Thackeray's occupies the white clapboard house on London Road that was once the home of the Victorian novelist William Makepeace Thackeray, who lived here in the 1860s. It is the town's flagship modern-European restaurant, with a Michelin Bib Gourmand for its lunch menu.
The cooking is precise and inventive without showing off: local game in the autumn, Kent asparagus in spring, lots of foraged elements. The terrace at the back is one of the prettiest places to eat outdoors in Kent in summer. Lunch sets are excellent value; dinner is more of a splurge.