The Wishful Thinker in Maidstone

Been there on the 7th of December for a Christmas party and was very pleasantly surprised. The place looks really nice and well decorated, clean and well looked after. The food was well presented and it tasted lovely, definitely going back there.

Very lovely pub/restaurant, the staff are so lovely and attentive. The food is always great too!

We met some friends for lunch and went on one of the recommended walks first. Lively meal. AWFUL BEER ON TAP. Ended up drinking zero Guinness followed by red wine.

Booked for Sunday Lunch for my wife’s Birthday for 1.30 the restaurant was very very busy. The food arrived at 3.00pm and I was amazed with the reaction of the staff and manageress for the long wait for food. I cannot praise them highly enough, top class and a credit to the hospitality industry. Plus the food was great.

Most enjoyable lunch today with other half and a friend. Food (main and dessert) was spot on and service from Julie was exemplary. Friendly, smiley, attentive. Arranging a birthday dessert, complete with candle, for our friend after hearing we were celebrating her birthday made it really special. Thank you, Julie and chef

First class service again from Zoe, who was my assigned waitress for the afternoon. Nothing was too much trouble for Zoe who was at hand for all my requests. She’s always smiling and happy, making this a great customer experience. She’s a credit to the Wishful RmThinker! Well done Zoe!

We went to the restaurant for a baby shower and the staff were so lovely and accommodating. Such good food. Julie and Megan were so nice and helpful, would 100% recommend.

Had a lovely evening for my Godfathers 90th birthday dinner. Julie and Megan made it very special. The starte, mains and desert was very tasty! Thank you 😊

Self titled ' Foodie' place but the menu was similar to a Harvester and food was average. Frozen chips, salad without dressing and an odd slice of beetroot in my burger. Venue used to be a lovely old boozer but has been extended and is now a bingo hall sized venue seriously lacking atmosphere and ambience. However staff were friendly and well trained.

Julie was great. very helpful with my dad who is hard of hearing and is wheelchair bound. Very patient and find. Lexi was lovely too. Food was good.

Great pub, great restaurant, great food, great staff, great location. So, great.

I stay here regularly whenever I’m working away in Kent, probably a dozen or so times in the last couple of years. The rooms are spacious with good size desks, offering plenty of room for Teams calls etc. The food is great, so rare to be able to buy a vegetable when working away and I really appreciate the seasonal variety. Location is convenient, easily accessible by car or a 10 min brisk walk from Lenham station, direct line from Victoria. Lots of decent walks nearby for the summer evenings. Best of all is the exceptional welcome from Jozsef, Zoe, Julie, Norrie and the team. When working away multiple nights per week the friendliness really makes a difference, and man do these guys pull out all the stops. I tend to sit quietly in the corner whilst I witness countless locals pour out their souls speaking of divorce and regrets, all of which are handled with professionalism from the Elite pubs team. As I sit there admiring the patience of the team I can’t help but wonder what my own wife is up to 250 miles away from me. I assume she is enjoying a good film night with her bf. Until next time Wishful Thinker team, please keep up the good work. Giles

Fantastic , never been before, arrived plenty of parking, one thing we didn't notice on the outside but did on the inside was the size of the place, it's big. Had a meal here in the afternoon, was very good, staff are very friendly and efficient Would definitely go again

Loved lunch at The Wishful Thinker. Great food and great service from Julie and Andrea.

So impressed with this newly discovered place. In between a pub and restaurant. Lovely atmosphere and decor. Staff are brilliant and services was excellent. Lots of great choices on the menu and we were all really impressed with it. Also came in August and hired one of the Shacks for a hen lunch. A really lovely experience too.

We did not book and when we arrived it was very busy. A member of staff still found us a table,q we ordered our meals and I must say even though it was busy we did not have to wait long. It was good watch all the lovely meals coming out into the diningroom. Our meals were lovely really tasty and different we both enjoyed them so much so that we will have to go back to try something else on the menu. This is a lovely place, the decoration is stunning. The staff are lovely.

A group of us came for lunch, doesn’t really work for Lunch. It all felt a bit lost in the large space and the menu was trying hard tonbe something it wasn’t! All fur coat and no as the saying goes! Service very very very slow.

Another 5 star review for elite pubs, this is now our favourite spot and we have been here several times. The staff always are so welcoming, go above & beyond. Amazing food, atmosphere and beautiful comfortable rooms. A huge shoutout to Josef, Zoe & Julie who have looked after me for the last two nights. Amazing customer service every time from them all, they are an asset! Thank you and see you again soon!

Arrived after a long motorcycle journey from France . What a lovely welcome we got . Safe parking for the bike , a lovely hot shower , pint of beer and a delicious meal . Served by Andrea and Julie ( but every staff member we encountered was super efficient and smiley ( what a change nowadays ) . We will definitely look up other hotels in the group . Thank you !

Only came for one drink so can't comment on too much of the offering, but it's a big pub with great outside seating and friendly service. Will most likely come back!

Nice atmosphere and surroundings. Great service from Jess, Oscar and Julie. Food well presented and excellent in quality. Shall definitely revisit .

Unusual trendy bar near village of Lenham Kent. New and stylish great menu and drinks. Nicely decorated and arranged. Photos from website as a lot better than mine in this occasion. Highly recommended 👌🩷☺️❤️👌🩷☺️❤️👌

Had a lovely meal here with friends. Food and service were good.

Had an amazing stay here. The service of the staff was incredible! So helpful and understanding. Would definitely stay again!

We recently had an amazing meal at The Wishful Thinker. I had asked on booking if we could be socially distanced as I am clinically vulnerable. They put us in one of their delightful 'shacks', summer house with a 6 seater bench, heating and ability to play our own music. On top if that they provided table service for the entire meal and treated us brilliantly. We all had a lovely afternoon and I remained safe, without anxiety. Thanks to all the staff and particularly Zoe who was great. Kind regards Jane D

The outside of the restaurant looks nice and there is a large parking area. This place is huge and can host many people. We made a reservation in advance but even on a Saturday evening the restaurant was only filled for 40-50%. The friendly lady at the entrance handed us some menus and showed us our table. So far so good. The menu choices are numerous, anyone can find something they like on there. The service however was pretty bad. After being seated, we were ignored for about 25min (first time this happened on our UK roadtrip), after which we had to do several attempts to get a waitress to our table. She was friendly though. Unfortunately we had to wait over an hour to get our food, even though the restaurant was not even half full. What happens when this place is fully booked? Our child got the wrong dish, but she decided to finish it, instead of waiting even longer. We had a pretty good view of the open kitchen from our table. We noticed that their whole counter was often full of ready plates, that just weren't being picked up by the waitresses. It became pretty obvious that the kitchen was not to blame for the long waiting time. The dining room staff seems very inexperienced and needs guidance. The quality of the food was good 👍

Reasonable food but a bit of a disappointment overall. Fish & chips was OK, steak was decent but the burger was dry and fries luke warm. At £18 for a burger, that’s not good enough. Staff were friendly but the service was very slow and the chairs in the restaurant are terrible. Bit of a shame especially at this price point. The Wishful Thinker is no Dirty Habit.

Fantastic steak meal especially on a Tuesday

Good food and very attentive staff

My daughter, 3 year old granddaughter and I stayed here for the first time last week. We were blown away by the quality of the room, decor around the hotel and restaurant and the quality of the food. We had an evening meal and breakfast. All were perfect! Staff were helpful and friendly. Room were comfortable, a good nights sleep had by everyone. Spacious bathroom with lovely shower and fluffy towels! We all loved it and can't wait to stay again!

fantastic setting and looking forward to using the dining area again

Food was flavoursome, which matched the atmosphere. service was very attentive Meg the waitress was brilliant snd friendly would definitely recommend definitely coming back!

I visited for a family lunch with my mother in law and husband. It was a gorgeous space with fantastic staff and delicious food. Everything we ordered was great, my highlights were the nectarine and burrata salad which I had as a main and added steak to; also the Thai meatballs and the croquettes were both delicious. My husband ordered the hake dish, which he loved. A huge thank you to the wonderful Oscar who was super caring and helpful with my mother in law, who has trouble getting around as she has a walking frame. Oscar went above and beyond to get us a great table and helped my mother in law to the car after the meal. What a star! We will definitely be back! The garden space also looked gorgeous for a sunny drink or meal. Thank you so much to all the team at the wishful thinker! 😊

Stayed here with my daughter and 3 year old granddaughter for one night but wished it was longer! Gorgeous room, comfy bed, huge TV. Everything was spotless! Lovely shower and fluffy towels. Had evening meal and breakfast. Both excellent! Staff were friendly and helpful. Looking forward to a return visit! 😀

Really fantastic Birthday Dinner! Great atmosphere and service, thank you Oscar! Loaded fries a must but all food was sublime, Michelin star?? Fantastic experience! Thank you

Fantastic restaurant, huge outside area great for families, wasn't very busy so food came really fast, lovely food, plenty of it & a fantastic funny, welcoming waitress (Julie)! I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the Wishful Thinker.

Great place to stay for exploring the area. The staff are all keen and friendly, and the rooms cosy and comfortable. Breakfast was a wee bit pricey, but well presented by lovely people! I'd stay again.

Really nice food Staff are great prices are a bit dear

What can I say Don't Go...... Came here yesterday with my daughter for a quick bite and a drink We were shown a table and given the menus as soon as we entered. We were then totally ignored for over 25 minutes, even though staff were not busy and kept looking over at us, One of your team had gone to surrounding tables asking if there was anything else she could do for them, all replied no, maybe they were locals and we weren't We was totally ignored In the end my daughter and I walked out, Bad service Please don't waste your time

Went in with my mum as we were passing through the area and fancied a bite to eat. Two waiters walked around us, a waitress made eye contact with me then walked off and stood talking to a colleague at the front and after twenty minutes when nobody had asked us if we wanted a drink we left. In this twenty minutes the waiters visited every single table around us, cleared tables, asked people if they needed anything else and ... Just ignored us despite us trying to look at them and clearly not looking at the menus anymore. I wasn't sure if they didn't like us not being locals? Frankly bizarre, went to KFC at a service station in the end, had a nicer atmosphere

We booked for my mother in laws birthday and it was fantastic. Upon arrival we asked if we could have our cake (that we brought from M&S) lit up for dessert and they were extremely facilitating. We sat down and there was lots of room between us and other customers, this meant it wasn’t too loud. The toilets were clean, the staff are very friendly and the food was 10/10. At the end of our meal they brought out a second birthday dessert from them to my mother in law, which was kind and made her day. An overall brilliant experience, we would recommend highly.

***COELIACS BEWARE !!!*** We booked a table for 4 on Fathers Days (16th June). When we made the booking we made sure to ensure that the table was booked noting that my son has Coeliac Disease and can NOT tolerate ANY gluten at all. He is extremely sensitive and I made a point of letting The Wishful Thinker know this. We were advised this would not be a problem and a copy of the menu was sent to me by email. On arrival we again pointed out that my son has Coeliac disease and were careful to order a gluten free main meal. I checked repeatedly that everything on the plate on the gluten free. All was fine. However, when it came to dessert. Which on the menu was noted as being gluten free (I have attached photos), I did not make such a fuss. We joked with the waitress that this was what he would have, as it was the only gluten free item on the menu. He had just put the last piece of biscuit in his mouth when our waitress and her boss came rushing to the table, saying DON'T EAT IT!! It appears that the menu should have read Gluten Free option available (see photo, this does NOT say option!). At this point my son is starting to have stomach cramps. The lady supervisor then proceeded to yell at the waitress that it was her fault, and to tell us, that the kitchen was extremely busy and these things happen. Not only is this extremely unprofessional, it was also incorrect. It was the fault of whoever wrote the menu, which I assume would have been done, in a quiet moment, when the kitchen was not busy. In any case I do not expect to witness the waitress being yelled at, or to be told that the kitchen was too busy to cater properly for my son. We did not pay for our meal and the restaurant refunded the deposit we paid. The reason I have waited so long to complete this review was because I wanted to see how long it would be before my son recovered from the gluten served to him by The Wishful Thinker. The first week after it happened he slept for about 16 hours a day, didn't leave his room and barely ate. The following week he was still shattered but managed to get to school for one day. However, whilst there he picked up a bug (Coeliacs disease is an autoimmune disease, so it stops your immune system working properly). He then returned to his bed for the rest of the week. The week after that he again managed to go to school for one day, but again picked up another bug and again returned to his bed! So one tiny biscuit has left my son too ill to go to school for 3 weeks (at least)!!! Who know what will happen next week Food establishments need to be more aware of the impact gluten can have on people suffering from Coeliacs Disease. My son is 17 and it is getting to the point that he does not want to eat out. This was meant to be a celebration and instead has turned into a real problem. My son was due to sit is Mock A Levels last week, and has so far been unable to do this. The Wishful Thinkers failure could have a lasting affect my sons future (these results are used by universities when deciding who to offer their places to), not only for his prospects, but also for his health. It is just NOT good enough

Nice place for a sunny day drink

Had been looking forward to our maiden visit, decided to book for a Sunday lunch, outside very welcoming and inside very impressive, good design. Shame that the rest of the first impressions didn't continue, we ordered the Sunday roast, between us choosing the varieties of beef and lamb, it arrived quickly (big tick) but was then disappointed that we all had under cooked roast potatoes (not crisp and very pale) 1 x carrot each and a small amount of mange tout, stringy green and picked red cabbage, the beef and lamb must have been sliced using a very thin meat slicer, it was almost see through and only 2 x slices, the only good acceptable item was a good sized Yorkshire pudding - extremely overpriced for the overall presentation. We decided to have a dessert hoping that they would be an improvement, the pavlova was really disappointing, a small shop bought meringue, spoonful of cream and 1 sliced strawberry again not warranting the cost. My partner hadn't finished their dessert when the waitress approached the table to ask if we had finished, they said not quite, the waitresses then stood at table waiting for them to finish to then take the plates away - very unacceptable situation. We decided that we had experienced enough, we will not be rushing back I'm afraid, they also need to rethink the extremely uncomfortable wicker chairs. Lots of thought gone into the appearance, shame the same attention not given to the food and service.

finally had the first proper meal after 24 hours filming ‘Man vs. Wild’ with Bear in kent…

Friendly service, delicious food, great atmosphere.

Lovely countryside pub, the staff is friendly and the space is beautiful, but unfortunately the food was a tad disappointing… No beef burger in the menu!!!!!! Ordered the lamb burger instead, it was dry and the flavour too intense. My husband tried the salmon kebab and liked it. Also ordered the Crème Brûlée and shortbread for dessert, sadly the shortbread was mega stale. Someone else had the brownie and that was delicious. We have been to many elite pubs before, so I guess we were expecting a certain food standard that was not met.

Lovely little location. Food was delicious and the service was good. The only reason it didn’t get a 5 star is because once we received our food no one came back over to check on us when we wanted some condiments, and once we had finished eating we wanted desserts and after 30 minutes no one came to wait so we left. You pay as you order so there’s no one to come over and claim a bill. Caveat to be fair is they were busy. Minor details and I’d go again.

Beautiful location, rooms and restaurant. Friendly staff and very welcoming. Food was delicious and most sourced locally.

I only pop in for a pint & am consistently disappointed with the real ale selection. It’s just boring & shows no imagination/interest. If you showed the same level of interest in your food menu it would all be freezer to microwave to plate! Apart from that nice pub with friendly staff

My first visit here with my family , amazing food , beautiful eating pods , and the best service ever , thank you for a lovely visit , I will most definitely be back again , I highly recommend .

Big fan of the local Elite pubs and this met the same high standards in decor, choice and service. Food was great. Had the Greek pizza and as with all their pizzas it was excellent.

Great pub, very good pizza. Awesome steak! Perfect service, quick and to the point.

Went to the Queen experience. Food and service were good, but have to say the tribute act was the worst I have ever heard. Music completely drowned out 'Freddie'... Who didn't sound like Freddie! Certainly not what we have experienced elsewhere. Also surprised to find out that if you have a meal in the restaurant and then a drink at the bar, you could see the act for free, not that it would have sounded any better.

Lovely pub, food looked great, everybody seemed to be enjoying their afternoon. I was there with my daughter Victoria Bass, who was singing for the afternoon.

Great service. Fast delivery of our food. Could of had abit more staff around as had to keep looking around for staff to order drinks but the staff that was there were very friendly. Restaurant very clean. Would definitely go again x

Meet up with friends for breakfast, excellent service and food. Definitely be back

Lovely venue and always great food!

Wow, what a fantastic hidden gem! I was trying to find somewhere to stay for a business trip and thought I'd give this place a try - and it exceeded expectations, especially for the price! Really nice done, recently decorated and spacious. I had dinner and breakfast and the both were well cooked and again value for money - steak for dinner and eggs benedict for breakie. There was a stage for performances but nothing on whilst I was there. I could imagine the atmosphere being amazing on a busy night. I will definitely be returning, and recommended to colleagues and wife who travel for work.

Had food here .. very nice, staff were very friendly service was very good .. I recomend a bite to eat here if your in the area. They also have comedy nights and entertainment evening.

Great venue. Lovely rooms, nicely decorated and great bathroom. Huge TV! Comfy bed, large restaurant and great service in the bar. Didn't make it in time for dinner but menu looks great and breakfast was fab. Staff very friendly but not intrusive, very welcoming!!

We stayed here for two nights and really enjoyed it. The restaurant is great and the bar well stocked. The rooms have been beautifully decorated and the bathroom is one of the best I have experienced anywhere. The shower controls were so intuitive. Only downsides? The room heater was digital and not easy to get down to the temperature we prefer. Glad it wasn't very warm weather. There was no where to store a case even though there was lots of space. Finally the vilage is in a area cut off by the M20 and HS1 so there is some noise and access is constrained. These are only small niggles for a great stay. We hope to come back.

Another fantastic addition to the Elite family 😀

Went for dinner. Pizza was nice.

Friendly staff and decent food at a reasonable price in a pleasant location.

We had a really lovely meal, great service. (Food passed lab testing) 10/10 will Calzone again!

Lovely pub and great value for money on the room I stayed in

This is my local, so frequent quite a bit for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Cannot fault the staff; very friendly, helpful and professional. Food is good. Tribute and other music nights are good. Not attended quiz or comedy nights yet, or stayed in rooms. Lovely garden for good weather. Dogs welcome. 5 stars from me.

Food was great service was OK....Found it very noisy as lots of large groups..

We stayed a couple of nights here, it is a lovely place. Rooms were clean and good size. I would stay here again if I knew there wasn't going to be an event downstairs the room was vibrating and wardrobe shaking due to how loud this music was. It did stop by 11:30 but it was just too loud in my opinion.

Lovely setting. Steak a tad expensive for what it was. It was chewy and quite fatty. £30 for a steak like that is disappointing. The place itself looks really nice and makes a lovely evening eat, food was hit and miss

Went for family dinner outstanding food and service 10/10

Beautiful location with a beautiful building and lovely service. Made my mum's birthday!

Our son booked the Saturday but took us there on Sunday, the staff went out of their way to sort us a table good job too because the food was great. We will be returning very soon.

Bit off the beaten track, but worth seeking out. Great food, but restaurant was cold when we went. Probably lovely in the summer when the doors can be opened up. We'll have to revisit again in a few months - food was definitely worth another try. If coming in cold weather, though, I would definitely recommend a few layers! Be aware there are daily offers, so check out their website before visiting as the offers aren't automatically offered when you visit.

Wonderful food and excellent service by Louis, who was attentive and cheery. Everything was amazing - couldn’t have asked for a better experience.

Visited The Wishful Thinker for Mother’s Day Sunday lunch, and we were all really impressed. Mum and dad had visited before, myself and my brother hadn’t. The pub from the outside is really attractive and got the “elite pub” feel, but inside has to be the star of the show. The seating area is beautiful and really nicely spaced out. We had the three course Mother’s Day meal which was really good value for money. Starters really delicious, mains were stunning and one thing we all commented on was the super generous portion sizes. Big roasts with plenty of meat, veg, potatoes, yorkie, and some of the best gravy I’ve ever had. Desserts again really good. The service was a *little* slow but when you take into account they had a full restaurant on Mother’s Day, you truly couldn’t complain. It was nice not to feel rushed in fact! Didn’t catch the name of the guy who served us but he was brilliant, as were all the staff who were working so incredibly hard. We’d definitely return!

Went down for a Mother's day breakfast. Daisy and Louis gave great service. One of our children have allergies and Daisy and Louis were great at checking with the kitchen what we could and couldn't have off the menu.

Thank you to all the staff at The Wishful Thinker for working so incredibly hard for everyone visiting on Mother’s Day ( and there were a lot ☺️). From the warm welcome on arrival to the attentive service by Hannah. The three course meal was delicious and great value for money. The sea bass main course was fabulous- thank you, as was the classic crumble. We are so lucky to live so near to such a great place and to be able to call it our local.

Popped in for a few pre Mother’s Day cocktails, great atmosphere, friendly welcome and great service from daisy as always, thank you 😌 Very lucky to have such a great place on our doorstep.

Was a lovely morning for Mother’s Day breakfast had two lovely waitresses which made our experience perfect! Thank you so much to Daisy and Julie for all your help and making our visit lovely :) can’t wait to come back soon

Great food, amazing service, Hannah is an absolute credit to this establishment. Helpful, informative and so happy and friendly. She made our experience stand out from the rest!

What a beautiful little pub with amazing food. Everything was cooked to perfection. Really good ambience. Zoe our server was attentive, polite and friendly.

Lovely atmosphere, great food and always friendly and welcoming service (thank you to Michelle and Julie who served us on this particular occasion).

Great food, lovely waiter - thanks Tom! I had the steak with blue cheese sauce, husband had the venison burger. Shared the caramelised onion flat bread too. Would definitely recommend.

We had a delicious meal and the staff looking after us - Julie and Michelle - were very attentive and courteous. The pub is really welcoming and beautifully decorated with a great ambience and we will definitely be back soon!

We’re local to lenham and this is our first time having a family meal. Better than we expected and great waitress service from Michelle, made our mother’s birthday 🎂 meal special with extra ice cream and candle. Would definitely recommend the wishful thinker and will be back lots more!

Love the atmosphere in this public house The staff are amazing and accommodating Julie our waitress was so attentive , top class service we will be back

As a Wheelchair user, I had been previously advised to enter the premises via the residence’s entrance. I found the passage through to the restaurant area extremely easy to access and the floor surface was very accommodating for a wheelchair or pushchair. We were greeted by Michelle, who showed us to our table and was extremely helpful in waiting on us. Our main course was served promptly and very tasty, to which I have been accustomed to from the Elite chain. All the staff were very polite and courteous and we felt that Michelle just went that extra mile in waiting on us. Also a special thanks to Willis and Tom, for making our afternoon lunch experience even better than had been anticipated. Well done Guys for making us so welcome and we will be back very, very soon!

Came in for a birthday lunch and had a great time. Julie and Michelle (our servers) were excellent and even sung happy birthday to me. Will def be coming back.

My parents wanted to try somewhere new when I came home & so it was the first time we've been here, and it blew us away. We'd been on the hunt for a good pizza (surprisingly lacking outside of Italy) and here absolutely hit the spot. Their hummus starter was absolutely incredible too. Our server Michelle was fab, answered any questions we had and was super helpful, so all in all contributed to an awesome experience. Will definitely be back because Kent definitely needed this place!!!

had a lovely birthday meal for my friend. zoe was an amazing waitress and the food was incredible. (recommend the chicken thigh kebab)

Came in for my birthday and had really great service from Zoe and Joseph, would definitely reccomd to come here, drinks and food were amazing.

Lovely breakfast had by all amazing place staff very friendly and efficient. Would definitely recommend. Had the eggs royal cooked to perfection and the pink grapefruit juice was very good

Really lovely brunch here today. Amazing service and hospitality by Daisy and Louis. Great food and fabulous restaurant. Best Elite pub in the area 😊

Zoe was awesome and we had a great time. Vegan Sunday Roast with extra gravy, it's literally the best vegan roast I've ever had.

Julie was amazing on Abba night! Thank you so much! Staff at wishful go above and beyond! Such a good night can’t wait to come back for tribute night. Big shoutout to Elliot as well

Lovely evening, and great food! Even though Louis gave us the Bill instead of the pudding menu😂 Thanks Louis and Jessie👌

Julie was amazing on the Abba night great service and very helpful despite it being so busy! The food was great the band were great! We all really enjoyed the night and will be returning for the next tribute evening.

Our dinner was great, cocktails were yummy, Jessie and Louis were lovely too, so friendly and helpful. Thank you so much!