Mum and I enjoyed an afternoon out on our own on Wednesday as I'd taken the afternoon off following a staff meeting in the morning. The twins were at the childminder for the day (making gorgeous glittery firework pictures) so we enjoyed an afternoon of freedom with lunch and shopping in Tunbridge Wells without worrying about children getting bored or hungry or potential meltdowns or naps!
I'd recently discovered new cafe/restaurant The Framptons in The Pantiles via Instagram and their food looked amazing, we'd tried to go before but couldn't get a table (and had hungry twins with us then) as we hadn't booked. This time we were lucky and got to enjoy a delicious lunch which filled us up for an epic afternoon of shopping!
I had a latte when we got there and Mum had a cloudy cider while we perused the menu.
Lots of things on their new winter menu sounded lovely but I was most excited to try The Pantiles Crumpet - Homemade crumpets topped with 14-hour oak & whisky smoked beef short rib, poached eggs, hollandaise sauce and pickled shallots for £9. I also ordered a glass of Malbec to have with it.
It was amazing! They make everything look so lovely but the taste lives up to expectations! My eggs were cooked to perfection (see below for the yolkey dribble shot!) and the sauce was lovely. I'm quite fussy about crumpets too (I only like one brand usually) and these were fantastic! I was really impressed. My beef was a little dry but still really tasty with a subtle smoked flavour and the portion size was great (and no bones bulking it out).
Mum opted for the cream of mushroom soup with Flint Owl Bakery sourdough bread for £7, not something I would usually order but I tasted it and OMG it was loooovely! So creamy but well seasoned and a proper fresh mushroom flavour. Delicious!
We also ordered a couple of sides, I thought the red cabbage and celeriac slaw (£2.50) would go nicely with my beef dish and it did. The creamy crunchy slaw was lovely with the sharp hollandaise and rich beef. It was pretty garlicky which I love but it was too overpowering for Mum. We also had the charred halloumi (£3.50) which came served with salad leaves and a wedge of lemon. It was very good with a lovely dressing giving a great flavour to the salty cheese.
We were stuffed after all that so didn't bother with dessert and we wanted to get shopping while we still had time.
The cafe/bar/restaurant is a sort of industrial yet rustic modern style with wood and bricks and concrete flooring and a few fairy lights and flowers to soften the edges. I like it, especially with the big old windows, dark ceiling and open bulbs, it works well.
The overall bill came to £34 (plus pennies, I don't have the receipt as Mum treated me to this one). It's not the cheapest place for lunch but you're getting really good, locally sourced, seasonal food. You can tell it's good quality and there's a lot of effort put in to each dish so I think it's pretty good value. The atmosphere was good, again it was busy but the tables are nicely spaced and as I said, I like the overall design of the place and the staff were lovely.
We really enjoyed our lunch, service was friendly and very efficient. I'd definitely recommend it and quite fancy going back for dinner with Nik soon to sample one or two cocktails too! Maybe next Sunday when his parents are here, we could take advantage of having babysitters staying and celebrate our 3 year anniversary of parenthood! ;)
Olive Dragonfly Rating - The Framptons, Tunbridge Wells
Food & Drink - 9/10
Atmosphere - 9/10
Service - 10/10
Value - 9/10
Overall - 9/10
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