABode - Canterbury

Nice food. Let down with a surprise i wanted for someone. Shame. Clean tho and the cocktail was lovely.

We went to the Abode for a drink in the bar and were not dining. However due to the bar being busy, we were shown to an area between the bar, restaurant and rooms etc. It was just basically a spare space with tables and chairs, nothing special a sort of betwixt and between feeling. You pay a premium on the drinks so you expect to feel it's a comfortable place to be. I have to say sorry I want to say the service was really good and the bar team were really nice.

This is a review of the Abode Brasserie. The restaurant is a small plate eatery, we've been to a few small plate places and really enjoyed them, the menu sounded interesting and we wanted something a bit special as we were only in Canterbury for one night. We were met at the entrance by a man who waved us in the general direction of some tables and said we could choose where to sit, bit odd but fine. We sat down and after a few minutes he brought a food menu and explained how it works, that dishes would come when they're ready etc and recommended 2 or 3 dishes each. After about 10 minutes we were brought a drinks menu, then almost immediately we were asked if we were ready to make our drink order. After another 5 minutes (of us looking at drinks) we finally ordered. The first dish that came out (after another 15 minutes of waiting) was the smoked haddock soufflé. It was the size of a cupcake, so a mouthful each. It was a little chewy and bland. £10 for that. Then, a good 10 minutes later the pearl barley ragu with goats cheese came out in a cute saute pan about the size of a saucer. It was also a little chewy, tasty, but with the absence of any other dish the texture was hard work. We noticed the table next to us tucking in to what looked like a marvellous feast while we waited another 15 minutes for another plate. At this point we were considering leaving. The last straw was the lamb ragu which came in a miniature saucepan. There was about 1-2 tbsp of shredded lamb in gravy with peas and a small pile of mini hash browns - the exact same frozen ones we buy for our kids. £13.50 for that dish. I have never complained in a restaurant but I couldn't carry on. I asked if we could pay for what we'd had and go because it had been so bad. The waiter was excellent, very gracious and insisted we try the other dishes for free, which he then retrieved from the pass immediately. Why we had been waiting again i have no idea. The only dish that stood out was the gnocchi with fennel sausage, but at £12.50 for 4 bits of gnocchi and half a mashed sausage is madness. If the food had been outstanding it may have been worth the time and cost but it was disappointing at every turn. The 2 stars are for the waiter who did his best to turn it round!

My wife and I popped in here yesterday for hot drink and bar meal, welcomed by a glowing log fire and welcoming female mixologist. We ordered crouque monsieur and a crouque madame. They arrived at our table in what look liked wooden seed boxes, why anyone in their right mind would think this is trendy is beyond me. As per the qroques themselves what we got was very bad ham and cheese toasted sandwichs with my crouque madame topped with an overcooked fried egg. The ham was nice the cheese was sliced and not melted. I have eaten many times in the main restaurant and the the standard is very high. For a top class establishment to serve such a mediocre offering is beyond me. I suggest Michael Caine should taste his staffs own offerings . The two stars I give are for the log fire and our very polite and efficient hostess.